From crispy fries to golden chicken tenders, fried foods have universal appeal across all demographics. They’re not just crowd-pleasers, however; they can also be highly profitable menu items when managed correctly. Here’s how restaurants can increase profits on fried foods while keeping customers satisfied.
1. Menu Innovation with Fried Foods
Restaurants can differentiate themselves by innovating with fried food offerings. While classic items like French fries and fried chicken will always be popular, experimenting with unique ingredients and flavors can attract more customers and increase sales. Consider adding fried vegetables, tempura-style dishes, or even fried desserts to the menu. Items like deep-fried pickles, zucchini sticks, or funnel cakes can surprise customers, encouraging them to try something new. Offering seasonal fried specials, such as pumpkin fritters in the fall, can also attract customers who are seeking limited-time menu options.
Flavor innovation is another consideration. Adding signature sauces or seasonings to fried items can transform simple items into standout menu options. Whether it’s garlic parmesan fries, Cajun-spiced wings, or spicy chipotle chicken tenders, customizing the flavor profiles of your fried foods can entice customers to pay more for something unique.
2. Promotions and Combo Deals
To maximize sales of fried foods, operators can provide a promotion or combo deal that pairs fried items with other menu options. For example, offering a “fried food sampler” that includes a variety of appetizers or sides can encourage customers to try multiple items, increasing the overall ticket size. Happy hour specials that feature discounted fried appetizers can draw in crowds during slower times of the day. You can also create meal combos that pair fried foods with drinks, giving customers an incentive to spend more for a complete meal experience.
3. Improve Portion Control and Reduce Waste
While fried foods can be highly profitable, managing portion sizes and reducing waste is crucial to maximizing those profits. Over-serving fried items can negatively affect your profits, while under-serving may leave customers dissatisfied. Training staff to follow portion control guidelines will help maintain quality and profit margins, ensuring each portion is sold at the optimal price. If you notice too many fries left on plates, reduce the portion size.
4. Focus on Food Quality and Oil Management
Efficiency is key when it comes to making fried foods profitable. A streamlined frying process reduces waste and ensures consistency in quality and flavor, keeping customers happy and encouraging repeat business.
Investing in quality frying equipment is essential. A reliable deep fryer that maintains consistent oil temperatures will produce evenly fried foods and minimize the amount of oil absorbed by the food. This leads to crispier results and reduces oil consumption, keeping costs down.
The quality of fried foods also depends heavily on the freshness of the oil used. As oil degrades, it affects both the flavor and texture of the food, resulting in greasy, soggy dishes that are less appealing to customers. Investing in the Total Oil Management, an automated cooking oil solution, from Restaurant Technologies will help keep oil fresh longer, reducing the frequency of oil replacement and cutting costs. This solution features advanced oil filtration that tracks and analyzes oil usage, ensuring that fryers are producing the highest quality fried food. There’s also absolutely no manual handling of oil which reduces labor costs and increases worker safety (and morale!).
Fried foods offer restaurants a great opportunity to boost profits through low-cost ingredients, high margins, and wide customer appeal. Focusing on quality, efficiency, and creativity in the fried food category will help restaurants attract more customers, increase ticket sizes, and ultimately improve their bottom line.
