Human beings are social animals, and do you know what they like when they socialize?
Food!
Think about all the local buzz that seems to be created during the opening of restaurants. They feature ads in the local paper, sprinkle in some social media banter, and of course, some word-of-mouth from their satisfied customers.
All of this buzz helps to provide maximum impact during business launches. However, the local community can also help sustain businesses during their growth stages or attract interested investors. All it would take is to establish all of the right partnerships in the local community.
When it comes to the hospitality industry, partnering with your local suppliers can yield huge benefits. Next, the results of marketing effects can be exponential since businesses will be able to cross-promote. Also, successful businesses deeply rooted in their local community are only those that are sustainable.
With partners ranging from local banks to local farmers, well-established businesses are a true beacon for most investors. The following are just some examples of restaurant partnerships in their local communities that produce a true win-win situation for all parties involved.
1. Teaming Up With Your Local Food Suppliers
A growing number of eateries are getting involved with their local farms to market the famous “Buy local, buy fresh” trend. For instance, restaurants may choose to use grass-fed beef or perhaps local chicken from the farms in their area while also making sure that they support the suppliers when they promote their menu.
If this were to happen, then all the partners in this merger will stand to benefit from the increased visibility and cross-marketing in the local media and partner websites.
Barrel21 is a great example of this scenario. This distillery is quite popular in Pennsylvania and their restaurant advertises all of their local suppliers on their website. This eatery relies solely on milk, grass-fed beef, and corn from local farmers and chocolate from their local chocolate makers. In fact, even a man called ‘Dan the Fisher Man’, who single-handedly reels in smoked and Alaskan salmon, gets his own mention on their website.
2. Partnering With Beer Brewers
There are quite a few restaurants out there that have chosen to boost the visibility of their brand by partnering with beer brewers, or more specifically, craft beer brewers. There is a massive demand for unique and new products. If you have a creative name to your brand, such as ‘Pale-Ale Females’, you are bound to attract quite a few investors from all over the country.
Often, one-off kinds of beer are pushed down main restaurants so that customers are allowed to sample new beers on a rotational or regular basis. People who drink craft beer are bound to spend a lot more and become loyal customers of a restaurant that serves what they love most.
3. Joining Hands With Food Cooperatives
Besides locals farms, agricultural cooperatives in your local community could offer some valuable relationships on the basis of marketing opportunities and cost benefits. Fueled by their local food movements, these cooperatives are now on the rise.
These kinds of organizations are known to host informal farm tours, educational events, social events, and annual meetings for all of the members of the public. By partnering with cooperatives, you will also be able to give your restaurant statewide reach, which will extend to supply chain stakeholders and not only patrons for local restaurants.
4. Sponsoring Community Events
By sponsoring popular festivities such as sporting events, holiday festivals, or culture and cuisine-oriented markets, you will be able to increase your goodwill and visibility among local and public businesses.
Restaurants will then be able to serve samples of their fare by selling products and having their names printed on their merchandise for more permanent reminders of how they contributed to social good. Consumers are now demanding a lot more responsibilities from businesses. Millenials, in particular, tend to gravitate towards businesses that practice corporate social responsibility and give back to their local communities.
5. Collaborate With Nonprofit Organizations
When the time comes to partner up with your local non profit organizations, you will find numerous avenues to explore. For instance, in Atlanta, most eateries have chosen to work for local chapters of ‘Dine Out for No Kid Hungry’ project by Share Our Strength - which is a national organization striving to end child hunger in America.
For a week or a night, a predetermined percentage of their business proceeds are given to charity. Besides having been able to raise a massive $46 million throughout the nation since 2008, these restaurants had seen a 9% average increase in their sales ever since this promotion went live and a 32% increase in post-promotion offer redemptions.
See. It's quite a win-win for both sides of the bargain.
6. Start Offering Event Promotions For Your Local Businesses
Private event programs are a great place to partner with local businesses or to show support for your community as a whole. Some options for these partnerships can include offering discounts on events for local non profit organizations, or perhaps even adding some amenities or perks (for instance, valet parking or carving stones) if clients hosts big-spender event in your spaces.
Not only will this partnership display support in your community, but such events are also bound to bring through new patrons for your establishment. These will effectively grow your potential clientele in a very effective and organic manner.
7. Offer Extra Food to Food Banks and Shelters
Donating excess food and other restaurant items to food banks and local shelters is a very effective and easy way of giving back to your local community. There are numerous resources online that will make sure that you are following all of your guidelines for what is legal and safe to donate.
The Huffington Post reported that there was no public record available for anyone in the US for being sued or perhaps needing to pay damages due to the harms related to food donations.
The EPA also has a few great ideas for where restaurants can donate. Another great idea is that some restaurants can host some holiday dinners for food-insecure or underserved families who are usually funded through donations.
8. Highlight Your Local Art Community
Do you want to add themed night events in your restaurant? Or perhaps just spruce things up by adding a little flair to your restaurant. Well, you can always reach out to local musicians and artists about using their art or perhaps hosting some live music shows.
You could just as easily pitch a few pieces of art for sale or the music genre that you choose could dictate whether you would want to host rowdy Saturday night patio concerts or perhaps a little classy, low-key lunch or brunch hum for your diners.
This also happens to be a great marketing opportunity for the creatives that are featured in your restaurants. They are going to get twice the exposure they needed to succeed, and hopefully, the added flair is bound to attract a few new faces through your doors.
Some Food for Thought
The opportunity to form partnerships goes a lot deeper than just promoting beer or touting your town’s grass-fed beef. In reality, these opportunities for partnerships are only limited by your imagination.
What you need to do is to start outreaching local businesses and communities for a smart growth strategy that offers a great deal of benefits on both sides of the equation. Every investor knows just how competitive the restaurant industry can be and how narrow their margins can get. Trying to pursue returns by forming local partnerships is one way of benefiting every party that is involved.
Do you want some more advice for your new restaurant? Well, keep scrolling through.
A Restaurant Web Tool That Benefits Both Customers and Restaurateurs
“The customer is why we are here. If we take good care of them, they’ll give us good reason to come back.” – Jenny McKenzie
Local partnerships can make a huge difference in your profitability, and in turn, loyal customers are bound to spread positive words about your brand. MenuCRM offers a full-features web application that simplifies customer loyalty programs for small businesses and independent restaurant owners.
MenuCRM can be your restaurant’s website, online ordering system, CRM, restaurant loyalty app, and customer communications toll, all packed into one. By adopting MenuCRM, you will not only be able to increase your foot traffic and orders in less than 45-days but also streamline meal purchase processes without the need for internal restaurant maintenance.
So what’re you waiting for? Contact MenuCRM today to experience the difference.
