C
chachahut
Guest
A little background...
The Cha Cha Hut is a small mostly take out joint in upstate NY. We've got 22 seats inside & 5 picnic tables outside. We do not provide table service - just Order Here/Pick Up Here (though we will run food out if not too busy).
At any given time we have 6 house sauces plus one or two Sauces of the Moment. When customers want to sit down at the Hut to eat, we provide a six pack of sauces to use at their table. For To Go orders, we have a table with bottles of the sauces & 2 oz cups for customers to use to take the sauces they want. While both are figured into the menu price of every Q item, they are offered for free. We do sell 8oz squeeze bottles & 10oz glass bottle of each sauce.
Our sauce philosophy has been: "Take a few 2oz samples - we want to get you hooked on our sauces so you'll come back to buy a bottle."
And here is where the dilemma arises...
We're not seeing enough bottled sales with the To Go customers. Instead, repeat customers continue to take 6 - 10oz of sauce (depending on the amount of Q bought) even if we mention the bottles for sale. At this point, I am fairly sure this is adding about 5% (if not more) to our food cost each week.
So the question is - how would you/do you handle this To Go sauce dilemma. Sit down customers do not - by and large - abuse the sauce. It's more about To Go - especially those ordering dinner for 4 - 8. I know some sauce should be provided - we do not sauce any of our Q - but I cannot continue to give away bottle after bottle to the same people each week.
Any input would be greatly welcomed.
cheers,
The Cha Cha Hut is a small mostly take out joint in upstate NY. We've got 22 seats inside & 5 picnic tables outside. We do not provide table service - just Order Here/Pick Up Here (though we will run food out if not too busy).
At any given time we have 6 house sauces plus one or two Sauces of the Moment. When customers want to sit down at the Hut to eat, we provide a six pack of sauces to use at their table. For To Go orders, we have a table with bottles of the sauces & 2 oz cups for customers to use to take the sauces they want. While both are figured into the menu price of every Q item, they are offered for free. We do sell 8oz squeeze bottles & 10oz glass bottle of each sauce.
Our sauce philosophy has been: "Take a few 2oz samples - we want to get you hooked on our sauces so you'll come back to buy a bottle."
And here is where the dilemma arises...
We're not seeing enough bottled sales with the To Go customers. Instead, repeat customers continue to take 6 - 10oz of sauce (depending on the amount of Q bought) even if we mention the bottles for sale. At this point, I am fairly sure this is adding about 5% (if not more) to our food cost each week.
So the question is - how would you/do you handle this To Go sauce dilemma. Sit down customers do not - by and large - abuse the sauce. It's more about To Go - especially those ordering dinner for 4 - 8. I know some sauce should be provided - we do not sauce any of our Q - but I cannot continue to give away bottle after bottle to the same people each week.
Any input would be greatly welcomed.
cheers,