Running a steakhouse is a tough task in a competition-fuelled industry. There are plenty of ways to promote your restaurant, but increasing your customer base requires a proper starting plan—and it begins with highlighting your local produce because of its growing appeal to health-conscious diners. Here are some ideas to promote local produce as a way to build your steakhouse customer base:
Host A Community Event With Your Local Food Vendors
One of the best ways to promote the local produce used in your steakhouse is to host a community event with your local food vendors. This is an excellent way to showcase your farm-to-table offering by highlighting the meats, vegetables and other local ingredients you use to produce mouth-watering food. For example, invite your local farmers, meat and vegetable suppliers to run their own stalls for this event so that you can not only introduce them to potential customers but also showcase your commitment to local produce. When diners are confident of where you source your food from, you'll likely notice more walk-ins to your steakhouse.
Participate In Local Food Festivals And Events
While hosting your own event is an excellent way to get more people into your restaurant, you also want to find ways to tap into an untouched customer base. Participating in local food festivals and events will help you reach out to more people who could become potential customers for your locally sourced steakhouse. You can engage with people, introduce them to your locally sourced food offerings and showcase your creative menu. Make sure you combine this festival participation by getting people to sign up to your restaurant database through discounts and promotional offers.
Offer More Than Just Steak When Sourcing Local Food
If you're looking to build your customer base, simply highlighting your steak offerings is not enough. For example, families may have a combination of meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans. If you don't cater to the vegetarians and vegans, chances are you've lost that family. Make sure you provide an all-round menu by sourcing food for all kinds of meat, vegetarian and vegan dishes—even if you are a predominantly a steakhouse. This will enable you to increase your customer base because more people will be able to eat what you have to offer. Promote your meat-alternative menu offerings through social media, local ads and events.
Simply sourcing local food isn't enough for your steakhouse. You need to let people know you're doing that, so use these ideas to help you.