Fresh Catch of the Day: Give Your Customers a Reason to Come Back
How one changing menu feature can build customer loyalty, create curiosity, and set your restaurant apart.
Walk into many restaurants today, and you'll find the same menu you saw six months ago. Maybe even the same menu you saw two years ago.
There's nothing necessarily wrong with that. Customers have their favorites, and a successful restaurant should never underestimate the importance of consistency.
But what about the customer who visits two or three times a month? What are you offering that customer that's new, different, or exciting?
That's where a Fresh Catch of the Day program can make a difference.
Give Your Regular Customers Something New
Every restaurant wants loyal customers. Those are the people who return regularly, bring friends, recommend your business, and become familiar faces to your employees.
But even loyal customers occasionally want something different.
Imagine a customer who loves your restaurant but has ordered the same grilled salmon or fried shrimp for the last six visits.
Now imagine that customer walks in and hears:
"Tonight we have a beautiful fresh red snapper. The chef is preparing it pan-seared with a lemon caper butter sauce."
Suddenly, there's something new to consider.
The customer can still order their favorite entrée, but now there's another reason to visit.
Your regular menu provides consistency. Your Fresh Catch program provides variety.
You need both.
Curiosity Brings Customers Back
One of the most valuable things a restaurant can create is anticipation.
What's the chef featuring tonight?
Will it be grouper, snapper, flounder, mahi-mahi, or something completely different?
How will it be prepared?
A successful Fresh Catch program gives customers something to look forward to.
It can even become part of their conversation.
"Let's go there tonight and see what fish they're featuring."
Think about that for a moment. You've created a reason to visit that goes beyond hunger, convenience, or price.
You've created curiosity.
And curiosity can become a powerful marketing tool.
Add a New Dimension to Your Restaurant
A Fresh Catch program does not require rewriting your entire menu or changing your restaurant's identity.
In fact, I would recommend keeping it simple.
Feature one carefully selected fish each day or on designated evenings. Give the chef an opportunity to create an interesting preparation that complements the existing menu.
Perhaps tonight it's blackened grouper with a tropical fruit salsa.
Tomorrow it might be pan-seared snapper with roasted tomatoes, garlic, and fresh herbs.
Another evening could feature a whole roasted fish for two.
The possibilities are considerable.
The important thing is that the feature should be special enough to attract attention and practical enough for the kitchen to execute consistently.
Don't make it different just for the sake of being different. Make it something worth coming back for.
Give Your Chef an Opportunity to Be Creative
Many restaurant kitchens prepare the same menu items day after day.
A Fresh Catch program provides an opportunity for the chef to demonstrate creativity without making major changes to the operation.
Different fish, seasonal ingredients, sauces, and cooking techniques can all become part of the program.
It also gives management an opportunity to evaluate potential new menu items.
If a particular preparation consistently sells well, perhaps it deserves consideration as a permanent menu addition.
In that sense, your daily feature becomes a testing ground for new ideas.
Give Your Servers Something Exciting to Sell
I've always believed that servers should be treated as a sales force, not simply order takers.
A Fresh Catch program creates a perfect selling opportunity.
But the program starts before the first customer arrives.
At the preshift meeting, the manager or chef should explain the day's selection.
What kind of fish is it? Where did it come from? What does it taste like? How is it prepared? What wine or cocktail would complement it?
Whenever practical, let the servers taste the finished dish.
A server who understands the product and is enthusiastic about it will generally make a more convincing presentation.
And remember, I don't believe in forcing employees to memorize robotic sales scripts.
Give them the knowledge and talking points. Let them make the presentation their own.
Enthusiasm is contagious.
Turn Your Fresh Catch Into a Marketing Opportunity
Why wait until customers are seated to tell them what's special?
Use your restaurant's Facebook page, website, outside menu display, or entrance signage to announce the day's feature.
A photograph of the actual finished dish can be especially effective.
Imagine posting this in the afternoon:
Tonight's Fresh Catch: Pan-Seared Grouper with Lemon Butter, Roasted Asparagus, and Herb Potatoes. Limited Availability.
Now customers have a reason to think about your restaurant before deciding where to have dinner.
A changing feature also gives you something meaningful to promote regularly without constantly advertising discounts.
You're promoting the food and the experience rather than reducing the price.
Keep the Program Profitable
A Fresh Catch program must make financial sense.
Seafood can be expensive, availability changes, and improper inventory management can quickly eliminate profits.
Start small.
Purchase a limited number of portions based on expected demand. Monitor sales, food cost, waste, and customer feedback.
Work with reliable seafood suppliers and take advantage of seasonal availability when the quality and pricing make sense.
Cross-utilize ingredients already in your kitchen whenever practical.
And don't confuse the word special with discount.
A special should offer something distinctive. It doesn't have to be inexpensive.
If you're offering a premium product, price it appropriately.
Most importantly, be truthful about what you're selling. Fresh, local, wild-caught, and never-frozen are different claims. Use them only when accurate.
Make It Something Customers Remember
The objective isn't simply to sell a few extra fish dinners.
It's to create another reason for customers to choose your restaurant.
A well-executed Fresh Catch program can generate conversation, encourage repeat visits, showcase the chef's talents, and give your service staff something exciting to recommend.
And it can accomplish all of that without expanding the permanent menu.
Restaurants spend considerable time and money trying to attract new customers.
But sometimes the greatest opportunity is giving the customers you already have another reason to return.
Your regular menu gives customers a reason to love your restaurant. Your Fresh Catch of the Day gives them a reason to be curious about their next visit.
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