Drinkable Desserts On-Trend
If the return of the espresso martini is any indicator, the trends are turning back in favor of sweet cocktails.
This is particularly beneficial for restaurants trying to add-on ticket items, as desserts are generally profitable in terms of adding additional gross profit dollars to each guest check, but are easy for guests to turn down. Whether it’s not wanting to spend the extra money or filling up on dinner, guests will forgo dessert more quickly than they will appetizers or drinks to start the meal. To center attention on end-of-meal add-ons, some restaurants are pushing “drinkable dessert.”
“Beverage consumption in general is surging as consumers turn to menu items that are fast, portable, customizable, and satisfying, especially in the growing afternoon daypart. Restaurant companies large and small have noticed, and are responding with an array of drinkable desserts,” writes Bret Thorn for Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN).
Drinks as dessert expands the variety of dessert options by quite a lot—there is something for every palette. This liquor.com article alone offers 30 dessert cocktail options, from the creamy and delectable (not to mention, movie quote-worthy) White Russian to the more sour, fruit forward Sgroppino. Of course, for the more refined diner, an option of savory cheeses with port may be the way to go.
Drinkable dessert isn’t limited to alcoholic beverages. By the end of a meal, many diners may be done drinking. As NRN suggests, the drinkable dessert trend is capturing a non-drinking audience by storm with milkshakes, chilled coffee drinks, horchatas, and affogato.
These drinks are plenty to satisfy a sweet tooth, but by nature, are both convenient and refined at once—presentation is key. Higher-end restaurants might sell a drinkable dessert as fancy, whereas for casual dining, a milkshake is an after-dinner treat you can take home as you leave. Many quick-serve restaurants have implemented this strategy as well, beefing up the marketing around milkshakes and sweet drinks, including Taco Bell, Jack-in-the-Box, and Freddy’s, writes NRN.
Richard Weil, owner and Principal of National Restaurant Consultants adds, “Starting with the greeting when the guests come through the door from either a host or at the table with a server, mention desserts and drinkable desserts. This goes a long way in suggestive selling.” Weil further notes, “Positive reinforcement from the initial greeting can even be a very powerful part of this process.”
Even if you’ve never served dessert in your restaurant, the drinkable dessert trend is a menu addition to consider. “‘We’ve never really had a dessert cocktail menu before, and we wanted to give people what they didn’t know they wanted until they had it,’ said Guard and Grace steakhouse’s ‘bar liaison,’ Jake Pike. He added that sometimes the dessert cocktails are ordered with dessert, and sometimes they are the dessert, especially after guests have had a full meal and ‘want a sweet libation to round it out.’”
If you’re considering re-engineering your menu to incorporate desserts and other profit-earning adjustments, reach out to one of our restaurant consultants for assistance. Using data from trends like drinkable dessert alongside our time-honored menu strategies, we can make your menu more guest-friendly —and profitable to your business.