Celebrating National Pasta Month for easy guest engagement that’s also easy on your operation
Now six months into pandemic shutdowns and restrictions on restaurant operations, recent consumer studies are showing that many patrons are ready for something new. While at first just supporting their local restaurants and ordering their favorite items fit the bill, there’s now a hunger to go beyond the tried and true. But with operations straining to adjust to new realities of traffic, labor and supply chain, keeping it simple is imperative. One strategy to win on both fronts is by taking advantage of versatile, low-cost ingredients like pasta as a platform for innovation; and jumping on an existing promotional platform like National Pasta Month this October.
Case study: Italian chain Buca di Beppo’s “World Pasta Month”
Why it works: Leveraging the brand partnership with Barilla made strong incentives possible. With a broad offering from vegetarian Roasted Vegetable Genovese to hearty meat Pork Ragu and a Shrimp Limoncino, there was something for everyone; but well within the wheelhouse of an optimized kitchen.
Tips for success:
- Work with your suppliers to maximize your offering. Many are looking for ways to help support operator customers in the current environment. Established brands will have assets and expertise to help with social media and other promotional materials.
- Leverage existing seasons, designated national days and months, or holidays. Almost every food item and ingredient already has a day. The foodimentary blog has a handy list.
Barilla Pasta Month 2020
At BarillaPastaMonth.com there are FREE marketing assets and templates for any operator to use and run their own National Pasta Month promotion this October. From training tools to tabletop POS and tamper-proof sticker templates, to suggested social media posts, they’re making it easy to celebrate and promote, even with constrained marketing budgets and operations.
For Barilla customers, there’s even more in store—they are promoting National Pasta Month partners to the public, and helping guests find a NPM partner near them. Validated customers will also have access to Barilla branded promotional materials and customized programming. Snapchat filters and Instagram stickers? They’ve got those, too.
Consumer Insight Highlights
Pasta is one of America’s most loved foods—85% love/like it, on par with Cheeseburgers and Chocolate Chip Cookies
65% of Americans are tired of cooking at home, and 79% are craving something new
source: Datassential, August 2020
