bake - January 2012 - 66

cafe

Upgrade for Higher Price Points
Like the regulars at a tavern, regulars at your bakery cafe provide steady income...only without the drunken foolishness. They also have a regular order that keeps them coming back, but even your regulars get a “wild hair” every now and then and try something new and different. They might even crave a simple upgrade to their regular order. With a few inexpensive tweaks, you can upsell the standard fare for a higher price. Using a different bread or cheese, adding an unusual topping such as artichokes or avocado, and changing up sauces can create something special and signature. These creations are done in a way that doesn’t interfere with any staple menu item that Today’s consumers love to be a part of their own buying experience. Especially with the economy the way it is, customers are more likely to spend money on something they believe they have had a hand in creating and developing. “Let the customer help you design your menu,” says Butch Rouwhorst, co-owner of Ryke’s Bakery, Cafe and Coffee Shop in Muskegon, MI. When Rouwhorst decided he could make a chili better than what Ryke’s currently serves, he was wary. “We do have some pretty loyal customers to that chili,” he says. But Rouwhorst believes he can still do better, and he will include his customers in the decision making when the time comes. “They’re going to be the thumbs up or the thumbs down when we create the recipes,” Rouwhorst says.

you offer. Doing things this way allows for gourmet offerings at higher price points without alienating those who come to your shop for their “usual.” Aside from just adding different ingredients to upgrade, brain-

In a six-week period, Ryke’s will offer six different chilies and let the customers vote on which one will be the new offering. “Maybe we’ll end up with the same one, maybe after the six weeks they’ll say, ‘No, you better stick with what you had.’” Either way, Ryke’s will engage its customers knowing that they determine what sells and what doesn’t. By creatively utilizing existing ingredients, keeping it simple and training staff to market upgrades with a friendly and catchy comment, hitting higher numbers can come with minimal effort. Ryke’s serves a 12-oz bowl of soup with crackers for $2.49. When a customer orders the soup, the staff is trained to ask, “Have you heard about the big bowl theory?” This play on a popular television show opens a dialogue for an upsell. A 16-oz dinner bowl of the same soup with a chunk of Ryke’s fresh rustic bread sells for $4.95. For 4 oz more of soup and a bread upgrade, the price nearly doubles. McArthur’s Party Cake Bakery in St. Louis, MO, created its own sandwich similar to that of a popular
Zingerman’s Delicatessen uses a pricing system that offers consistency to customers and ease to operators.

storm new ways to mix up the products you’re already offering. When going for specialty or gourmet items, think ethnic. Dig into your own ethnic roots — everybody’s got them — and see where that leads you. Most importantly, engage your customers and ask them what they would like to see on your menu.

66 < JAN 2012 | bakemag.com

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bake - January 2012

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