Restaurant Innovation That Goes Beyond Menu Items

We hear frequently how innovation is a mainstay for business survival and growth. Innovation helps restaurants stay competitive and those involved in operations and sourcing need to always be looking for the next thing that grabs attention, differentiates, and brings value to their patrons.  So where is the first place we look for innovation?  Usually it is product.  What is the newest, greatest thing to hit the market, that other people don’t have? This is certainly a tried and true strategy, and we all love the latest, greatest thing.  But what if I told you it is not the only place where you can find innovation, that if you go to the next food show and not find a product that dazzles you, that there are other channels to bring something new and different to your customers.  

It’s all in the way we think about business. Our natural inclination is to start with product with sales and marketing, listing out the features and why our thing is all that. We gravitate…