Among the new trends shaping the hospitality industry, one you should keep an eye on and incorporate into your venture is creating on-trend takeaway experiences for your customers. 2020 showed coffee shops, restaurateurs, and café operators how important it is to make the most of the takeaway offerings for customers. With food chains globally finding themselves in a standstill at the height of COVID, and customer hesitation about stepping into crowded eateries amidst health and hygiene concerns, food & beverage brands that evolve and adapt will prosper through this trying time.
Take a close look at your brand’s takeaway experience from the customer’s point of view. Is the packaging elegant and aesthetically pleasing? Does it remind them of your brand? Is it comfortable to eat out of? Is it sturdy? Is it eco-friendly, or will the materials harm the planet? Is there something else that a competing food & beverage brand is doing better?
To help you review and assess your brand’s takeaway strategy, we present the key advantages of improving your takeaway operations in this article. Then we show you how to go about it with some great suggestions and examples.
5 key benefits of revisiting and enhancing your brand’s takeaway experience
1. Build brand recall to boost sales
As you revamp your takeaway product experience, keep in mind that this offers you a fantastic opportunity to build brand recall in the minds of your consumers. Aesthetics are powerful, and you must be mindful of your packaging design. KFC is a leading example of how you can develop brand recall with takeaway packaging. Everyone can recall what the chip boxes, chicken packs, and what their burger wrapping papers look like. Further to that is the infamous KFC chicken bucket that is so simplistic in design yet synonymous with the brand.
2. Define and express brand identity and values, differentiating yourself from your competition
Promoting your identity and the values of your business on your takeaway packaging is a simple way to differentiate yourself from the competition. Many brands have taken to highlighting their recycling and eco-friendly practices on their takeaway food boxes. Others advertise their community engagement with a statement about donations or the percentage of sales donated to the charity of their choice. This is an optimal strategy to tell your customers about your business and your values which can result in unwavering brand loyalty if a customer's value aligns with yours.
3. Personalization and consumer connect
Another benefit of enhancing your takeaway packaging design is to leverage it to connect with your consumers through personalization. This is a fun concept with many options that can be implemented in your business. One idea is relevant to coffee shops with a rewards program and a tiered membership base. The takeaway coffee cups can have a specific design for each level of membership – a silver, gold, or platinum logo to accompany your branding on the cup. Include details about qualifying for each tier so that the gold member, who is a coffee shy of achieving platinum status this month, considers buying that extra cup for a colleague to make it to the next level.
Why not take things a step further if your membership or rewards program records birthdays? If a customer has an upcoming birthday, swap out the regular coffee cup with one that has a birthday message.
There’s an endless number of ideas when it comes to personalising your takeaway packaging to connect with your customers. Reward Hospitality New Zealand provides a printing service and we’re able to customise your takeaway packaging to suit your strategy to connect with your customers.
4. Eco-friendly for the informed and conscious consumer
‘Sustainable’ is no longer a luxury, it is ubiquitous and, in many cases, expected by default. If you’re thinking of ways to take your sustainability endeavours to the next level, consider upgrading the materials you use for food packaging or cutlery. Switch your straws to a biodegradable range made from materials such as wheat or cane. This is a mandatory requirement being rolled out nationally over the next year so it’s time for you to switch your straws before the influx of orders due to legislation.
Another method is rethinking your takeaway model with inspiration from the circular economy. This involves setting up dedicated recycling bins in your venue in conjunction with an approved recycling business such as Compost Connect. Customers are encouraged to return their used cutlery, cups, and containers in their next visit to be part of your responsible recycling program. This is a new concept in Australia, but it is likely to see huge growth as businesses, and especially consumers, become more environmentally focused.
5. Functionality
Don’t forget to inspect the functional aspects of your new takeaway products before you roll them out. Food going cold or leaking, flimsy cutlery, or cutlery, or bags that break are a complete turn-off!
Source the right products for the job that have been tried and tested. Here are some key methods with product options for your brand to consider or be inspired by.
5 ways to create a memorable takeaway experience for your customers and differentiate your brand
1. Takeaway carry bags
With light-weight plastic bags drawing criticism and even being banned in some countries including Australia, bags offering a sustainable alternative and well as an opportunity for branding are great. Consider using paper bags instead; you can even custom print these for your brand.
2. Eco-conscious crockery and serve-ware for takeaway
Consumers around the world are increasingly conscious of their purchase behaviours and are loyal to brands with values that matter to them. Including eco-friendly crockery and serve-ware products in your takeaway experience can give you the advantage of connecting with your consumers, in addition to making you a responsible brand. There are several options for you to choose from.
You could try using biodegradable sugarcane plates made from the leaves shed by the Areca palm tree. Or you could go for eco-friendly home-compostable and elegant-looking takeaway packagings, such as these biocane bowls and lids or sauce cups.
Serving greasy chips or wedges with mayonnaise? Use a rectangular serving basket lined with Gingham greaseproof paper. For takeaway finger food, there’s the pulp platter, and if you’re serving tacos there’s a special pulp takeaway and serving trays to consider.
Consider adding some smart-looking eco-friendly boxes such as these brown burger boxes for anything from falafel to a salad to-go.
3. Cutlery to-go
Found the right crockery for your brand? Don’t stop there! Here are some great options for cutlery made of natural eco-friendly materials including wooden forks, wooden knives and even wooden gelato spoons.
4. A little something more for takeaway sales
For the final touch to your takeaway sales, here are the perfect eco-friendly a-la-carte dinner napkins or bamboo skewer hearts to hold together that finger food. Looking for a way to present those vegan gooey chocolate brownies as your special for the day? Use this sandwich chalkboard to shout the specials to the world as they are going about their day.
5. Kitchen-ware for conscious cooking
As you revamp your takeaway experience, you could consider some quick upgrades to the amenities back-of-house as well. Some good options include this blending station that reduces sound and is perfect for intimate cafes or this speed oven that allows you to bake your batches perfectly and consistently.
Have we enticed you to tweak your brand takeaway experience and packaging strategy yet? Remember, the idea is to give each customer a memorable “take-away” with their takeaway!
Contact us if you’d like to discuss equipment to make your business more efficient for takeaway. We’re available to help with recommendations for the best takeaway packaging for your business as well as custom printing to help you stand out.