The beginning of the fall season means more than pumpkin spice. Autumn brings a variety of opportunities for seasonal menus and holiday promotions that restaurants can leverage to drive buzz and profits.
Consider the following key areas while crafting your fall menu.
Get Creative with Fall Flavors
According to market research firm Datassential, seasonality is now shown rather than told via ingredients and offerings.1 That means your menu should call out those specific flavors that customers look forward to every year as the leaves begin to change.
The obvious choice, of course, is Thanksgiving. It’s no coincidence that turkey gravy, sage, thyme and cranberry sauce are all top savory flavors on menus during the fall season.1 Elevating those classic Thanksgiving flavors into unique and fun formats can help your menu stand out, such as this shareable Roasted Turkey and Brie Flatbread featuring Perdue® Roast Turkey, cranberry compote and cinnamon.
Perfect for center of the plate, carving stations and premium sandwiches, Perdue® Harvestland® No Antibiotics Ever Ready To Cook, Boneless, Skin On Turkey Breast Roast makes it easy to deliver on the Turkey Day dishes consumers are looking for. The roasts are packaged in a cook-in bag that captures the au jus and reduces cooking time by a third.
Another popular fall flavor trend revolves around the use of herbs and spices that evoke warmth and nostalgia. Restaurants often showcase dishes infused with spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, sage and thyme to add a layer of complexity to both savory and sweet options. For example, this Warm Spiced Citrus Salad with Sous Vide Chicken Breast features cinnamon and anise along with orange, which is another trending fall flavor.
Finally, fall means celebrating pumpkin as well as other hearty vegetables, including butternut squash, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Pasta is a perfect way to showcase pumpkin in a savory way, such as this Autumn Turkey-Pumpkin Pappardelle with rich pumpkin puree, bitter rapini and bright pomegranate seeds.
Think On-Trend Comfort
Comfort food trends year-round, and it’s a perfect fit for fall and winter menus. In fact, DoorDash found that global comfort foods topped the list of in-demand fall menu items, including pho, ramen and curry.2 This Ramen Chicken Noodle Bowl, featuring the warming spices of ginger and five-spice with PERDUE® HARVESTLAND® NO ANTIBIOTICS EVER, BONELESS, SKINLESS CHICKEN THIGHS, is a great example of what consumers long for as the weather gets colder.
Soups and stews are also another way to provide warming, hearty fare while minding the better-for-you comfort food trend. One of the most popular soups of the fall season is Chicken Tortilla, which can meet the trifecta of global, comfort and better-for-you all at once. Taco Cabana, for example, released a Chicken Tortilla Soup last fall available in a small or large serving.3
Highlighting poultry with in-demand attributes, such as No Antibiotics Ever and All Vegetarian Fed, can be another way to add a health halo to your menu. More than three-quarters (76%) of health-conscious consumers are more likely to purchase poultry at foodservice that is clean label and also labeled as no antibiotics ever. Nearly as many (73%) are more likely to purchase poultry that is humanely raised.4
Consider highlighting your ingredient story on your menu and throughout your marketing materials to demonstrate the quality of your ingredients to health-conscious consumers.
Promote Special Occasions
Use national food holidays as well as other celebrations throughout the season, such as Oktoberfest, Halloween and Thanksgiving, as jumping-off points for menu promotions.
For example, on Sept. 25, you can drive off-premise traffic by taking advantage of National Chicken Quesadilla Day, as quesadillas are a top-ordered cuisine according to GrubHub.5 Last September, Fat Rosie’s Taco & Tequila Bar promoted a quesadilla special “in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month and National Quesadilla Day,” including a tinga de pollo quesadilla featuring shredded chicken, roasted tomatoes, onions, chipotle, Chihuahua cheese and Mexican sour cream.6
Traditional holidays are, of course, another reason to create social media-worthy items for your menu. The iconic Thanksgiving Sandwich is a shoo-in for a fall limited-time offer, while variations on this sandwich, like this Turkey-Cheddar Melt with Bacon-Fig Jam, can spice up any lunch menu.
Restaurants can also take advantage of work holiday luncheons and other festive celebrations that require catering. Restaurant chain Seasons 52, for example, offered a Thanksgiving Green Box dinner featuring turkey, all the in-restaurant fixings, salad and six mini pumpkin pies in 2022.7
From developing seasonal LTOs to crafting standout items all year, Perdue Foodservice empowers your menu with the claims that consumers want. Discover high-quality ingredients that provide multiple benefits, from product claims to labor savings.
Learn more about the Perdue Difference
- Seasonality, Datassential, 2023
- “Fall Food Trends: How Restaurants Can Prepare Menus for Autumn,” DoorDash Blog, Oct. 11, 2022, https://get.doordash.com/en-us/blog/fall-food-trends
- “TC Launches New Limited-Time Spicy Pork Flautas, Chicken Tortilla Soup and OREO® Churros,” Taco Cabana, Oct. 24, 2022, https://www.tacocabana.com/new-holiday-ltos-2022/
- Datassential/Perdue Premium Poultry Claims Consumer Research report, May 2022
- “The Restaurant Guide to National Food Holidays 2023,” Grubhub, https://get.grubhub.com/resources/national-food-holidays-guide/
- “Fat Rosie's Offering Specials for National Quesadilla Day, September 25th,” Chicago Food Magazine, Sept. 23, 2022, https://www.chicagofoodmagazine.com/news/fat-rosies-offering-specials-for-national-quesadilla-day-september-25th
- Stefani, Kelly A., “More than 40 Tampa Bay restaurants and bars offering Thanksgiving specials,” Tampa Bay Times, Nov. 14, 2022