Chefs and restaurateurs turn to branded retail products to generate new revenue streams and raise brand awareness
Restaurateurs have learned over the past year that they need to find new ways to make money other than crowding guests into their restaurants.
Besides delivery, which they got better at, many figured out how sell other services, like teaching remote cooking classes and wine pairings, for example. Many others also got involved in retail, which can be great for marketing as well as generating extra revenue.
This relatively low-labor approach to staying in touch with guests and selling them the food that they wanted happened initially out of necessity early in the pandemic, when supermarkets fell short on supply of some products and restaurants, with distribution channels that weren’t connected to retail, had surpluses.