The idea of creating additional profit points has been part of the foodservice industry for decades. Over the last few years, though, we’ve seen the points-of-service change in restaurants, on college campuses, in corporate cafeterias, and even in hospitals. As the pandemic changed where the point of service was, sometimes even moving it into the parking lot, operators had to think outside the box to continue service.
If anything, though, the pandemic just sped up a trend that was already accelerating, and that is the idea that food kiosks, beverage carts, and pop-up markets and food stands are a great way to enhance the customer experience while also promoting profits. Savvy operators are considering new types of service that include mobile coffee stations, pop-ups on college campuses, and even mobile bar capabilities where beverage services can be moved from one location to another.
The Power of Pop-Ups: Examples
Coffee and Reading Go Hand-in-Hand
On high school campuses, anything that can contribute to good study habits and nutritional standards at the same time is a win/win. For many K-12 school nutrition directors in high schools, creating a coffee program is a great way to follow nutrition standards and promote milk consumption, and when that coffee stand is included as part of an updated and revamped school library concept, it promotes good study habits, as well. Consider revamping school libraries with a coffee kiosk to promote nutrition and education at the same time.
Pop-Up Food Stalls Enhance Corporate Dining
Many of the world’s top companies have dedicated valuable resources to creating great culinary experiences for their employees and guests. There’s intrinsic value in it. Companies can help ensure nutritional value that leads to better work. They can keep employees on campus and promote productivity. And perhaps even more important, corporate dining can be used to cultivate collaboration between different divisions of the company. On the Facebook campus in New York, authentically-New York food stalls were created by building “subway stops” to represent to the foods they serve. Operating as a pop-up food court, of sorts, Facebook was able to capture the essence of the city and deliver a neighborhood vibe to its employees. Even more impressive, the design, approval, build, and installation happened in less than 100 days.
Maximize Space with an “S”
On the slopes, the goal is to create a series of S shapes as you come down the mountain, and for the Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado, the goal in their dining facility also let to an S shape. Because S shapes can often accommodate more types of service and more customers at once, the resort decided to create a custom-made service counter to fit their vision. With seamless countertop construction mad with recycled materials, the shifting S-shape mimicked the natural turns that guests take on the mountain to provide a unique, retail experience.
There’s Profit Potential in Pop-Ups
No matter how you design it, shape it, or build it, there is profit potential with pop-up and kiosk-type food and beverage service, and the experts at Multiteria can help. From custom shapes and décors, our expertise includes an entire range of solutions that can help turn any space into profit.
