Customer Satisfaction
Restaurants — Serve one Petite Dessert!
Give the customer a real choice & increase profits
Normal conditions
Restaurant desserts have gotten out of hand in size. Last week, the smallest one had 990 calories listed on the menu. Along with lunch, that would be my entire day’s allotment to maintain my weight. One meal a day — a dog’s diet!
I could eat it all, split it with my partner, or eat 1/4 and take the rest home for three more days. None are good options.
Local alternatives
Two of our local restaurants in The Villages, FL, City Fire and Bonefish Grill have alternatives.
Bonefish Grill sells three warm cookies. However, they will sell one for about 2/3 of the price. That’s fine with me since I don’t want to gain weight and like a warm dessert. It is just a variation of an existing dessert. They do list one on their menu along with three and six cookies.
Two years ago, City Fire served a small apple pastry at their New Year party that looked like a flower. It is round and about 3 inches in diameter. I estimate at most 200 calories. I suggested that they add it to their menu.
They did, but not as served at New Year. They added ice cream, caramel syrup, and whipped cream, probably raising it to the 900-calorie level. I assume that was so they could charge the same as other desserts. They let me order it without the syrup, ice cream and whipped cream. I eat more than 200 per year.
Recently, they replaced it with a larger, 5-inch dessert for a short time. They said the other wasn’t available, but I suspect that they were trying a new supplier. It had twice the dough and three times the apples & sugar — a massive calorie increase. And quite frankly, it just didn’t taste as good. They’ve since returned to the original.
Both restaurants use components from larger desserts, so there is no new inventory.
Proposal
Restaurants probably make a good profit on large desserts, but many people skip them either because of the high calorie and sugar content. Or because they just can’t eat that much more food. Cost is rarely a consideration.
Adding one petite dessert to the menu offers a viable alternative. People who order no dessert are the potential customers. The smaller volume and lower price are quite an incentive. Those who feel that a large dessert would make them miserable could eat a smaller dessert and feel satisfied.
Most people who now order large desserts would probably continue to do so since they already like them.
Conclusion
Bonefish Grill does but City Fire does not have the smaller dessert on their menu. I expect City Fire’s dessert sales would more than double if they added it.
All restaurants should add a petite dessert to increase their total sales and customer satisfaction.
