Sponsored by Texas Pete
Sauce packets and dipping cups aren’t new to the foodservice industry. But when the pandemic shut down dining room service, spicy condiments played an essential food-safety and flavor-boosting role in carryout and delivery—when the only ways restaurants could sell food.
Anthony DeSousa, owner of Antonio’s Real NY Pizza in Estes Park, Colorado, says he never imagined such little conveniences would become vital in keeping his business running during the pandemic. But every little advantage helped.
“We moved it all outside—in the mountains of Colorado of all places—but that’s how we did pickup for carryout,” DeSousa says “All of a sudden, those little things like packaging and portion control condiments, which we’d always just given out, became important for safety. The spicy condiment likewise gave customers the ability to spice up flavor that had been on the road for up to 15 minutes. Having no dine-in business made us rethink a lot about how we operate.”
DeSousa was one of millions of restaurant operators solving the same problem through a wide range of solutions. John Moser, founder of MBB Management, a Philadelphia-based restaurant consultancy, says condiment packets and dipping cups for off-premises transactions served other purposes during the pandemic:
- They provided consistent products that short-staffed operators had no time to prepare.
- They often were branded sauces whose recognizable names added trust and credibility to each restaurant’s offerings.
- They saved labor compared to less safe filling of plastic ramekins, which was crucial with staffers who often avoided shifts out of fear they would contract the coronavirus at work.
- Because manufacture packets and cups were factory sealed, the customers felt an added level of safety.
“When you’re using high-quality, manufactured products, you don’t need skills to finish a dish with a sauce for a carryout order; you just toss it in the bag,” Moser says.
Off-premises sales will continue
Sharp increases in off-premises sales will not relent anytime soon, Moser says. As delivery, carryout, and large-order catering increased during the pandemic, customers became used to the convenience of not having to dine-in, he says, and there’s no market signals saying that preference will change.
According to Emergence: 2023 Predictions, a market report conducted by Kinetic12, researchers found that operators have recognized the profits to be made from off-premises sales and plan to leverage it further.
“Growing off-premises is the single greatest revenue opportunity for most restaurants,” the report says.
Operators surveyed by Kinetic12 say despite the challenge of providing dine-in-quality food in off-premises channels, they’ll continue to refine and improve their processes to grab their share of those transactions.
“Consumers love it and want more of it,” the report reads. “They will continue to look for better take-home and on-the-go, and will expect it to be easy to order, pay for, pick-up, and get it delivered. In 2023, optimizing off-premises will be a major area of focus and investment.”
Moser is telling his consulting clients just that, while urging them to think big—as in large catering orders. Restaurants that react smartly to requests for bulk catering orders during the pandemic are well-positioned because:
- Catering transactions are commonly larger, and easier to execute than dine-in since there’s no mess left behind.
- Most restaurants now have online ordering, which relieves staffers from answering phones and taking payments.
- Online order platforms promote sales of good margin add-ons that grow check averages and increase customization.
“With every fast-casual and quick-service restaurant concept I work with, this all is part of the plan going forward,” he says. “Having a takeout station upfront—with everything customers need to get an order and go—is great. But if self-checkout fits your concept, that’s even better. It’s really smart.”
Range of sauces adds pizzazz
For menu items that need a little pizzazz to finish the dish, Texas Pete® has a range of portion-control sauce packets and sauce dipping cups to meet rising consumer demand for personal flavor customization. According to a recent Datassential report, The Texas Pete brand saw a 44% increase in menu mentions in the past year and its packets are the number one portion control hot sauce in foodservice today according to NPD.
Once the domain of hot wings, barbecue, and Tex-Mex foods, hot sauce is now revving up salad dressings and adding spicy goodness to hot sandwiches such as fried chicken and hamburgers. Of all U.S. pizzeria menus, long the domain of “red pepper flakes”, 19% now have hot sauce as a condiment offering.
Hot sauce is how Texas Pete made its name in foodservice. But this legendary staple is just one product among many sauce options among portion control packets or dipping cups, such as barbecue, honey mustard, and sriracha sauce, which are available in convenient packets and dipping cups. The brand also offers Loyalty Rewards Rebates of up to $500 per unit on purchases made through the end of 2023.
Portion control hot sauces have never been so important in pleasing off-premise customers with flavors for the road.
Want to learn more about Texas Pete’s easy-to-use and transport line of sauces? Visit its website by clicking here.