Diet trends are constantly changing. Lately, there has been a lot of communication around the dietary benefits or harms of wheat, especially gluten. Gluten is commonly found in bread products. Wheat flour is the most popular flour used for bread, because it has two proteins that form gluten. Although it is likely that this new obsession with gluten free will soon be forgotten, how can cafes that make much of their profits on bread products succeed? What are some unique cafe ideas that will bring customers back to the traditional home town bread bakeries?
Offer a variety of dietary options
As a restaurant business owner, you will find that gluten sensitivities are not the only dietary concern of your customers. You will find people with allergies to nuts, dairy, and even artificial sugars. Being aware of as many dietary restrictions as possible can help you cater to these customers. If you offer menu alternatives that meet these specific restrictions, you will find an entire area of loyal customers. Although it can be more expensive to alternate current menu items with different ingredients, most customers are willing to pay extra to have these options.
Carry an upscale coffee bar
A lot of people associate wholesale bakeries with coffee. Pairing a nice turkey sandwich on high quality artisan bread is the perfect combination. Expand your coffee options and you will find that you also expand your customer base. Include a variety of temperatures, including frozen, hot, and iced. Give your customers the best coffee experience with the freshest coffee beans and many different creamers and flavors to choose from. Encouraging coffee drinks will also increase your sandwich and bread sales.
Use local ingredients
For some reason, consuming bread baked with local ingredients is better than nationwide bread bakeries. Serving local ingredients gives you an in to your local community. You are likely to find that more customers will support you based on your support to local farmers. Also, using local ingredients does not hinder your ability to sell nationally. If you have a good enough product, you can still sell to those in other states, or countries. Using local ingredients from a well known city can actually assist in these marketing efforts.
Sell wholesale, if possible
Just because a person is gluten insensitive does not mean that they do not purchase these products for their family members. It is still important to carry and market these bread products to all of your customers. Selling wholesale is also a great way to expand your profits, especially when bread sales are down. Other local restaurants often need to find suppliers for things like bread, cheese, and meats. If you have a good product, selling these items to them at a wholesale price can increase both your brand awareness and your profits. Wholesale bakeries as a method of business are a great backup plan.
Provide in depth ingredient information
One of the biggest problems with eating out is that you never actually know what is in your food items. This hinders a lot of people from eating out. Being proactive and providing this information to your customers can actually help out your business. If you are purchasing high quality ingredients or from a local seller, this can help you get the word out. Information on bakeries and ingredients can also be entertaining to customers. For example, one package of yeast contains about 140 million yeast cells.
Fad diets and food awareness programs often cause a lot of negative reactions around everyday food items. Currently, there has been a lot of criticism around wheat, or gluten, and if our bodies really need it. Gluten, however, has been consumed for many years. Consumption of bread was declining in the 20th century as a result, but the rediscovery of artisan breads has changed that, with bakers producing breads similar to those from 1,000 years ago. There are a variety of other ways that cafe and bread bakeries can improve their business when bread bakeries sales are down.
