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5 ways to win with limited-time menu items

Technomic shares some ingredients behind successful short-term offers.

Patricia Cobe, Senior Editor

April 3, 2019

6 Slides
ltos
Menu innovation is coming at a faster and more intense pace as the competition for customers heats up. In restaurant and retail foodservice, limited-time offers have become more popular as an avenue to introduce new dishes. Over the past five years, LTO launches have increased by 64%, according to FoodService Director sister company Technomic. LTOs and new menu launches also can spark interest and drive traffic in noncommercial operations. Lauren Hallow, consumer insights manager for Technomic, dug into the data and shared these essential ingredients for developing and marketing a menu item that’s right for your operation.Photograph: Shutterstock

5 ways to win with limited-time menu items

About the Author

Patricia Cobe

Senior Editor

Pat plans and executes the menu sections of Restaurant Business and FoodService Director, covering food and beverage trends, Menu R&D, profiles of chefs and restaurateurs and Technomic research. She also contributes to the digital content of both RB and FSD and is editor of two weekly e-newsletters, Recipe Report and On the Menu. Pat’s weekly podcast, MenuFeed, covers a wide range of menu topics through interviews with chefs and operators.

Pat came to Winsight from Hearst, where she was an executive editor. She is the co-author of the Mompreneurs series of books as well as two cookbooks. She graduated from Cornell University and earned a Masters in Journalism from Boston University. She is active in several professional organizations, including Les Dames d’Escoffier and the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC), and serves as a judge for the James Beard Media Awards.

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