Whether you already own a restaurant or you’re thinking of getting into the restaurant business, you’re probably already well aware of how useful food grade plastic containers are in any restaurant’s commercial kitchen. However, you also need to think about the wealth of possibilities these containers offer once you step away from the kitchen and our into the restaurant’s actual dining and checkout areas.
If you’re considering how clear containers, such as food grade plastic containers, can help your restaurant, take the following three steps:
Step 1: Take a Look at Your Restaurant
Every kind of restaurant can use food grade plastic containers. Consider these possibilities:
Fast Food Restaurants: Even if the majority of your customers use the drive-through or simply order their meals and leave, food grade containers are great for holding and storing sandwich dressings, condiment packets, napkins, straws, and coffee stir sticks.
Buffet Restaurants: Food grade containers are essential for holding and storing the food you set out along your buffet.
Formal Restaurants: Even if your restaurant has a formal dining environment, you can still use plastic containers to hold items like silverware settings and extra napkins or clothes.
Specialty Restaurants: Many restaurants specialize in a certain kind of food item. Yogurt shops, for example, can use food grade plastic containers as yogurt topping dispensers, while ice cream shops can use them as ice cream topping dispensers. Even bagel shops can use clear plastic containers to organize, display, and store their various types of bagels.
Note that some specialty shops, like those that offer yogurt and bagels, sometimes also offer additional breakfast items like cereal. For these restaurants, cereal dispensers are extremely useful. They hold and display the available cereals, as well as allow restaurant owners to conveniently store them when the restaurant is closed.
Step 2: Consider the Additional Food Items You Offer
Depending on the kind of restaurant you run and its layout, additional food items might include:
- Extra meal add-on items like bags of chips and candy bars.
- Seasonings and spices like salt, pepper, sugar, and sweetener.
- Packets of condiments like ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise.
Of course, your restaurant might also offer additional nonfood items that require plastic containers, such as:
- Plastic or metal utensils.
- Napkins or hand wipes.
- Straws or coffee stirs.
- Styrofoam, paper, or plastic drinking cups and lids.
Step 3: Don’t Forget Extras On the Way Out
If your restaurant is designed for customers to pay on their way out, plastic containers set on counter tops near your register are perfect for offering customers items like chewing gum, breath mints, toothpicks, and packets of hand wipes.
Some restaurants, like those located in popular tourist areas, even sell additional nonfood items like souvenirs, maps, and small toys bearing the restaurant’s name or logo. Additionally, there are restaurants that act as distributors for national product lines and these restaurants can use clear plastic containers to display these items near their checkout areas.