Dealing with rising Fruit and Vegetable prices

A recent study by Arizona State University, has found that fresh produce costs are set to jump in the coming months due to drought conditions in California.  The biggest produce price increase is supposed to be seen on avocados, berries, broccoli, grapes, lettuce, melons, peppers, tomatoes and packaged salads. The highest potential increase is expected on Lettuce and Avocados with increase percentages of 34% and 28% respectively as shown in the chart below.

A good strategy for restaurants, when produce prices are poised to jump, is to start monitoring menu modifications. Attention should be mostly focused on the menu items that contain highly priced fruits or vegetables. Moreover, restaurants should train servers to verify with the customer the inclusion of these ingredients at the time of order.

For example, there is a salad on your menu that includes peppers but you find that customers frequently ask to have it removed. Servers could be trained to confirm the inclusion of peppers whenever a customer orders this salad. This allows you to save not only with the customers who always request the modification but also with those customers that want the modification but always forget to ask.

MarketingVitals.com includes a feature that allows you to effortlessly keep track of menu item modifications, and quickly make decisions when fruit and vegetable prices are rising. If you want to learn more about this feature or schedule a free demo, send us an email or contact us via Twitter or Facebook.

We’d love to know how your restaurant is dealing with rising Vegetable and Fruit prices. Leave us a comment below and let us know!