Selling the sizzle: Naming and marketing your plant-forward recipe

[Plant-Forward Future] You are ready with delicious plant-forward dishes but will your customers buy them? The answer is yes – if they are marketed correctly. This easy five-step guide will help your team create appeal for menu items by focusing on key taste, sensory, nostalgia, and geographic descriptors to increase consumers’ desire for them.

Step #1 Describe

Start by listing the core ingredients that define your menu item. 

Noodle bowl with peanut tofu: Fresh hand-pulled noodles, Thai tofu, and peanuts

Black bean veggie burger: house burger recipe, onions, Pop’s secret sauce, Idaho potato wedges

Step #2 Market

Next, get creative! Choose from this list of food descriptions (or come up with your own) to increase your customers’ intrigue and appetite.  

Try these food descriptions

• Sensory names that describe the texture, taste or smell 
  • Juicy, crunchy, crispy, creamy, warming, crunchy, smooth, and sticky
• Nostalgic names that trigger happy, wholesome associations
  • Grandma’s dumplings
• Geographic names that create an association to a place
  • Farm-to-fork, Atlantic seaweed, Chicago-style pizza
• Provenance descriptions – to be evocative
  • Wild-foraged blueberries, local strawberries, hand-pulled noodles
• Cuisine-focused names
  • Thai, Mexican, Italian, Mediterranean, Indian 
• Brand names that create an association with a local brand
  • “Grand Teton Organics breakfast taters” or “Hodo Sichuan Tofu” (Oakland-based brand known to Bay Area consumers)
• Descriptions that promote plenty/filling
  • Full, filling, satisfied, satiated
• Descriptions that promote craveability
  • Mouthwatering, delicious, tasty

Try these menu descriptions

• Mouth-watering options from savory, sweet or salty, there’s an option for you to satisfy your cravings and leave you feeling satisfied
• These meals are amazingly tasty, nutritious, and packed with protein 
• Good for you and good for the planet! 
• Globally inspired and unique, with fresh options each week
• From comfort food to adventurous options, we’ve got you covered
• Locally sourced, seasonal dishes with all the best nutrients to get you on the road to recovery

Step #3 Envision

Take a photo of your dish or find an appropriate image to help customers see and imagine your meal.

• Check out these pro tips on taking mouth-watering food photos
• Free images can be found at Creative Commons, Unsplash, or Smithsonian Open Access.

Step #4 Sell

Choose where and how to promote your dish.  

Online and socially distant opportunities

• “Grab ‘n go” takeout - messaging on the bags (stickers, hand-out) 
• Online reward program associated with hospital IDs to track and reward points when ordering plant-forward dishes
• Online menus and calendars
• Mobile advertising on food ordering apps
• Weekly emails
• Facebook pages – by dining team or interest group
• Digital displays
• Special events – Earth Day, special meals, etc.

In-person opportunities

• Provider-to-patient conversations
• Word-of-mouth and face-to-face – from peers, customers, and food service staff
• Cafeteria menus and calendars
• White-board menus
• Table tent cards with promotional and educational messages
• Point of sale messages – reminders as customers make choices in serving line and audio (loudspeaker) announcements of daily specials
• Special events – Earth Day, special meals, etc.
• Handing out samples
• Cooking demonstrations
• Giveaways and freebies

Step #5 Put it all together

Use this guide to create an advertisement for your meal and find a spot to place it