With the new year, comes the promise of new opportunities, goals and resolutions. Many people will be looking to get healthier or maintain a healthy lifestyle in 2021. Below you will find several ways you can help people achieve their health goals in the new year.

Make Orders Personal

What someone considers healthy can differ from another’s perspective. A healthy lifestyle can thrive with customization. People prefer to customize or create their own options to meet their health needs or cravings. One way that you can deliver healthier options to your guests is by being flexible, paying attention to order details and allowing consumers to customize their takeout orders to their lifestyle. Adjust your takeout, delivery and catered menu offerings for those seeking health-conscious options.

Plan Your Menu

Develop your seasonal menu rotation for winter and spring. Make sure to include “create your own” options and healthier menu selections that will appeal to those looking to adopt a healthier diet in the new year. Focus on calling out ingredients that are organic, locally sourced, free-from or promoting dishes that offer plant-based alternatives. Add a creative selection of weekly specials to include traditional ingredients with a healthy twist, plus a prix-fixe that shows the calorie count, to encourage your patrons to stick to their resolution and try something new. Market and offer enticing discounts on limited time offers, beverages, desserts and skinny alcohol drinks.

Promote Often

Let your patrons know that despite COVID-19, your establishment is embracing the new year, menu customization, and is offering healthier options to help them achieve a healthy lifestyle. It is a good idea to also let your consumers know that your still focused on the overall cleanliness of your establishment. This will assure consumers that your committed to their total health. Build awareness with your regular patrons by adding promo flyers in takeout bags.

Maximize Your Takeout & Catering

Consider adding online ordering supported by posts about your takeout and catering services on social media with links to order. Construct your restaurant menu options carefully to provide healthier alternatives for those wanting to enjoy sports games or holidays without totally giving up their favorite food cravings. Upgrade your packaging containers so that the food will stay warm and fresh for delivery. Check for accuracy during and after order production to ensure that customized food aligns with what the consumer wanted.

Craft Skinny Cocktails To-Go

Appeal to those looking to enjoy calorie conscious drinks by creating skinny cocktail options. Offer prepared skinny cocktails to-go for takeout and catering sales as permitted by law in some states and cities. Rely on seasonal ingredients in your skinny cocktails to make them fresh and enjoyable.

Bring Them Healthy Alternatives To Meet Their Goals

While some may not be comfortable venturing out to a venue early on in 2021, it’s the perfect time to bring catered options to people looking to maintain their new healthy lifestyle goals. Prepared meals can help those looking to change their diet by providing them with a healthy meal plan for the week. If you can include calorie and ingredient information, it will help them track their foods for the week and help create customer loyalty.

Be A Resource

Serve as a resource to consumers who want to enjoy takeout, delivery or catered meals in the new year but are still concerned about COVID-19 and unsure of the effectiveness of vaccinations. Teach your patrons to stick to their healthy goals by offering high quality catered food, meal plan packages, healthy alternatives to classic cravings, and skinny beverages prepared by you. Reach out to your Waypoint sales representative at AskWaypoint for downloadable how-to-guides, menus, flyers, etc. all available to you and your patrons so you can embrace a new year full of new possibilities.

Offer Contactless Everything

As consumers look to restaurants for healthier meals in the new year, they will still be seeking safe ways to order, receive and pay for their takeout/catered meals successfully, and touch-free technology has become essential. In fact, contactless transactions saw 40% growth globally, according to a recent report by MasterCard, and CDC guidelines encourage businesses to use touchless payment options. Touch-free technology prioritizes guest safety and offers several other benefits, including faster checkouts and increased customer satisfaction. Operators should look to implement touch-free solutions to thrive now and into the future.

Post On Social Media

To encourage and promote healthier takeout/ catered meal options, make sure to utilize interactive and fun types of marketing, especially on social media, like Facebook Live and Instagram Stories. Create a contest to share across your social media channels. Ask followers to share a picture of the food they ordered, along with why they’ve made a resolution to eat healthier, on Facebook or Instagram and tag your business.

Seasonal Selection Tools & Resources

We have created our Seasonal Selections Operator Tools collection as a guide to aid you as you plan for the upcoming celebrations and events. Click the button below to download how-to guides, recipes, templates (menu, flyer & catering order forms) and take-out and catering packaging solutions to help your operation thrive. In addition, we have put together guides for you to share with your patrons including tips on how they can host their events and special occasions safely and successfully.

Need more ideas?