In the process of catering operation, is there an off-season division and how to divide it? thank you

"Fairy worries in February and March" is a jargon in the catering industry, which means that February and March of the lunar calendar is the off-season of the catering market every year. This sentence is especially obvious for restaurants in Shaoxing. Some struggling restaurants, such as T Coffee and Meng Xiaoyang, quietly closed their doors when the off-season came, and small and medium-sized restaurants with transfer notices can also be seen everywhere. Discount, special price, free beer, free delivery when full, and various available promotion methods have been used by major restaurants. How to spend the off-season in restaurants? The reporter's investigation found that the "dilution method" of the restaurant can be described as the Eight Immortals crossing the ocean to show their magical powers. The reporter also specially collected some, hoping to serve as a reference for other restaurants to spend the off-season.

Promotion guidance: let the off-season fire up

Promotion is one of the most commonly used means for many restaurants in the off-season. The heads of several restaurants told reporters that although the flow of people in restaurants has declined, the per capita consumption has dropped even faster, mainly because the ordering rate of high-end materials and seafood has declined. Therefore, off-season promotion must first drive the demand of mass consumption.

The reporter learned that in order to ensure the passenger flow, major restaurants have launched attractive services. For example, Butterfly Hall Hotel offers a 7.8% discount on cooking and a special seafood every day. Xanadu Hotel offers 6.8% discount on Chinese cooking and 7.8% discount on dinner cooking, and offers one yuan special seafood every day. Every table in the governor's hotel has fresh dishes ... and the big hot pot restaurants offer more gifts. If it exceeds 100, you get 30; if it exceeds 100, I get 50. A hot pot restaurant even launched a promotion to drink beer for free.

Many restaurant owners told reporters that it is helpless for restaurants to play promotional cards. For example, the person in charge of a seafood restaurant revealed that the purchase price of seafood has soared these days. For example, the price of mussels rose from 500g 150 yuan to 190 yuan, but the price sold in restaurants fell instead of rising. Its purpose is very clear, that is, it hopes to ignite the off-season at a low price. Many promotional activities are money-losing businesses, but by attracting popularity, driving other consumption and doing enough articles, hotels can break even or make a slight loss, thus successfully spending the off-season.

Channel innovation: looking for new highlights

The off-season is relative. Some hotel officials told reporters that the off-season of their hotels is not light, which is a good reference for many restaurants that are afraid of off-season. Lu Jing, a teacher from the School of Economics of Zhejiang University, believes that whether it is the off-season of any industry, the test is how to use the strategies of mobilization, innovation and guidance in marketing to make the off-season not dull.

The person in charge of the Dynasty Hotel told the reporter that the wedding banquet business was particularly hot this year, which made up for the disadvantages of fewer off-season meetings and business guests. Therefore, the hotel set off a small climax in the off-season in March, and its turnover increased by more than 10% compared with the same period last year.

The launch of innovative dishes in the off-season has injected new vitality into the off-season catering market. The reporter learned that most characteristic restaurants in Shaoxing, such as Sichuan Restaurant, Shaoxing Restaurant, Zuimei, etc., will replace old dishes and introduce brand-new dishes, and the prices are quite affordable, which will undoubtedly arouse many people's appetite.

Artificial festivals are another powerful means for restaurants to cope with the off-season. These days, celebrations and food festivals in major restaurants are quite frequent, which is a good way to attract popularity. For example, Burton Western Restaurant will launch a theme food festival in the off-season, and British Western Restaurant will soon launch a Vietnamese food festival. These activities with different themes make the restaurant full of people.

Open source and reduce expenditure: let the cost come down

How to reduce the cost of restaurants is also an important means of "dilution". Every restaurant has a good way to reduce costs. The first is salary reduction, and the chef bears the brunt. The kitchen director of a restaurant told reporters that the monthly salary of famous chefs is quite rich. At present, the average chef's salary does not exceed 3000 yuan per month, while the average chef generally only has about 1000 yuan per month. The number of customers in restaurants has decreased, so reducing the number of waiters is also a means to save costs in many restaurants, especially hot pot restaurants, where the number of waiters has decreased by nearly half.

The person in charge of a restaurant thinks that in the off-season of these months, the sales of seafood and seafood are not very good, and as the weather turns hot, the probability of seafood deterioration and death will greatly increase. Therefore, in the off-season, many restaurants weaken seafood, but focus on home cooking consumption, and strive to innovate the taste of home cooking.

Store decoration: preparing for the peak season

More and more restaurants choose to decorate their stores in the off-season, and the catering industry also calls it store renovation. Since March, Shaoxing Hotel has started the overall renovation of the hotel. "After several years of operation, there is a certain gap between the current software and hardware and other hotels. Therefore, the off-season is used for decoration and welcomes the arrival of the peak season with a new look. " A person in charge of the hotel told reporters this way.

Chef Tengji and Chuanmeizi hot pot were completely renovated in the off-season last year. The person in charge of these restaurants believes that the catering competition is so fierce now that consumers attach great importance to the hotel environment. Through the transformation of the restaurant, we can increase the popular elements of the catering industry, successfully complete the transformation of the hotel, and make the hotel invincible. The person in charge of a restaurant revealed that the renovation cycle of the restaurant is getting shorter and shorter now, from once every five years to once every two to three years now.

Some restaurants will be partially renovated in the off-season to reduce costs. If Zuimei Fashion Restaurant, the soft decoration of the restaurant will be slightly adjusted in April, giving people a refreshing feeling. The person in charge of the restaurant believes that the style of fashionable restaurants is not static, and it is a trend to adjust the design of restaurants according to the mood and seasonal changes. However, the adjustment doesn't have to hit it off. Changing the soft clothes is enough to transform the restaurant into a full personality.

Resource Integration: Sharpening the Knife without Mistaking the Woodcutter

Promotions and discounts are not universal in all restaurants. Five-star and other high-end hotels say no to discounts in off-season catering. Mr. Wang of the International Hotel Catering Department told the reporter that in the off-season of catering, for five-star hotels, the price will not be considered, and there is no hurry to sort out local details or specific offers. Although the business is light in the off-season, many important tasks of the hotel were completed during this time. This task is to practice "internal strength", which is very important to enhance the image of the hotel.

Some characteristic hotel also do some basic training in the off-season. The person in charge of a restaurant told reporters that the off-season is not idle for them. In the off-season, the chopping knife is sharpened, so that the seeds sown in spring can harvest more fruits in autumn. In the off-season, they will strengthen the innovation of chefs' dishes, and will lead hotel chefs to study and learn from the classics all over the country, find some good dishes, improve and introduce them, and attract more consumers.