For this post, we wanted to start examining the marketing techniques and need for bison in traditional restaurants. Understanding the current market's revolving demands will directly impact your business' ROI.
Dive Into Marketing
If you’ve ever stuck your foot in the marketing world as a small or large business, you realize that there is a lot more to marketing than you ever could have guessed. This includes web, email, and traditional marketing techniques. Regardless of if your restaurant is based on barbeque or Asian-inspired flavors you should be researching how to bring more people in the door. As many have seen, restaurants have taken a huge hit due to covid, and now above all times, we as suppliers need to refocus on the trends that are starting as covid lockdowns and restrictions are starting to lift.
Food Trends
In 2021, in part due to the pandemic, people started moving towards comfort food, looking to help their local communities, and focusing more on their health. Here are the top food trends:
Stocking up and home cooking - People have started to stock up and take cooking classes to make their food last, and ultimately save money. This has helped industries such as the delivery food market thrive. It has also increased cooking for mental and physical health as people are focusing on cooking better and healthier things.
Veganism and vegetarianism - People are giving up meat in an effort to live healthier, and more eco-friendly lifestyles. Part of this is due to the push in society as we tend to navigate towards environmentally healthy options. Even if people haven’t gone “full vegetarian”, people are trying to reserve meat for weekends or fancier dinners.
Carb Restrictions - Have you seen the cauliflower trend? Our bet is you have! Many people are trying to ditch the bread and switch it with healthy alternatives, such as cauliflower.
Takeout and Fast Food - As people continue to work at home or avoid large gatherings, takeout has been a staple in American households.
The top trending takeout foods of 2020 were chicken fingers, chicken fried sandwiches, mac & cheese, chips & guacamole, apple pie, pad thai, etc. From our research, it started off as more comfort food mixed with more South American food. Although, this is also debated (see below).
Mcdonald's was the highest-grossing fast-food restaurant in 2021, and the price of fast-food menus in the US increased by 7.1% in 2020 according to DeliveryRank.
Low-Waste Foods - Again, as the push for more environmentally friendly food and lifestyles are becoming more mainstream, low-waste foods are becoming more ideal for food buyers. This means people are repurposing their food craps and cutting down waste in the kitchen and takeout containers.
Fusion Cuisines - Fusions are now becoming super key in more modern restaurant options. Maybe you’ve heard of Mexican-Korean, Sushi Pizza, or even a Pad Thai Taco. They’re exciting ways to experience different cultures easily while making it exciting.
Who’s Eating Out and What Do They Eat?
We researched a multitude of different food people ordered for takeout, and there is a multitude of conflicting data. However, there is a direct increase in revenue from 'comfort foods' which include pizza, sandwiches, and wraps or burgers. There are a few strong statistics post-pandemic that are likely to stick regarding takeout according to Food Manufacturing:
69% of customers ordered delivery food during the pandemic
71% order from restaurants they use to drive to pre-pandemic
87% order takeout from local restaurants to support them financially
18% of people are more likely to purchase beef and frozen meat
Nutrition
When considering nutrition, statistics show that since the pandemic people are trying to eat healthier. As discussed by Food Manufacturing:
43% of people are trying to eat more fruit
42% are trying to eat more vegetables
30% are moving towards more protein from meat
39% are working towards a balanced breakfast
Vitamins grew by 121%, and immunity supplements increased by 60% as people looked to eat healthier during the pandemic
In conclusion, consumers, are looking to eat healthier as well as support local small businesses. A majority of bison businesses on the East Coast are small, family-owned businesses that can capitalize on the drive to eat healthier in the United States.
Why Add Bison to Your Menu
Bison checks all of the boxes that people are looking for including better vitamin-packed food, supporting local businesses, high protein, meat, 0 carbs, and low waste. As an added benefit, bison can be almost perfectly substituted for any beef product while arguably tasting better.
In fact, from Google Trends, people searching for bison have trended upward in the past year and are still trending upward!
If you're considering adding bison to your menu, the next question may be what bison do people want? The most popular searches in Maryland are for "bison burgers", "steaks", and "bison near me" with the top search being for bison burgers.
Not only does bison add diversity to menus that consumers are statistically looking for, but is a healthy alternative to beef and meets the nutritional needs of customers. Bison attracts customers who consider bison a fancier option and also caters to those looking for comfort food. We can see that interest in bison steak and burgers is quickly growing as people move towards local farms and healthier alternatives.
If you’re ready to switch to bison for your restaurant or small business, check out our page to learn more, and contact us today, email us at meat@jjbison.com, or call us at (443) 252 - 2099 to order your bison today!