With the continued breakout of COVID-19 since 2019, owners and operators in the hospitality industry have faced many obstacles. From adjusting to increased safety measures to operating during the highest staffing shortage the industry has ever faced, bars and restaurants have no other option but to adapt to survive.
In 2023, it is anticipated that we will see more restaurants turning to technology and automated solutions to increase efficiency and decrease labor costs. Below, we’ll take a look at 5 of the latest restaurant trends expected to make an appearance in 2023 that you can implement in your establishment so you can increase foot traffic and keep your customers engaged!
Customer Dining Experience Trends
Out-of-the-Box Experiences
Live music and special events are becoming more and more popular than ever before as many people have missed that experience in the last two years. Many restaurants have been hosting special themed events such as decade nights, music artist themed brunches, and so much more to capitalize on this restaurant trend!
When hosting a decade night, either pick a decade, play music from that specific decade, and encourage guests to dress based on whatever decade you choose, or you can start at 5 PM and play music from the 50s and then at every hour switch to the next decade. As for music artist-themed brunches, you pick an artist, play music from that artist during the brunch, and encourage your employees to dress as that artist.
Live music has always been popular, but it is more sought-after than ever before. Not only can the addition of live music in your restaurant add to the overall ambiance of an evening, but it has also been shown to affect how much time customers are willing to spend at your establishment. By offering music from local, up-and-coming artists on your live music nights, you can reach a broader market.
Online Search Trends
Untappd Platform
If your bar or restaurant offers beer beyond Bud Light, you cannot skip the opportunity to be on Untappd. Untappd, in a nutshell, is Yelp for beer – especially craft beer. This massive beer database has over 9.3 million beer users and includes information about 2.6 million beers! Untappd gives you information about the beer’s style, IBU, ABV, and tasting notes described by the users.
It provides beer lovers with an opportunity to rate the beers they try and search for beers in their area. The most crucial part of Untappd is its social aspect. By encouraging customers to check in the beer that they’re trying at your establishment, you can gain exposure in front of other users with similar tastes! And, when you keg a new beer and put it on your Untappd page, users in the area will get a notification of the new addition, and you’ll get some new beer lovers walking through your doors!
Visibility Trends
Sustainability
Increased sustainability was one of the most notable food trends of the past few years, and it’s undoubtedly going to be just as big, if not bigger, throughout 2023. For that reason, recycling is not enough to call your business green. Sustainability is a special approach, focusing on reducing waste to a minimum for every aspect of your business. If you have a strong sustainability strategy in place, you may want to make it known to your customers, especially if your main customer base consists of millennials, as they are known to care for a green approach to healthy food trends.
Technology Trends
Back-End Kitchen Technology
Investments in off-premise or “over the store” solutions, including mobile technology, will take precedence over in-store legacy systems that require more time and resources to modernize, such as static menu boards and back-end kitchen technology. When you think about technology in restaurants today, you normally think about online ordering or QR codes.
We often look over the back-end kitchen operations. Whether it be a robotic arm that flips pizzas or a tool to measure ingredients, automation has resolved the standardization of taste, temperature, and quality. These automated systems provide more consistency and offer an easier way to manage products and costs. With this level of consistency and quality in your restaurant, customers know exactly what they can expect when eating at your establishment, which will increase your customer retention rate!
Put Self-Serve To Use
With the industry trying to recover, most, if not all, businesses have had to rethink their operations. As operators turn to back-end kitchen technology, they’re also looking for ways to bring automation to the front-end of their business. This is where self-serve technology comes into play as a leading restaurant trend in 2023! Self-serve beverage walls provide a new and innovative way for customers to get drinks and interact with one another. As an operator, you can relax knowing you can decrease your labor costs by 25% or more with this type of technology.
Self-serve beverage walls are the perfect solution for overcoming the labor shortage. It allows operators to reduce the number of staff needed to operate while increasing beverages sold, saving operators time, money, and headaches.
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Contact the PourMyBeer team to learn more.
