Fast-casual restaurants increase check averages with desserts

Sub chains place trays of cookies at ordering stations and bakery cafés stack muffins and brownies inside spotless glass display cases. Burger joints sell frozen custard or soft-serve ice cream, and fresh-Mex concepts serve up sopapillas.

 

They might not be headline items in fast casual, but desserts are money makers.

 

"Desserts are a great way to increase average tickets," said Eric Spitz, Knowfat Lifestyle Grille president and co-chief executive. "But the menu item has to complement the rest of the menu."

 

Knowfat Lifestyle Grille markets its offerings as a "better for you meal," in which case traditional desserts would not fit.

 

"If you're going to take the time to come here, you want a dessert that's good for your body," Spitz said. "We offer desserts that are in line with the rest of our menu, and we are further developing them to make desserts an even bigger attraction."

 

Knowfat is testing a sugar-free brownie, soft-serve frozen yogurt and a non-fat cheesecake. The result of improving their desserts has been an additional $3 to the Knowfat average ticket in test stores.

 

Following its New York Italian theme, Brooklyn's Old Neighborhood Style Pizzeria sells fresh-made cannoli, New York cheesecake and Italian sorbets. The Dallas-based fast-casual pizza chain said the trick to moving desserts is strategic and suggestive selling.

 

"We have mouth-watering displays placed throughout the store," said Rick Morris, operations manager for Brooklyn's. "We also have employees asking customers, 'Would you like dessert?' or 'Would you like to try our fresh-made cannoli?'.'"

 

Finagle Bagel, based in Auburndale, Mass., recently added fresh-baked cookies, brownies and premium muffins along with coffee cakes, scones and chocolate croissants. Company president Laura Trust believes these desserts will keep guests in the store longer.

 

"We want to give our guests as many opportunities to visit our stores as possible and provide product with the same quality they expect from our bagels," she said.

 

Spitz believes there is a place for desserts in fast casual, but "the key is to make sure the dessert fits with the restaurant's image and marketing message."

 

 

The $21-billion frozen dessert industry is filled with the likes of national powerhouses Cold Stone Creamery and Marble Slab Creamery, as well as regional players like Aimee's Ice Cream in Austin, Texas, and Moxley's Ice Cream in Baltimore. These operators contend they're growing their market share by slicing into the fast-casual dessert pie.

 

Cold Stone Creamery strategically places 80 percent of its stores near restaurants. Of late, the high-end ice cream parlor has targeted real estate in between fast casuals.

 

"We like high-traffic locations," said Lee Knowlton, senior vice president of Cold Stone. "We think being surrounded by restaurants is a good thing."

 

He wants restaurant customers to enjoy Cold Stone's waffle cone with Caramel Turtle Temptation or a slice of Raspberry Truffle Temptation rather than a restaurant dessert. Morris said that happens at Brooklyn's, but only when people want ice cream.

 

"We don't serve the range of flavors they do, so we might be losing a dollar or two to them," Morris said, mentioning a Marble Slab is located next to one of his pizzerias. "But I don't think we are losing a great deal of business there. It would not be profitable for us to offer 27 forms of ice cream, so we don't serve ice cream."

 

Morris said the challenge for fast casuals is selling desserts that fit the restaurant's niche. "You can't get caught up with what everybody else is doing. You have to stick with your theme," he said.   

 

 

Not sure what kind of what kind of dessert you want to offer? You may want to co-brand with a dessert-centered company like Otis Spunkmeyer for oven-baked cookies or Godiva Chocolate.

 

Cold Stone goes the other way by finding operations in which it can place its products. Most recently, a franchisee worked with a Quiznos operator to serve Cold Stone shakes alongside sub sandwiches. But not all restaurants want to put the Cold Stone name inside their doors.

 

"Every concept has a different thought," Knowlton said. "Some people look at us as the competition. Some look at us as a co-branding opportunity."