Food data, like all restaurant data, can sit silently or completely transform operations.

For example, in inventory management, food data serves the primary goal of reducing food waste while ensure that ingredients stay fresh and serve-able.

But, food data also supports the entire process of satisfying customers through planning for demand (based on order volumes) and overall decision-making for the restaurant. To understand the sentiment and behavior of customers, food data documents the exchange between diners and the restaurants they order from or visit.

When decisions in hotels as well as F&B are made according to this record (food data), they stand to enhance their competitive streak and improve their customer’s experience.

Key Takeaway: Leveraging food data intelligence optimizes menus, drives premium pricing (and profits) while giving restaurants a competitive edge through dependable insights. 

Nutritional Food Data

Food data highlights the need for quality control and the appeal of health-conscious offers. In fact, 35% of customers are more likely to pick a restaurant when it shares nutrition facts. 

You can also leverage this trend of analyzing the nutrient profile of your dishes. List your nutritional information on digital menus and online ordering platforms. Then, take advantage of this trend even further by watching the response from your customers. 

You can gather feedback directly about their enjoyment with smartly designed customer surveys. Over time, the consumer data you collect and the data you add will synergize to appeal to the diverse tastes of the current market.

Food Margin Data

When you have more control over costs, as you do with access to robust food data, you boost profits. You may not know that more than 80% of successful restaurants track their food inventory on a determinate schedule. 

Those who digitize inventory management have it even easier through integrated POS systems. These regularly evaluate your food prices and optimize menu offerings based on their profitability. You can gain all this from custom reporting and analytics of online ordering solutions.

Food Order Patterns

Your food data can help you to improve inventory management, a duty that remains critical for the success of a restaurant business. Establishing inventory tracking that boasts real-time monitoring through integration with order tracking, you can decrease food costs by at least 5% to 7%. 

To monitor your ingredient usage better, add an integrated online ordering platform to your restaurant tech stack.

Food Waste Rates

Profits are severely impacted by the massive amount of food waste produced by restaurants—even before they reach customers. Still, for every dollar that they invest in saving food from spoilage, restaurants gain $7. 

Maximize this benefit, and demo technology that makes your menu flexible and strategic. You should be able to monitor surplus ingredients, efficiently cancel food waste with featured items, and make adjustments on the fly across all major platforms.

Global Food Data

Global food data, especially on food loss and food waste, is highly instructive. You can get perspective and steal a spark of innovation by looking at trends around the world, and in your community. 

For instance, did you know that US restaurants waste 222 million tons each year? It’s as much food as other, larger areas actually produce (230 million tons) like Saharan Africa? No wonder sustainability in restaurants is on the rise!

That comes direct from the United Nations’ “Save Food” report. And, what their food scientists have learned through extensive global study is that most food loss (40%) occurs when production exceeds real demand. 

In other words, the industry’s eyes are bigger than the customers’ collective interest or need.

How Use Food Data to Bolster Your Brand

Using big data to create a sustainable restaurant intelligence culture empowers businesses to streamline costs. This means actively collecting, analyzing, and leveraging data for strategic decision-making. This is a restaurant data practice.

Begin to track food orders closely, preempt cost changes, and maintain your inventory consistently through custom reporting from integrated restaurant tech. 

Modern POS systems will also provide real-time inventory updates, but through technology integration with inventory management software you’ll pinpoint needs for inventory control and cost management. 

Of course, food data isn't limited to cost control. You can also harness proprietary knowledge in your CRM or ERP to optimize menu offerings, adjust pricing, and make operation changes rooted in feedback. 

In an ever-evolving landscape, your data analytics and use of predictive technologies will divide you from the rest. They’re transformative tools for everyone involved in food service.

Change Customer Satisfaction

What if the result of incorporating tech and food data in your restaurant becomes a single star increase on average through Yelp? Well, then, your restaurant will see an estimated 5 to 9% increase in revenue!

The quality of your food makes definite suggestions to your customer's appetite for spending. You can highlight the quality of your food using data and help promote a positive experience. Simply pointing out the nutritional profile of a dish can enhance its appeal. 

Think what descriptions like “packed with 21 grams of protein” or “filled with amino acids and antioxidants” could do for your menu. Of course, at the same time, you can use food data to impress customers with the time taken to prepare your recipes and the responsible feat of the availability of your local ingredients. 

Remember, in the restaurant industry, the connection between positive experiences and repeat business isn’t mysterious. Instead, restaurant owners should know what can result when they don’t include specific food data for customer satisfaction. 

Say a customer orders a sandwich, but doesn’t know that it contains onions or pickles—a common sticking point. Well, that isn’t the safety issue of not announcing nuts, gluten, animal product, or allergens. On the less extreme side, it just means that you might see why 51% of customers don’t come back if they have a bad experience. They don’t feel like the restaurant values them. 

Using food data can be a way to highlight the value you offer while also covering your bases for compliance. Imagine enhancing your menu with rich data to help your customers see their rare value and anticipate feverishly their order—just as promised. 

Find Your Food Data Edge

So, how do you get to a place where you're able to point out the right facts, to the right customer, at the right time? If you want to improve sales and operations through restaurant data analytics, you’ll quickly turn to the help of technology for the answer. 

In that world, all manner of restaurant equipment and software can support menu planning, food waste conservation, cost reduction, and even overall restaurant sustainability. In general, the process is the same. 

Restaurant data analytics is the process of sorting and connecting individual numbers, rates, and repetitions to identify patterns. Aren’t these the insights every restaurant seeks to improve menus, staff training, restaurant policy, and restaurant marketing effectiveness?

These tools don’t merely help you understand how to strategize price increases or reimagine your recipes. They help you understand the true identity of your customer—their likes, dislikes, preferences, and requirements.

Let AI Restaurant Tools Handle Analysis

More and more restaurants are enticed by the brew of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Emerging technologies in food data management include advanced analytics, integrated data management solutions, machine learning, and AI restaurant tools. 

At the same time, an emphasis on zero-waste restaurants and sustainable practices is on the rise in the food industry. Both of these can be driven by pressures in customer concern and environmental necessity. 

Luckily, labor-saving devices and data-informed sustainable menus offer attractive benefits. Restaurants powered by the analysis of integrated technologies are better equipped to put these food-tech abilities to action.  They then can offer the recipes which will strategically satisfy while saving costs. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Food Data

In the ferocious restaurant industry, knowledge is your leverage. Using food data can elevate your understanding of operations, optimize costs, and refine sales strategies. 

Get the answers to common questions clients ask about the potential of food data to transform your restaurant's growth journey.

What is food data?

Food data concerns every aspect of restaurant operations and strategy. The top five categories for most enterprise brands are: 

• Recipe and Ingredient Profiles 
• Item Production and Energy Requirements 
• Order Consumption and Spending Patterns 
• Food Waste Reduction Rates 
• Global Food Pressures

What's the top food data resource?

The USDA holds a comprehensive and complete database as a powerhouse for information on food constituents, chemistry, and biology. 

It shows you everything from macronutrients and micronutrients to components that add to the flavor, color, taste, or texture of the ingredients in your recipes. Experiment with quantities and the API to plug this potent source of truth into your restaurant intelligence.

How can the USDA database boost my business?

The USDA database on food data can help you navigate ew labeling requirements and avoid their enforcement under the Health Care Reform Act. As you enhance service and increase restaurant profits with your ingredient-showing, data-driven menus and portions—perhaps you can also find the next source for new inspiration. 

Anticipate food trends, achieve digital transformation, and make smarter offers using FoodData Central and other enabling bold tech solutions.

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