Articles
August 11, 2025
Culinary innovators: Deliver more for less
MEG panelists tell operators to focus on more juice with less squeeze.
Earlier this year, Olive Garden brought back its Endless Pasta Bowl LTO featuring unlimited pasta, soup or salad, and breadsticks for $13.99.
As restaurant operators deal with the fallout of Inflation, newly enacted tariffs, and rising food costs, they’re also having to find ways to offer value to customers to keep them coming through their doors. The trick, of course, is doing more without sacrificing profitability.
At the National Restaurant Association’s recent Marketing Executives Group (MEG) meeting in Chicago, discussion during the session “More Juice, Less Squeeze,” focused on the different ways to achieve the goal, including:
Parlapiano and Kaufman, Culinary Edge’s managing and strategy directors, pointed to two different brands offering examples of value-driven items on their menus. Red Robin, known as a burger specialist, introduced an LTO called the Bottomless Burger Pass, which was available during the month of May in celebration of National Burger Month. For $20, guests could purchase a pass entitling them to a gourmet burger and bottomless sides of fries, chips, broccoli or salad. And Olive Garden brought back its Endless Pasta Bowl promotion that offered unlimited pasta, soup or salad, and breadsticks for $13.99.
Providing guests with a high-quality, valuable experience that won’t significantly ratchet up costs is integral to success, but that requires balancing customer expectations with managing costs at the same time, Parlapiano said.
“We are starting to see fewer transactions,” Parlapiano said. “Consumers’ wallets have hit a breaking point. So, if eating out becomes more of a luxury, the customer, in turn, will want a more luxurious experience. It’s simple: more luxury pricing equals more luxury expectations. We know guests want it all—sustainability, convenience, a healthy experience, entertainment, and speed. At the same time, operators facing rising costs must deliver more without breaking the bank.”
According to Kaufman, consumers, especially Gen Zs, are changing their eating behaviors, so operators have an opportunity to expand eating occasions by serving smaller, snack-sized portions of craveable food items.
Creating LTOs with existing pantry ingredients is another way of potentially offering more while using less. Kaufman pointed to fast-casual brand Velvet Taco as an example. Its new line of bowls features the same items on its taco menu, but in a different format.
“It’s really interesting,” she said. “Consumers already know and love the flavor profiles and ingredients, and now they’ve created a whole new category using the same inventory and ingredients.”
Another approach is for restaurants to simplify and streamline their menus. This allows operators to declutter their menus, raise quality, and focus on items that guests love and want.
“Go back to basics and focus on the items that sell well, resonate with consumers, and build trust,” Kaufman said. “Pay attention to the roots of who you are. You don’t have to provide something for everyone all at once.”
At the National Restaurant Association’s recent Marketing Executives Group (MEG) meeting in Chicago, discussion during the session “More Juice, Less Squeeze,” focused on the different ways to achieve the goal, including:
- Value-driven options: Offering combo and bundled meals, LTOs, smaller portions, and re-engineering menu items in new ways
- Preparing less items more efficiently: Streamlining menus to not only focus on the most popular and profitable items, but also improve quality and execution
- Improving the dining experience: Enhancing the on-premises dining experience, leveraging technology to provide more customization, and improving off-premises options, like takeout, pick-up, and third-party delivery
Parlapiano and Kaufman, Culinary Edge’s managing and strategy directors, pointed to two different brands offering examples of value-driven items on their menus. Red Robin, known as a burger specialist, introduced an LTO called the Bottomless Burger Pass, which was available during the month of May in celebration of National Burger Month. For $20, guests could purchase a pass entitling them to a gourmet burger and bottomless sides of fries, chips, broccoli or salad. And Olive Garden brought back its Endless Pasta Bowl promotion that offered unlimited pasta, soup or salad, and breadsticks for $13.99.
Providing guests with a high-quality, valuable experience that won’t significantly ratchet up costs is integral to success, but that requires balancing customer expectations with managing costs at the same time, Parlapiano said.
“We are starting to see fewer transactions,” Parlapiano said. “Consumers’ wallets have hit a breaking point. So, if eating out becomes more of a luxury, the customer, in turn, will want a more luxurious experience. It’s simple: more luxury pricing equals more luxury expectations. We know guests want it all—sustainability, convenience, a healthy experience, entertainment, and speed. At the same time, operators facing rising costs must deliver more without breaking the bank.”
According to Kaufman, consumers, especially Gen Zs, are changing their eating behaviors, so operators have an opportunity to expand eating occasions by serving smaller, snack-sized portions of craveable food items.
Creating LTOs with existing pantry ingredients is another way of potentially offering more while using less. Kaufman pointed to fast-casual brand Velvet Taco as an example. Its new line of bowls features the same items on its taco menu, but in a different format.
“It’s really interesting,” she said. “Consumers already know and love the flavor profiles and ingredients, and now they’ve created a whole new category using the same inventory and ingredients.”
Another approach is for restaurants to simplify and streamline their menus. This allows operators to declutter their menus, raise quality, and focus on items that guests love and want.
“Go back to basics and focus on the items that sell well, resonate with consumers, and build trust,” Kaufman said. “Pay attention to the roots of who you are. You don’t have to provide something for everyone all at once.”
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