Designing a drink menu is no easy feat. If you’re not getting yours designed professionally, consider the following tips as you create your own.

1. Brand Consistency

First, consider the look and layout of your menu. The ‘feel’ and the colors should match your establishment environment and your logo. Making sure your drink menu is consistent with your brand is the first step in building trust with your customer.

2. Don’t Overwhelm The Customer

Next, you’ll think of what drinks you want to include on your menu.

You don’t want to overwhelm your customers with drink options but you don’t want to limit them either.

There’s not definitive number of options you should have but a general rule of thumb is to have 10-12 cocktail options along with a beer and wine list unless your establishment is known for specializing in a specific liquor category.

3. Get Creative

Cocktail names should never be an afterthought. The name is a lot like a wine label and can account for than 50% of the reason a customer will select a drink option.

Make sure to create a signature drink name as well that ties in with your establishment name, logo or mission.

4. Make Them Want It

Drink descriptions are just as important as drink names. Use descriptive terms like “crisp”, “refreshing”, “tangy” when describing cocktail ingredients to create a picture in your customer’s mind about their drink options.

5. Point Out Your Specialties

Make sure your customers know what’s special about your drink options. Are any ingredients locally sourced? Do you hand blend everything together? Emphasize anything that makes your delivery special.

6. Format Your Drink Prices

First, make sure to include drink prices. You are more likely to have a customer purchase multiple cocktails when prices are listed.

Second, listing drinks from most expensive to least expensive can prove more profitable.

Third, don’t include the dollar sign with the price. For higher end establishments you can even leave off the cents or include ‘.00’ which can seem more upscale.

For more casual environments, end prices in ‘.49’ or ‘.95’ to make the prices seem more inviting.

7. Direct The Customer’s Eye

You want your customers to choose high margin menu items and there’s a few ways to nudge them towards those options.

Customers tend to look at the top right-hand corner of the menu first. After this spot, peoples’ eyes go to the first and last few items on the menu. To push your most profitable drink items, place them in these spots.

You can also visually emphasize high margin items by placing boxes around their titles and descriptions or separating them from menu options using different fonts and colors.

Be choosy about which items you do this with. Usually one or two per drink category is plenty. More than that and the effect wears off.

At Royale Brands, our in-house design and marketing team can help design a menu for you when you purchase our products.

Contact us today to start carrying Royale Brands products in your business!

The post Design Tricks To Create A Drink Menu That Sells appeared first on Royale International Beverage Co..

In Western culture, we are always looking for the next best thing. We want to be faster, stronger, healthier.

However, we are also resistant to change which means we enjoy what we are comfortable with. Our favorites include smoothies, sandwiches, burgers. We end up wanting a healthy spin on our comfort foods so we can stick with routine but feel better about what we’re consuming at the same time.

Introducing, “better for you” foods. They’re foods that might not be perceived as healthy (or unhealthy really) but have room to be improved. As varying versions hit the market, these items ultimately end up separated into ‘good’, ‘better’, ‘best’ categories.

The idea of “better for you” products has taken off in the last decade along with this wave of healthier products.

“Better for you” can mean several things but typically means that something is healthier than the average version of it. This can mean an item is naturally sweet, cage-free, grass fed. You name it.

Take slushies for example. They’re sugar water which isn’t exactly a health beverage. But studies show that customers are more comfortable purchasing slushies if they are made with real fruit juice instead of high fructose corn syrup. They are still aware of the fact that fruit juice is sugar but like that the product seems less processed than the average slushie.

Educating customers about the beneficial nutritional aspects of your offerings can create a profound level of trust which can carry through to other purchases they make at your establishment and boost your overall sales.

Below are three of the top buzzwords when promoting a “better for you” beverage program:

No HFCS

This means no high fructose corn syrup. HFCS has gotten a bad rap for being overly processed and manipulated to be sweeter than what nature intended. Is it harmful? No. But does it sound appealing? No.

Gluten Free

Your customers have been conditioned to associate the term ‘gluten free’ with ‘healthy’. Most quality beverage products are naturally gluten free.

Naturally Sweetened

For fruity beverage offerings, it is a huge advantage to be able to market them as ‘natural’ or ‘naturally sweet’.

This is a good place to start when marketing a “better for you” beverage program but are not the only options. Talk to your customers and ask them what they would like to see improved on your beverage program.

Just a heads up- Royale Brands actually offers several products that boast these benefits.

Contact us today to start carrying Royale Brands products in your business!

The post Sell More By Offering “Better For You” Frozen Beverages appeared first on Royale International Beverage Co..

Pumpkin spice has been having a moment in the spotlight for at least the last 5 years thanks to Starbucks and other chain establishments. You get it. You should be offering it. But the hype lasts for 30 days and then your customers are onto something new so it can seem like a waste to bring in new inventory for such a short amount of time.

We hate to admit it, but it’s those small changes that can make an impactful difference to your customers.

Read more about how offering seasonal drink flavors in your establishment can help grow your business:

1. You’re staying current!

Maybe you don’t care if you seem outdated because that’s not your ‘thing’ but it certainly doesn’t hurt to create the perception that you’re up to speed with current trends. Long-time customers may not care one way or another about new offerings but new customers will be impressed especially if you’re a local business.

2. You have the opportunity to add your own signature twist.

If staying current doesn’t sound enticing, how about putting a signature twist on a drink that everyone already loves? Doing this can set your offering apart from the rest and make patrons feel like you’re not just following the crowd for brownie points. Create a delicious new flavor combination and you can watch your sales climb.

3. Repeat customers get a break from the same old options.

At the very least, offering a limited time flavor can make patrons feel like your staple offerings are refreshed once the seasonal excitement has passed. This may not garner more drink sales but can help your establishment to keep customers over the long run and will help to maintain your bottom line.

4. You’ll end up selling more of everything.

If one person stop in to try your seasonal flavor, you can bet they have at least one other person with them. Even if the other person doesn’t care for your seasonal options, they’ll purchase other items simply because they are there. Hey, you might even impress them and gain a couple of repeat purchasers in the process.

5. You’ll build anticipation.

Promote seasonal flavors regularly and you’ll have customers anticipating your next offering. They will be more likely to pay attention to your updates on social media and will be more likely to stop by your establishment just to see what’s new.

Convinced?

Here are some of the most popular seasonal flavors you should incorporate into your beverage program:

October: Pumpkin Spice

November: Cider

December: Peppermint, Mocha, White Chocolate

January: Low-Cal Options

February: Dark Chocolate

March: Peppermint, Vanilla

June, July: Lemonade

We have products to satisfy all of the above seasonal favorites.

Contact us today to start carrying Royale Brands products in your business!

The post Why You Need To Offer Seasonal Drink Flavors In Your Establishment appeared first on Royale International Beverage Co..

Shelf stable purees and beverage mixes can get a bad rap because they are not seen as healthy or as fresh as refrigerated products. That’s simply not true so we are here to set the record straight.

In fact, our programs focus around our proprietary ‘no waste, no shrink’ concept that utilizes shelf stable products only. Our end product tastes great and our customers are keeping their margins high by avoiding perishable products.

Ready to learn more?

Myth #1

“Shelf stable products contain more preservatives than actual product.”

FALSE (at least for us….)

Some shelf stable products out there may contain a large percentage of preservatives but they don’t have to. Royale Brands’ purees and beverage mixes are made with as little as .001% of preservative and stay shelf stable up to 12 months.

Myth # 2

“Shelf stable products are made with ingredients that are of lesser quality.”

FALSE

We couldn’t type the word ‘false’ fast enough on this one. Non-shelf stable products charge a hefty premium for their perishable products but they are actually using the same, if not a lesser, quality of ingredients.

Royale Brands makes quality of ingredients a priority. We offer products that are even made with real crushed fruit to make a real fruit puree mix. That product, for example, actually has the consistency (and the stability) of honey so it feels more like a concentrate and tastes great.

Myth #3

“Shelf stable products don’t taste as good as other products.”

FALSE

We dare you to try our strawberry daiquiri puree and tell us it’s not the best you’ve ever had. Our customers are continuously surprised the flavor of our purees and mixes taste because we are committed to using quality ingredients that keep your customers coming back for more.

At Royale Brands we have so many beverage mix options. From mixes that are partially made with fruit juice to mixes that are 100% high fructose corn syrup free, naturally gluten free and naturally fat free. We make something for every type of establishment.

Learn more about our different product lines here.

Want more information on our products? Contact us here.

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It’s no secret that today’s customers will pay a premium for fresh made beverages when compared to a pre-made product. You may be using the exact same ingredients but something about a made-to-order beverage makes people feel like you are really taking care of them and makes them think you are using fresher ingredients.

But what happens if you’re establishment is tight on time and labor? You’ve got an infinite amount of orders coming in and customers to take care of. What do you do? Do you opt for a batch mix and take a hit on your margin or do you stick it out and force your staff to rush?

Fortunately, you don’t have to do either one. You are able to serve up quality, made-to-order, beverages in a timely manner and still charge fresh-made prices.

Below we break down the secret ingredients to executing this profitable beverage program concept. With the right products, making a premium, fresh, beverage is as simple as adding real fruit puree, liquor, ice and water to a blender jar or shaker. Mix for 30 seconds and serve. Your customers get a fresh-made drink in 60 seconds or less.

What you need to make a fresh beverage in less than 60 seconds:

1. Portion Controlled Product

Portion controlled product lets your customers make any beverage quickly and without error because they’re not guessing on ingredient measurements. This is good for your bottom line and for your customers who depend on consistent drink quality.

Tip: If you get the right products, you can pack a lot of flavor into each drink with fewer ingredients, saving your staff valuable time in making a drink.

(Royale Brands offers premium, portion controlled, real fruit purees and other concentrates that allow you to make several delicious drinks per one bottle of product.) 

2. Shelf Stable

By placing your beverage ingredients where your staff can quickly reach them, you’re saving valuable seconds. Plus, having a shelf stable beverage removes any costs left to ingredient expiration. This keeps your margins high while providing a more efficient process for your staff.

(Royale Brands products are all shelf stable for up to 12 months and made with only .001% of a preservative.) 

3. User friendly operations

You can’t make much without some recipes and employee training. Make sure your staff has been properly trained to make beverages using all ingredients in a way that’s easy peezy to remember.

A recipe card matching the drinks on your menu should be in reach at all times and should be easy to read. Eliminating any guessing from the process guarantees a consistently delicious drink every time.

(Royale Brands provides professionally designed recipe cards with every beverage program for easy to follow instruction.)

4. Quality equipment

Now if you’re making drinks served over the rocks you don’t need much but for frozen drinks, don’t skimp on a blender. A commercial blender will last years longer than an inexpensive counterpart and will make your blended drinks silky smooth. Plus, commercial blenders can whip up a finished drink in 30 seconds or less which is key to delivering a made-to-order drink as quickly as possible.

(Royale Brands offers commercial equipment with all of our beverage programs and a full staff of in house experts to answer any questions you may have once you’re up and running.)

Bonus: Well designed drink menu

Never doubt the power of a professionally designed drink menu. Proper design can draw attention to your most profitable beverages and boost your bottom line.

Royale Brands maintains an in-house marketing and design department to help you design a professional drink menu for your beverage program.

Contact us today to get started!

The post How To Make High Margin Made-To-Order Beverages Quickly appeared first on Royale International Beverage Co..

You did it. You took the leap and invested in a specialty beverage program to boost sales at your establishment and get a bite of a multi-billion dollar industry. But something isn’t adding up. You’re not quite making the margins you should be. What’s the deal?

Many beverage programs requiring employees to mix ingredients together run into this problem. They’ve trained their employees to make the drinks and trust that they are competent but the final product just doesn’t taste like it should every time.

While your employees are doing their best, the truth is it’s difficult for them create a drink with consistent flavor, and margins, without a fool-proof process.

Enter: portion controlled beverage programs.

Royale Brands specializes in portion controlled beverage programs because they are the only guarantee to churning out a consistent product.

Many of our competitors rely on training employees to measure ingredients by ‘eyeballing’ them which is detrimental on two fronts for your business. First, they serve up an inconsistent drink which is turning your customers off. Second, your margins are all over the place which can really mess with your bottom line and inventory control. By not using a portion controlled specialty beverage program, you are potentially shrinking your margins by 10-50%!

Royale Brands provides our customers with everything they need to run a profitable specialty beverage program and portion control is only one piece of the puzzle. For more information on how our programs can benefit you or how to find a distributor near you, contact us here.

The post The Sneaky Way You’re Losing Money On Your Beverage Program Investment appeared first on Royale International Beverage Co..

The weather is hot, we’re stressed and we could use a little fun so it seems fitting that the frozen child-like treat is making a comeback in 2017.

Slush was considered by many to only be a convenience store delight until Sonic began to spread the love by offering an infinite amount of slush flavor combos in 2014. This led to McDonald’s jumping on the slush bandwagon this past April.

Frozen flavors were known to be limited to overly sweet fruit flavors and sticky big-brand cola renditions- until recently.

New slush mix is being touted as artificial ingredient free, artificial color free, naturally sweetened, organic and more leaving your pallet feeling refreshed instead of overwhelmed.

Simply put, slush is being revamped into a healthier clone that we can all get on board with. Most importantly, we’re seeing unexpected flavors being introduced like Rose’, Ginger and Margarita- all of which are making waves on the restaurant scene.

Here are three new ways you can use your slush machines to excite your customers this summer:

1.Think Bourbon Slushies and Frozen Moscow Mules

Frozen fruity cocktails like daiquiris and coladas have always been popular but now traditional cocktails are coming up frozen too. The twist? Add ginger, bitters, spices and more to your frozen cocktails for a refreshing surprise.

Kentucky Sunrise Slushie:

4 oz. Orange Slush

1.5 oz. Bourbon

.5 oz. Grenadine

Orange Peel for Garnish

Stir and serve!

2. Kick The Vanilla Up A Notch

What happens when you add a little non-dairy smoothie creme to a batch of delicious slush? You get what we like to call Creamscicles. A frozen treat, very similar to slush, with a smoother consistency and a cozy vanilla flavor.

Our customers love Creamscicles in the summer because they taste like a cross between a hearty smoothie and a refreshing slush!

(We suggest using our 100% Juice Blends as your base.)

3. Add A Tart Twist

Lemonade? In the summer? Okay, okay. We know that’s not groundbreaking.

How about lemonade flavored frozen slush in the summertime? That’s better.

Grab a two-bowl machine, pick a fruity flavor for one side, add lemonade to the other and let your customers mix their own lemonade concoctions for a sweet and sour slush!

(Check out our lemonade options when you click here.)

Royale International Beverage Co. is your one-stop shop for your specialty beverage program needs.

We are national experts on providing establishments with no-waste, no-shrink turn-key beverage programs that churn out an amazing product with great margins.

(We provide you with menus, recipes, POS and signage too!)

Contact us today to find a distributor near you.

The post Three Ways To Use Slush In Your Beverage Program This Summer appeared first on Royale International Beverage Co..

Four Low-Cost Margarita Trends You Should Incorporate Into Your Beverage Program

1. Fresh Juice
Fresh lime or lemon juice coupled with our margarita products gives your drinks a delicious zing that make your customers say ‘Yum!’ This is an easy way to make your drinks seem more authentic without increasing cost.

2. Garnish
A unique garnish like a curled orange peel or strip of cucumber can make your customers feel like you went the extra mile for them, elevating their perceived value of the their drink.

3. Salt On The Rim With A Twist
Infused and flavored salts add another layer of flavor to your drinks and can transform the most classic of margaritas. Click here to discover some flavored salt ideas.

4. Spices
Adding a little spice like cayenne or habanero is a low cost way to kick your drink profiles up a notch and pleasantly surprise your customers!

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