For years, foodservice operations have been closely aligned with the three dayparts that match the standard home meal pattern: breakfast, lunch and dinner. But today’s time-pressed diners — particularly the Millennial generation — want to eat whatever they want, whenever they want. For that reason, many operators are treating snack service as another, more flexible (and profitable) daypart.
Today, the concept of a snack goes beyond just grabbing a soda pop and candy bar. According to Technomic’s 2018 Snacking Occasion Consumer Trend Report, only 17 percent of snack occasions consist of beverages alone; a full 42 percent of snack occasions consist of food along with a beverage. Younger customers show a greater propensity for snacking; 31 percent of 18 to 34 year-olds surveyed say they snack three or more times daily, as compared to 18 percent of those 35 and older. What this all means is that there’s lots of profit opportunity for operators who can capitalize on the snacking trend.
With a single electric baker, operators can use the one-touch release with latch opener to easily switch the Snack System’s replaceable plates to serve breakfast items, lunch foods and an assortment of snacks.
The “When” and the “What”
So when exactly is this new snacking daypart? Unlike the traditional three meal occasions, the answer to that question depends somewhat on the type of operation. For many coffee bars and cafés, the typical snack times might be mid-mornings or mid-afternoons. In college/university foodservice, the heaviest snacking times might be in the evenings to fuel late-night study sessions. For healthcare operations, the snack daypart might come closer to the end of each shift.
What constitutes a snack for today’s diners is as flexible as the daypart itself. According to that same Technomic study, almost anything can be a snack. Thirty-two percent of 18 to 34 year-olds agree that “any food can be a snack if the portion size is small.” An even larger number (39%) of older customers agree. A few quick examples of what’s selling at snack time:
- “Mini” anything. This is an area that quick-serve restaurants and C-stores have already jumped into. Think “snack wraps” – downsized versions of traditional wraps.
- Almost anything in a cup. Mini pretzel dogs or fried chicken strips are easy to serve in a small cup, which also doubles for to-go service.
- Breakfast items. Here again, quick-serve had this idea early, with mini-sized cinnamon rolls available throughout the day. But other items, such as egg-based English muffin sandwiches, make a perfect high-protein snack for afternoons.
Hatco Helps Snack Selling
Hatco’s Intelligent Heated Display Cabinet regulates air temperature and simultaneously balances humidity levels to provide the best environment for holding pizzas and other food products.
To help prepare and keep snack foods — or any other food — at the perfect serving temperature, rely on products from Hatco. The Intelligent Heated Display Cabinet encourages impulse purchases while keeping food at the precise serving temperature and the proper humidity level, both of which are easily controlled by an LED panel on the back of the cabinet.
Also, coming soon from Hatco: a new product designed expressly for operators looking to maximize their snack daypart sales. Hatco’s new Snack System is a compact electric baking system that allows operators to easily serve a variety of fresh snack items — everything from Belgian waffles to panini to donuts — at any time of day.
To find out all the ways Hatco can help boost snack sales, visit www.hatcocorp.com.
Content sponsored by Hatco.
