Sunday, February 12th will not only feature the biggest football game of the year, but what also may be one of your biggest sales days of the year. Whether you’re streaming the football game and expecting a ton of dine-in customers, or your delivery drivers are going to be in overdrive, we’ve got some tips to make the most of all of those Super Bowl food orders.
Planning & Prep
First, proper planning is key to such a big business day. “Don’t leave anything to the last minute,” says Jet’s Pizza Franchise Owner Scott Gregerson. “We use the entire week to be extra prepared for a day like no other. In addition to seeing a lot of existing guests, we also are introduced to new guests, so it's very important to put our best foot forward to create customers for years to come.”
This preparation should extend to both dine-in and delivery service. “We set our expected delivery times a little longer and have all our drivers on shift that day. We'll even use supplemental delivery services to help,” says Gregerson. “Back at the stores, we usually have four people working on a normal Sunday, but during Super Bowl, it’s all hands on deck with nearly our entire store staff at the shop.”
Gregerson says the biggest rush of Super Bowl orders comes ahead of halftime. Once halftime hits, sales slow way down.
Primed for Profits
Optimizing profits on Super Bowl orders is also important. “As restaurants tend to maximize the total number of customers on this day, the key is to incrementally increase profits per customer,” says Phil Probert, VP of Growth at Craftable, a restaurant technology company providing inventory solutions for kitchens and bars. “Upsell add-ons to burgers such as bacon, making a $12 item total $15. Add a shrimp skewer to a Bloody Mary, adding $8. Sell a platter of appetizers for $24 instead of two items totaling $21. This is a chance for creative operators to generate best-offer value to their customers without caving on quality.”
One of the most popular Super Bowl food orders is chicken wings, and with chicken wing prices falling to pre-pandemic levels, your bar or restaurant has the opportunity to make some serious profits. In fact, The National Chicken Council released its annual Chicken Wing Report, projecting Americans to consume a record-breaking 1.45 billion chicken wings during Super Bowl weekend, which is up 2% from last year’s report.
“During Super Bowl Sunday, we see much larger-than-normal orders and buffalo wings with orders,” says Gregerson.
With the large amount of wings being ordered for Super Bowl snacks, it’s important that your bar/restaurant prices them accordingly. “Menu pricing is strategic. Craftable customers have seen a reduction in poultry prices ranging from 10-35% over the past nine months,” says Probert. “Wings can be used to draw in customers while offsetting other items affected by inflation. Offering specials that pair wings with high-profit items will boost your margins.”
Along with proper pricing, ordering the right amount of chicken wings is also a must. “By featuring items and offering a variety of preparations, restaurants can ensure their offerings appeal to all customers,” says Probert. “Top sellers can appear on menus for the week in order to capture follow-up delivery orders and deplete inventory. Also, be sure to compare sales in prior years to provide a ballpark number for ordering.”
Gregerson agrees, “Since we have a few years’ under our belt, we look at sales trends from previous years and always have a little extra prepared.”
In addition to chicken wings, Probert says top Super Bowl snacks tend to include:
- Subs
- Jalapeño poppers
- Chips and dip
- Sliders (from burgers to BBQ)
- Pizza
“Think easy-to-grab, shareable, classic flavored items,” says Probert.
Gregerson says pizza and ranch are huge movers on Super Bowl Sunday for Jet’s Pizza. “Our bread-and-butter sales (pizza and ranch dressing) are through the roof,” he says. “On Super Bowl Sunday last year, Jet’s Pizza sold 377 football fields worth of pizza and enough ranch dressing to fill 290 five-gallon Gatorade coolers (1,450 gallons!).”
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