Disposable Menus
Print quality disposable menus
There is never a dull moment when you own or manage a restaurant.
Between managing your staff, shoring up operations whenever you can, and checking in on customer satisfaction, your hands are full. And that’s just for the boots on the ground on site. If you are a marketing executive charged with managing the brand for 200+ locations across the country, there is a never-ending list of things to do.
Often, managing printed custom menus for your business is among your key responsibilities.
Your menu is one of your most prominent opportunities to leave a lasting impression on your customer. Sure, they probably aren’t going to tweet bad reviews because of your flimsy menu (or maybe they will, some people are crazy). But even though it is a subtle part of the user experience, it is still a factor in whether or not they leave your restaurant 5 stars.
Great managers know that you must make the customer experience seamless at every turn, and the point at which they choose their meal is critical in their buyer’s journey.
So, if you are serious about your eatery’s operations, you must be serious about your presentation. As such, understanding your custom menu printing options and selecting the right one for your business is crucial to success.
Menu Printing Options for Your Restaurant
Deciding on what kind of food you will serve is a nuanced subject in and of itself. However, publishing logistics come into play once you settle on the items you will include in your menu. When printing out your custom menu, you have a few different options available to you, all with their strengths and weaknesses.
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Laminated Dine In Menus
High-quality laminated dine-in menus with gloss or matte finishes are the staple of dine in restaurants across the country, and for good reasons.
This menu design option offers a great return on your investment by providing security and longevity. In short, by using lamination, you ensure they will last longer in a harsh restaurant environment.
Menus often face exposure to food, liquids, and other elements that will deteriorate your menu quickly if not addressed. Water-resistant laminated menus provide a protective cover that extends the life of the menu significantly.
Additionally, you can clean laminated assets with certain antibacterial chemicals, making the menu reusable. Since they are easy to clean and durable, you can count on them lasting a long time.
Not buying new menus frequently is a great perk, but the most significant benefit is what this longer lifespan unlocks. Since you know your gloss or matte finishes will keep your paper safe, you can feel more comfortable investing in them. That means making your menu into a full-color and custom design isn’t just more feasible- it’s a smart business move.
When you partner with a restaurant menu printing company, they will help you develop a complete menu that captures your brand experience. The right company will also present you with multiple folding options, unique full-color finishes, varying thickness, and more. All of these factors will play a part in your presentation – and by laminating your menu, you can explore these options.
QR Code Menus
As an alternative to print, you may want to consider making your platform digital.
QR codes didn’t catch on for a while due to customers lacking familiarity with the technology. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, these have become widespread. Customers are now incredibly familiar with QR code use, which has encouraged more brands to go digital than ever before.
The obvious benefit, as it relates to health concerns, is that this option is contactless. Customers can simply scan your QR code using their phone’s camera, which then directs them to your digital menu.
Beyond the sanitary benefits they provide, they are also remarkably easy for nearly every party involved. For customers, quickly access your restaurant’s offering on their phones. For you and your production team, backend management is seamless and dynamic.
Some of the key benefits of QR code menus include:
Easy to Generate
A QR code generator is responsible for designing the icon that customers will scan to find the digital menu link. Finding a QR code generator online to create a QR code is relatively easy.
That being said, you want to make sure that you are using a reliable QR code service. It is essential to consider if the system provides dynamic QR codes, which allow you to change the link in the future if the URL is subject to change. This process prevents you from having to reprint your QR codes.
Also, make sure that the service provides high-resolution QR codes, so it prints clearly and is easy to scan the QR code with their camera.
Easy to Change
QR code menus are easy to change if you decide to adjust prices, add a new menu item, or simply feature a new food item image.
Depending on the service utilized to create the QR page, you can quickly upload your menu image (PDF, JPG, or HTML formats are all possible) to make the change. Therefore, you can update your QR menu in seconds – bypassing the timeline associated with printing hard copies.
Easy to Track
You can track customer activity by utilizing QR code menus. Each time you scan the QR code, the visit to the menu will be tallied. This way, you can determine how many guests prefer the contactless QR menu solution. As the COVID pandemic continues to evolve, a restaurant can track the utilization of print vs. digital menus to determine where future budgets in marketing should be spent.
A QR code menu is beneficial for several reasons that are mostly related to the digital nature of the menu. Ultimately each business should determine what is best for their customer experience when choosing print vs. digital menus. However, it appears several restaurant brands have adopted the hybrid approach due to consumer preferences during COVID19.
Disposable Menus
Disposable menus, otherwise known as single-use menus, are a quick and safe way to provide patrons a new presentation each time they visit your location.
Due to the nature of disposable menu printing, these work best as supplementary assets to a more robust menu, such as a laminated or digital version.
Although they are less of an investment than laminated menus, you can still get very creative with these. Instead of focusing on elaborate design and color layout, you can choose from various menu designs and folding options to suit your needs.
For example, it is common for disposable menus to be single pages & one-sided. However, with bindery folding capabilities, the menus can serve as a bi-fold or tri-fold disposable menu with one or two sides printed.
As takeout food services and carry out become more popular, disposable menus have risen in popularity.
Another great perk for this type is you can package them with food-to-go, allowing you to send each takeout visitor home with a piece of your brand in their pocket. This allows for a cost-effective method to promote your entire menu to each guest that may otherwise continue only to order their favorite items.
Also, since they are disposable, you can run special promotions within your printed materials. You’ll be replacing them soon enough, so adding a little variety between them can keep things interesting for returning customers.
Disposables don’t always take on the design and layout of your main dine-in menu. Larger paper sizes are selected for disposable menus to ensure all food items can be displayed on a single piece of paper, either one or two-sided.
Take Out Menus
A similar option available to you is take-out menus.
Take-out menus are typically a lighter and thinner paper stock, similar to disposable menus, to reduce costs since they must be printed in high volumes more frequently than main menus. These are further reduced to the bare essentials, making them further optimized for attaching to a to-go box or handing out promotionally.
When transitioning from a larger printed menu piece with several pages or inserts down to a single-use, disposable menu, find a printing partner that can assist you with the process. Trabon technicians and design specialists can guide folding tips, paper stock, and menu design to ensure your items effectively fit on one page.
Conclusion
Whether your quantity is for 1 restaurant or 500, the menu management principles remain the same: find the right for your business and customer base. What works for a diner won’t necessarily fit into a high-end steak house. Always consider factors such as wear and tear of your menus, customer preference, and ROI when weighing your options.
And while you are weighing these options, you’ll greatly benefit from choosing a menu printing partner you can trust.
Trabon Group offers high-quality menu printing services. Our print specialists will work with you to find a quality approach for printing takeout menus without sacrificing color accuracy, brand standards, and overall production value. Trabon Group’s print specialists ensure that the menu printing quality is as accurate on-to-go menus as your main menus or table collateral. Creating brand color and photo color consistency across all menu forms is incredibly important to producing quality restaurant menus.
Depending on the quantity desired, Trabon Group offers several printing capabilities, such as digital printing or offset menu printing, to print and produce your restaurant menus. Trabon Group’s vast array of capabilities and paper stocks ensure our clients always have the most competitive offering, with high levels of customer service and quick turnaround times.