Practical playbooks you can run next week.
A good promotion can lift participation, introduce a new menu item or win back customers who drifted away, and it does not need a big budget. Many of the best ideas come from other directors who already tested them.
This section collects practical playbooks and launch ideas you can copy: theme days and tasting events, student and resident chef competitions, local food features, welcome weeks, meal plan and catering pushes, loyalty and app offers, and ways to market a new concept or piece of equipment. Each item covers what was done, who it was for and why it worked, with enough detail to adapt it for K-12, college, healthcare, B&I, senior living or venues. Use it when you are planning the next month's calendar, preparing a launch, or looking for a low-cost way to move participation numbers.
Ohio State Dining is working with its student health center to have Grubhub rovers deliver health products during cold and flu season. The idea came from pharmacy students in an entrepreneurship program.
Ohio is bringing back its Ohio Grown Student Chef Showcase, in which teams of three to five middle and high school students create a school lunch recipe with at least one local ingredient. Massachusetts and Virginia are also promoting local food during National Farm to School Month.
Provo City School District themed every lunch Oct. 12-16, from Tightrope Tacos to a scratch-made Magic Muffin Meal, and added photo booths and activities. Students who bring lunch from home were invited to take part.
College dining programs ran food-focused welcome weeks with cookouts, s'more kits and BBQ tie-dye events, combined with meal-plan education for returning students.
The most useful items from the week, written for directors, delivered every week. Free.
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