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Different Fields Of Operations Of A Restaurant Consultant

In past few years there has been impressive growth of restaurant business. From taking up the franchisee of the global restaurant chain to opening a small local café; it has become very easy and convenient to spot an eatery point around your surroundings. At first glance, this business seems to be very attractive and revenue generating business idea but like every other business even this business demands loads of hard work, planning, right execution and dedication. All thanks to the Restaurant Consultant who are there to help the restaurant owners with their dream of successful running restaurant.

They are the ones who can help and support restaurant with almost all aspects like:

• They can strategically plan your marketing plans

Whether your restaurant needs a Local Store Marketing plan or a global promotional idea; the restaurant consultants can do it all. They can sit with your team of marketing or can even give you ideas individually to increase the walk-ins, sales and revenue of your food business. Isn’t it fantastic!

• Yes, they can suggest you best interiors too

From suggesting the theme to deciding the interiors; the restaurant consultants are Restaurant Interior Designers too. They can give some exclusive and unique interior decorating ideas that can make your restaurant space look appealing. Doesn’t it sound interesting?

• Menu Developing and Designing is their yet another concerned field

Believe it or not but it is the menu of the restaurant which attracts the customers. Thus, planning and designing a menu in itself is a tedious job which becomes easy with an advice of a restaurant consultant. So, make sure to consult them at least once while designing and deciding the menu.

• Managing and training the staff is also their part of job

Like every other job even the restaurant workers need training and development sessions from time to time. From chefs to front office managers and waiters to bartenders; they can organize the training and development sessions for all at time of needs. What else one could have asked for?

Nowadays, the career of a restaurant consultant seems to be very promising. And with right experience it can help an individual grow and expand. So, if you too are thinking of becoming a restaurant consultant don’t give it a second thought. Just go for it.

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Will We All Be Vegan By 2030?

Consider this: since 2012 to 2020, meat-free meal sales in supermarkets have increased by over 1,100 percent. That’s quite a growth curve for any sector, let alone a category that has literally emerged from dirt.

At a group level, virtually all food types have vegan alternatives.

Meat substitute is possibly the largest category now, led by the Beyond and Impossible brands, along with Amy's Kitchen, Archer Daniels Midland, and the Blue Chip Group.

The global meat substitutes market was estimated at around $1.6 billion in 2019 with projected revenue to reach $ 3.5 billion by 2026 and CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 12.0% during the same forecast. The vegan market is primarily driven by the increasing demand for plant-based meat products among Millennials and Generation Z, however, all generations have an interest in this new category given the broad appeal and underlying reasons behind this sectors’ emergence.

The other major vegan growth category is dairy, where brands are adopting plant-based commodities including, but not limited to, almonds, soy, oats, hemp, coconut, rice, flax, and cashew. The big players in this category include Perfect Day, Freedom Foods Group, International Holdings Inc. and Hain Celestial, however some of the corporate mainstream dairy groups are fast making their way into this market. Danone,for example, has expanded its plant-based range to include Silk Almond Milk Yogurt and So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt, along with soon-to-launch Activia Dairy-Free yogurt alternatives.

Needless to say, virtually all of the broad based food brands are meeting new consumer demand by innovating and providing new plant-based food alternatives, all of which are now resting on an increasing square footage of supermarket shelves.

It’s not just food and beverage that is converting to plant-based products; cosmetics, furniture, clothing, and even construction materialsall have taken a strong position. For example, Thrive Cosmeticsonly offers 100% vegan cosmetics and the clothing industry is littered with vegan apparel brands including: In The Soulshine, Wuxly and Beyond Skin. In construction, hemp is the alternative material of choice, and is being deployed as finish and structural materials used in residential and commercial buildings.

So, what is driving this new plant lifestyle? The diehard vegans of this world would have us believe it’s due to the human race waking up to the realities of animal cruelty. However, while that is certainly a factor, the human race has definitely not, all of a sudden, grown a conscience.

As with most mega trends, and vegan food is a MEGAtrend, it is the sum of all things that have created the new decades’ most dynamic commercial food opportunity since… well, since meat!

Understanding the trend is critical, as it is the source(s) that determines if the trend will fade away or become normality.

By way of example, the titanic poke craze of 2012 to 2018 was driven by consumer’s increasing interest in raw fish. Southern California was unsurprisingly the epicenter for the US’s poke trend given its weather and lead in raw fish consumption.

Poke protagonists hyped the Hawaiian dish representing  perfect foundational economics of fast-casual dining through its easy customization and convenience in a bowl. This, combined withlow start-up costs, and the portability of the product resulted in multiple brands springing up.

However, poke has its problems; it’s just not as reliable and versatile as sushi (its closest rival), and *supermarkets have been unable to offer a shelf stable product. As such, poke revenue and market share are relatively stagnant despite the category’s continued innovation. While there have been a few poke success stories, many of the brands that sprung up have subsequently sprung down.

On evaluation, the poke phenomena was based on some broad perception which has withered and the product category, at street level, has somewhat faded off the ‘on trend’ radar.

* Given that broader availability drives a product into mainstream markets, supermarkets are the primary driver in sustaining food service category trends. Think pizza, burgers and hot dogs. The extensive availability across retail and food service is the chief incubator that maintains relevance of each category.

So back to my question of what is compelling the vegan cyclone? Well, as indicated, there is greater awareness about animal cruelty. Certainly, the Millennial and Gen Z generations are far more aware and more sensitive towards animals, thus generational attitude transformations relating to food have shifted towards plant-based products. However, in the scheme of things, this represents a relatively small percentage with multiple other factors to consider.

Reason #1 - Environment

First and foremost is the environment. As climate deniers keep chanting ‘conspiracy’ to a mainly diminishing and uninterested audience, general populations watch in awe as states and even continents burn out of control. Drought and flooding have become more prominent, and general weather patterns are distinctly altered from historic norms, all exactly as scientists predicted, only sooner than anyone expected.

This extraordinary development has fueled interest in plant-based diets given their more planet friendly science. Consumers are now acutely aware that, in general, plants grow faster than cows (by a lot!), requiring less water and space to cultivate. Combined with a 10 times faster replacement speed than livestock, the environmental and economic advantages that plant-based foods hold over farm animals, in the food chain, are really very obvious.

Reason #2 Global Population Rise

As global populations are on the rise, so are farms, and I mean literally on the rise. Vertical farming using hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic technology has proved to be highly efficient in producing more food per square foot, and is thus able to supply more humans with essential foods than traditional livestock farms.

Unremarkably, it is considerably more costly and obfuscated to create vertical cattle or sheep farms, thus investment in modern plant-based agriculture is outweighing livestock investment. The vertical farming market was valued at $2.3 billion in 2018 and investments grew significantly from $60 million in 2015 & 2016 to $414 million in 2017 & 2018. While still very small in the context of overall plant farming, the investment growth is notable.

On average, 2nd generation vertical farms yield 55 times more produce per square foot over conventional farms. In addition, food can now be grown in the cities where it is eaten. The concept of a restaurant located in a major city having its own farm in the parking lot is now a reality and, given the farm will be producing plants and not meat, menu development will be based on available ingredients which are of course, vegan.

Looking into the future, a natural cycle will slowly emerge whereby the change in food supply will influence shifts in food class demand towards processed and non-processed plant-based products. This is where the market becomes interesting as consumers gradually migrate to veganism through the supply chain, and not necessarily through choice or even a trend.

This takes us to the vegan influence driver: global population growth. The world population increased from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.8 billion in February 2020. It is forecasted to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Currently over 1 billion people live in chronic hunger, mainly due to poverty and limited access to water and food sources. If we remain within the current global food supply system, starvation will propagate intensely, causing untold systemic regression.

However, one of the palpable solutions is by deploying agriculture away from feeding livestock to directly feed humans. It is estimated that humans could net up to 3 quadrillion calories a year, a 50% rise from our present amount, if we switch to a plant-based diet. Consider the power of newly developed mobile vertical farms in extreme climatic and remote parts of the world, which could travel to areas of need and are self-sustaining. Again, such technology would need to be plant-based and diets would simply adapt to the new food resource.

Reason #3 Health

Of course, health concerns are the next reason for the shift to plant-based diets. Plant-based diets can defend against heart disease and protect against a broad range of different medical conditions. As such, plant-based diets are becoming increasingly popular in the United States. A 2017 report found that 6 percent of people in the U.S. now identify as vegan compared with just 1 percent in 2014.

Thelma Ancill, CEO of Phood Farmacy, an online ghost kitchen providing from-scratch Food as Medicine, reports that around 30% of sales are vegan, and she has observed a notable rise in plant-based demand in the past 12 months.

However, the U.S. lags behind when trading animal protein for plant protein. In Germany, almost half of the population follow a low-meat diet and other European countries are following suit.

Yet, not all plant food is healthy. Many of the large meat replacement brands have high sodium levels, a health villain if ever there was one, and some other rather questionable ingredients. Many meat analog products are breaded or fried in unhealthy oils and contain hard to understand ingredients such as pea protein isolate, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, yeast extract, maltodextrin, natural flavors, gum arabic, and so it goes on. Equally processed vegan products often contain soy, which has been accused of infertility, cancers, and so on.

Researchers from Brazil, the Netherlands, and the U.S. all presented at a major conference called Nutrition 2018. They demonstrated benefits associated with vegetarian and plant-type diets, but they also communicated the health importance of the foodquality.

Reason #4 It actually tastes like meat!

Which leads me to the final factor in the plant-based diet expansion. It’s really quite simple, plant-based products actually taste like, and are promoted like, meat!

Take one of the US’s most promising vegan fast food chain concepts, Plant Power Fast Food(based in Southern California). Their menu includes a Bacon Cheeseburger, a Chicken Wrap, BBQ Chicken Salad and Raw Tacos. These items sound like products from I’m Lovin It or Taco SwellBell, however, all Plant Power products are 100% vegan and frankly taste great. Plant Power is just one example amongst many. However, 15 years ago, the likelihood of a 100% plant-based fast food chain being successful was simply out of the question. It’s not just dedicated vegan groups that are offering tasty vegan products; Carl’s Junior, Taco Bell, and yes, McDonald’s all now have a plant-based product on their menu.

In the supermarkets, shelves are now filled with a broad range of plant-based products that are promoted as meat substitutes. Buffalo chicken strips, taco meat, and meatballs are now all available as meat substitutes, and sales are ‘Beyond’ expectations! Most restaurants carry plant-based options on their menu and chefs continue to experiment with meat replacement ingredients in all restaurant sectors.

In closing, will we all be vegan by 2030? I don’t think so, but there is no question that the world’s food ecosystem will transform over the next ten years at an unprecedented rate and a colossal swing towards plant-based diets will be the foundation of the plant diet insurgency.

Author:          Robert Ancill, CEO The Next Idea Group

About the author:Robert Ancill is a Food & Restaurant Consultant who specializes in food and restaurant trends as well as design, positioning, and marketing. Robert advises large and small corporations on hidden trends and market specific trend forecasts.

For information contact Robert directly at: robert@thenextidea.net or call: 818 887 7714

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Ways to develop and promote your food-ordering app (That Actually Work)

Food is not just a source to exist. It is the most sustainable mode of income and its necessity make inroads for new business opportunities.

In today's increasingly paced and digitally driven society, there is an increased demand for fast, convent and affordable services. Moreover, hunger is a continuous development. Online food ordering businesses are capitalizing on this and seeing incredible growth outcomes, and making notable case studies! Read on!

If you sell food products, and are yet to make an online presence, it is extremely important you make an food ordering application to multiply your revenue, reach untapped avenues of growth, and keep demands instant, active and on-going.

In this article, we will cover key essentials of developing a food ordering app, how to make one and how to promote it.

Why The Need For Food Ordering App Persist?

We are ordering pizzas and fast foods by making phone calls to specialized calls. We can browse the website of restaurants and order foods we want to eat. So, why food ordering apps?

In order to understand this, we need to understand the key stakeholders of food ordering app.

• Restaurants - Who register on the app, list their offerings and serve the foods once demanded

• Consumers - Who compare and choose food items from multiple available sources and then place the order

• Courier personnel - Who gets the food delivered from the restaurant to the consumer

Here Is Why Food Delivery App Is In Demand. It's All About Need, Value And Money

• A food ordering application persists because it allows restaurants to connect with seemingly endless number of audiences online for more orders and sales.

• It connects consumers with potentially unlimited restaurants and food-ordering sources; which they can compare, buy and choose from and avail attractive discounts, they also get the comfort of getting food delivered at the doorsteps.

• It generates employment opportunities in the delivery segment by employing people to deliver the food to targeted consumers

So a food delivery app online exist because it solves problems, creates values and promotes a convenient culture

What Are The Benefits Of Food Delivery Apps?

• Increased customer convenience

• Easier transactions

• Low guesswork - predictability across the stage

• Use of technology to accelerate quality of offerings

In simple words, the Benefits Of Food Delivery apps increase food availability options by allowing each stakeholder to gain true value from it.

What Are The Different Types Of Online Delivery Apps?

• Aggregator app - In this platform, the app connects customers with restaurants. They have database of restaurants, and allow customers to compare, choose the menus, prices, reviews. Once a customer’s decides the source, the app connects them with the restaurants that have their own delivery system. So, their key stakeholders consist of customers and restaurants.

• Aggregator with logistic support - In this platform, the app connects customers with restaurants and provides the logistic support. They may have partnership with third party delivery services, or have their own networks of trained resources that pick orders from the restaurants and deliver it to the customers. Their key stakeholders include customers, restaurants and logistics resources.

The second platform is more in demand today because it offers more convenience to customers and restaurants.

What are the features of a good food delivery app?

You can create one app with separate login options - for restaurants, customers and delivery partners. Or you can create separate app for each stakeholders. The second one is a choice to go for when you have a good budget. Usually, a single app with different login credentials is a good and affordable idea of food delivery app to begin with.

Having one single app with separate logins keeps your app discovery, usability and branding consistent and more aligned.

Core functions of each interface

• Consumer - Comparing and reviewing information from different restaurants, placing of an order from within the app

• Restaurant - Management of the apps, ability to take new orders, process it, distinguish between different order patterns - such as new, completed, cancelled, ready for pickup etc.

• Delivery partner/own delivery - Communicating with the customers about the orders and coordinating with the restaurant to pick up the order

Core features of each interface meant for each stakeholder

• For consumer

• Sign-up page - Either allow users enter their credentials on a simple, easy to fill-up sign up page or add the feature of third-party integration.

• Customer Profile - The page should allow a new user to enter details, and personal information such as name. It should be populated with info such as order history, reordering, payment options etc.

Other essential integration -

• Restaurant search

• Place an order facility

• Payment processing feature

• Social sharing

• Review

• For restaurants

• Registration - Allow business to enter their details including name of the business, address and hours of operation etc.

• Track orders - A restaurant should effortlessly track all types of orders, including ongoing, upcoming and completed.

• Manage content - A simple content management system should help restaurants to fill in important information about their offerings, including menu items, special discounts information, upcoming items etc.

• Payment system - Make it easy for restaurants to receive payment, prioritize a schedule - such as fulfilling a payment only when a delivery has been confirmed by the customer.

• For delivery/courier

• Order management - Ability to accept new orders, gather all required info such as customer name, location, phone number. Updating the order status and show its progress

• GPS - Allow delivery personnel to get the driving directions in real-time, calculate the distance in miles and minutes, track nearby drivers in case of need

• Ratings - A consistently good ranking should allow a specific delivery personnel to receive more orders. Negative reviews should be judged and considered properly in order to improve the service

How Much Would It Cost To Develop A Food-Ordering App?

• It depends on a number of factors. A simple tool with low functionality would surely cost more.

• An app with separate login may cost less than having separate apps for each stakeholder with high-end functionalities and with the need for promotion

• The platform to be used - iOS or android also influence cost factor

• Complex design will cost high compared to a simple design

• Designing the user part usually involve more time, effort and research.

OMSOFTWARE Mobile App Development Services - Ask for a Free Quote Now

Ways To Promote Your Food Ordering App

• Research your audience

• Understand your niche, research competition

• Use content marketing to promote your offerings

• Keep a sustained social media presence, with special focus to instantly reply to customers

• Regularly blog

• Use Email marketing

Once your food ordering app development is done, the next phase that is promotion is very much dependent on how effective you can take the strategy forward.

Read ALL ABOUT APP STORE OPTIMIZATION IN 2020 to learn how to promote your food-ordering app on app store

At OMSOFTWARE , we are happy to have designed and developed world-class mobile apps at a cost customized according to our client's personalized preferences and their budgetary needs," says Raj Kamal, CEO OMSOFTWARE

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Reference :

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Find the most useful consultant firm for your restaurant for a better outlook and to stay competitive in the market before finalizing the payment structure.

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Why Restaurant Designing Is Important?

If you are planning to start a restaurant business, you need to take help from many restaurant consultants such as restaurant designers, restaurant marketers and other important personnel who can offer great help to give it a successful start. Restaurant architects are the designers that work on your restaurant designing part. They work on the overall designing of the restaurant along with the dining establishments. The owner discusses all their needs and requirements for their restaurant with the designers and helps them in their completion. The designers work on a contractual basis and need to complete it within the specified time guidelines.

Importance Of Restaurant Designing

After deciding on your restaurant's theme, the next important thing to focus on is its designing. When thinking of a restaurant, the first thing that clicks in our mind is the good food but restaurant designing is extremely essential if you want the customers to stay and to return back in future. An influencing design improves your restaurant's image that results in a repeat of customers and the addition of new customers to your business. To stand out in the competitive industry, a good restaurant interior helps in improving customer satisfaction. A good restaurant design helps in the restaurant marketing by the customers who already visited in.

You Can Learn The Importance Of Restaurant Design In The Following Description

• Marketing and branding strategy: An effective restaurant design is a crucial part of the marketing strategy. The way customers look at the restaurant is important for its branding. Even before noticing the food, the interior is the foremost thing the customers notice as soon as they enter your restaurant. A decent interior gets more appraisal than a shabby and bright interior.

• Impacts customer psychology: A good interior design lays a great impact on customer psychology in deciding a good or bad image of the restaurant. You can make your customer stay more, order more and offer good tips with the help of effective interior design.

• Social media popularity: In today's world, social media is getting widely popular. Customers used to express everything on social media such as Facebook, Instagram etc. Experiencing good food in a beautiful restaurant is most likely to be posted on social media sites that can help in increasing your restaurant's popularity to a wider customer area.

Major Elements Of Restaurant Designing That Increase Its Popularity

• Architecture and design: The architecture of the restaurant is the first thing that impacts the customer even before visiting it. It should be designed with the help of a professional and a highly qualified designer.

• Lighting: Lighting can make or kill the effect of the interior. It should be placed properly in the proper areas for highlighting the essentials.

• Seating: The seating of the restaurant should be comfortable and attractive. The customer stays if they get impressed with the seating available.

• Fragrance: A subtle and pleasant fragrance can refresh the mood of the customers and helps in developing a positive image.

The design of the restaurant impacts a lot in restaurant consulting firmsrestaurant marketing.

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THINGS TO CONSIDER WHILE STARTING A RESTAURANT BUSINESS

Opening a restaurant is quite a tricky business. A lot of innovation and creative ideas are needed if you want to open a restaurant for a successful business. A large number of restaurants are already running in the market. These restaurants keep improving their professional skills and methods as per the changing customer needs. To get your restaurant business fit in the group of successful restaurants, you need to think above the existing level of the restaurant industry. Whether your plan is to open a small or a big restaurant, both types require a lot of research on the concept of the restaurant, the investment required to start your business, the location of the restaurant, which the restaurant is going to attract and other important aspects.

The restaurant industry is quite huge. There are many restaurants that are running successfully in the market by making their customers happy. The restaurant start-up business is surrounded by a lot of risks and tough hours. If you are going to open the first restaurant and there are a lot of questions mingled in your mind.

This Article Tries To Solve Them By Offering Some Of The Best Advice.

• Decide the concept of the restaurant: The first thing to look while starting your restaurant business is to decide upon the concept. The idea of your restaurant should be made by keeping your investment limits in mind. For a deeper analysis, you need to consider the average price paid by the customer in your restaurant. After finalizing your restaurant's concept, you can look towards the theme and cuisine of the restaurant. The interior should match the restaurant's theme and can be open for any change according to the changing market needs.

• Get investment to fund your restaurant: After deciding the concept, theme and cuisine you need to look for the investment options. Propose your Idea of opening a restaurant to a reliable sponsor to get an adequate amount of investment. There are various ways to get the required funding for your business such as an option of the loan from banks, self-funding where you can generate funds from your own and private funding option such as sponsors.

• Evaluation of costs involved in your restaurant business: It is important to plan by evaluating your expected restaurant costs such as food costs where you need to examine the cost of raw-materials to fill up your restaurant kitchen, Overhead costs that includes the cost of the interior, rent, kitchen equipment, license and marketing.

• Decide on your restaurant's location: The successful running of your restaurant depends on its location. Whether a city's busy area is suitable for your restaurant or an outer location will be suitable. To fix a location, you need to review your restaurant's concept and the type of customers you are looking for. In either location, visibility and accessibility to your restaurant are of prime importance.

A restaurant start-up is not possible without these tips. Introducing reliable, effective and professional manpower gives your restaurant a professional look.

Author: Robert Ancill

TheNextidea

The Next Idea is a highly innovative and experienced team of restaurant consultants and leisure consultants, who have successfully opened and managed more than 850 restaurants, bars, and hotels worldwide. Our team includes established experts in the restaurant, food, retail and leisure industry, offering a combined 120 years of restaurant, hotel and leisure experience. From running national restaurant chains to developing nationally known brands, the consultancy has proven over and over their ability to tackle every possible challenge in the development and operations of profitable restaurants, hotels and leisure facilities.

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How To Choose A Restaurant Consulting Firm And What Are The Benefits Of Hiring One?

If you are looking to set up your own restaurant then a restaurant consulting firm helps you in its set up. As a start-up owner, you need to consider many factors in relation to the restaurant opening such as location, design and concept, structuring of the menu, staffing and hiring of different purpose staff etc. It requires experience and proper understanding of the market, if you do not have any prior experience in this field then hiring a restaurant consulting group can be of extreme significance. This article is all about explaining the significance, advantages and need for hiring restaurant consulting.

What Is The Role Of A Restaurant Consulting Firm?

A restaurant consulting firm not only ensure the proper set up of your restaurant but also make sure that as an owner you should not make any fatal mistake. Restaurant consulting firms have experience of many years in the industry that can make them capable of dealing with various important functions of different restaurant's departments and ensure their proper functioning to make your restaurant turning into a successful business. Restaurant consultants help you with the following:

• Help you in deciding the format and concept of your restaurant.

• Guide you in choosing a relevant location for opening your restaurant.

• Helps in selecting the right property.

• Make sure in smooth and reliable staff hiring.

• Helps in training the staff to work in different departments.

• These experts know what can be the menu design, structure, pricing etc.

• They are a great help in accounting services and financial planning.

• Restaurant consulting firm also helps in restaurant designing services.

How To Hire A Restaurant Consulting Firm?

There are available many restaurant consultants in the market, but to choose the best among all can help in successful opening o your restaurant. You can consider below important points to choose the best among available.

• Start a preliminary search: You can start the search by making a list of the firms that you find most suitable as per your requirements. Ask for their quotes and then note them to compare from others. Look for the restaurant promotion ideas to grab major attention of the experienced firms.

• Discuss the project with the chosen firms: You can freely discuss your business plan with the firms that you have selected. This helps you in grabbing their views on it.

• Ask for written proposals: From your top listers, ask for written proposals for references.

• Analyze and select the best: Compare all the proposals and choose the best by analyzing all the factors.

What Are The Benefits Of Hiring A Restaurant Consulting Firm?

Your restaurant marketing plan can be a great success if you hire a professional firm. It helps you with reliable restaurant marketing ideas that are a big help for your startup restaurant business. Except this, there are many other benefits of hiring them:

• Hire the right staff: An experienced restaurant consulting firm helps in hiring the right staff for different departments of the restaurant.

• Menu perfection: The professionals know the type of menu, its creativity and innovativeness. They make it as perfect as you want it to be.

• Systematization: All the departments of the restaurant should work symmetrically to gain success as a whole.

About the Author

Author: Robert Ancill

TheNextidea

The Next Idea is a highly innovative and experienced team of restaurant consultants and leisure consultants, who have successfully opened and managed more than 850 restaurants, bars, and hotels worldwide. Our team includes established experts in the restaurant, food, retail and leisure industry, offering a combined 120 years of restaurant, hotel and leisure experience. From running national restaurant chains to developing nationally known brands, the consultancy has proven over and over their ability to tackle every possible challenge in the development and operations of profitable restaurants, hotels and leisure facilities.

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Differentiation Defined

Differentiation is the process of distinguishing a product or entire offering from others, making it more attractive to a particular target market. This involves differentiating it from competitors’ products and standing out on the competitive landscape through unique positioning.

Differentiation is a source of competitive advantage. Marketing or product differentiation is the process of describing the differences between products or services, or the resulting list of differences. This is done in order to demonstrate the unique aspects of your product and create a sense of value. Without question, differentiation must be valued by buyers. The term unique selling proposition refers to advertising to communicate a product's differentiation.

Under The Next Idea terminology there are two forms of Differentiation: ‘Duplicate’ and ‘Exclusive’.

Duplicate Differentiation refers to differentiating product or offer features that can be found elsewhere.

Exclusive Differentiation refers to differentiating product or offer features that are unique in the market and are unavailable elsewhere.

The term Duplicate Differentiation applies to areas of a brand that may be executed to a high standard but can be found close-by with relative ease. For example, a restaurant that promises to differentiate by offering first class service is differentiating itself. However the differentiating significance is small as it only applies to those competitors who have less than good service, and whose product and environment does not compensate for their lower standard of service.

Duplicate Differentiation can work extremely successfully, when a wide number of duplicate yet well executed points of difference are merged together. Some examples: Pert a Manger in the UK and Chipotle in the US, both employ Duplicate Differentiating features; they equally provide a fresh product that is attainable very fast, at a competitive price, served in a highly friendly manner. Both offer relatively comfortable surroundings to eat on premise, should the customer wish, and provide extremely clean and sanitary surroundings for customers whether they eat in or take out.

Their differentiating features are clearly defined as follows :

1) Fresh (& Humane) good quality consistent products

2) Fast and efficient service

3) Competitive Pricing

4) Friendly Service

5) Engaging environment

6) Clean and sanitary surroundings.

Independently, each of these points are positive differentiators, however they can all be found elsewhere at greater or lesser levels. However what makes these brands unique and highly differentiated is their relentless commitment to each and every point of difference, resulting in their brands winning over their competitors at every corner – indeed their well executed combination of Duplicate Differentiators provides singular Exclusive Differentiation.

Exclusive Differentiation is different as it represents the highly sought after competitive advantage that organizations aspire to in order that their product or offer stands out against the competition. This often takes the form of patented equipment or products, merchandise design, and the use of certain technologies. Providing demand is prevalent, a firm with well executed Exclusive Differentiation will be unusually successful. Think Dyson – unique Vacuums with patented technology, that work exceptionally well. They built their reputation on Exclusive Differentiation yet they still combined this with some Duplicate Differentiation – personified by its design. Its competitors also had good looking vacuums, yet Dyson ensured its design was equal or better to its competitors, thus maintaining its advantage in the specific consumer requirement of image.

Had Dyson ignored design as a key product feature, thus simply rested on its patented technology, they may have experienced some success, but it is doubtful if that success would have manifested to the extent that prevailed. Therefore while Exclusive Differentiation is the Holy Grail of differentiation, as Dyson shows us, loosing site of Duplicate Differentiation, when Exclusivity has been achieved, may ultimately compromise what has been so hard to attain in the first instance.

In the restaurant world Exclusive Differentiation would apply to unique recipes, style of food presentation, environmental design and product range. Service features heavily, however recently, service has become an even greater global differentiating characteristic. Historically restaurant service was defined either at the counter or at the table. Nowadays Service has many touch points; from traditional counter or table service, through to online ordering, order by phone / text, deliveries and pick up. Therefore restaurants do have greater opportunity to define themselves through service, given the broad spectrum of technology available, combined with modern dining trends.

However with this new technology comes enhanced risk. For example, a customer having difficulty in navigating a restaurant’s website will lower their entire opinion of the restaurant’s offer and service, yet [the customer] has not even begun to interact with an employee.

Customers possess what’s known as ZOPA (Zone Of Possible Approval). This is the emotional approval rating that individuals exercise when making choices on what to buy, where to eat, even what car to purchase. What may be perceived as small details by an operator may actually be deal breakers for customers as their ZOPA rating drops to the floor when a dish is served Luke warm and not hot, or their coffee has too much froth. However, give a customer flowers on their unannounced birthday, tell them that they enjoyed the last steak they had and it was served medium, will expand the Customer’s ZOPA exponentially – as the operator has just differentiated itself through the perfect combination of Duplicity and Exclusivity. (Flowers on Birthday = Duplicate Differentiation / Knowing it’s their Birthday without being informed by the guest is Exclusive Differentiation).

As we continue to explore new horizons, well executed Differentiation, both duplicate and Exclusive, will be a key dynamic in deciding who stays and who leaves our industrious landscape. Only time will tell who will successfully navigate the world, and who will hit the perfect storm. What we do know – give a guest flowers on their birthday, and keep them guessing how you ever knew will be one sure way to stay in your customer’s heart forever.

Author: Robert Ancill

CEO: Restaurant and Food Innovations Consultancy;TheNextidea

The Next Idea is a highly innovative and experienced team of restaurant consultants and leisure consultants, who have successfully opened and managed more than 850 restaurants, bars, and hotels worldwide. Our team includes established experts in the restaurant, food, retail and leisure industry, offering a combined 120 years of restaurant, hotel and leisure experience. From running national restaurant chains to developing nationally known brands, the consultancy has proven over and over their ability to tackle every possible challenge in the development and operations of profitable restaurants, hotels and leisure facilities.

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Idea About Opening A Restaurant

The idea of opening a restaurant is accompanies a few questions such as what kind of restaurant you want to start and how much are you capable of running and expand it. https://bit.ly/2LK77IH

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The idea of opening a restaurant is accompanies a few questions such as what kind of restaurant you want to start and how much are you capable of running and expand it.

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Let Your Restaurant Grow With Restaurant Consulting Services

It is always suggested to hire a Restaurant Consultant who can help and assist you with commercializing the whole idea.Check it out with TheNextIdea Team.

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Thenextidea provides information on How restaurant consulting services can be helpful in making a restaurant business thrive? - https://goo.gl/t62W99 , http://www.thenextidea.net/

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Thenextidea provides information on Interior Designers In Los Angeles Gearing up For A Greater Role Of Presenting Options For Building Owners - https://goo.gl/vEzsVz , http://www.thenextidea.net