The COVID-19 outbreak has changed everything in our lives – especially eating style. Due to the prolonged restaurant shut-down order, people must stay at home, potentially missing out on delicious meals cooked by their favorite chefs.
On the other hand, this critical situation has created a new normal—an increase in “Sushi To-Go.” After staying home for almost a month, people cannot wait any longer and have started checking online “sushi near me”, “ramen near me” delivery and pick-up options with local restaurants.
And yes, thanks to government deregulation, more and more restaurants have started adding alcoholic beverages—including sake—to their selection of “To-Go” menu items. If you are a Sushi or Ramen restaurant owner selling meals to-go, why not start selling “Sake To-Go” as well? This not only creates additional sales but also opens your customers’ eyes to a special dining experience at home and will eventually strengthen their loyalty to your restaurant.”
Want to start selling Sake To-Go? Here’s some tips:
1. Popular sizes
Since the typical alcohol content of sake (15-16%) is slightly stronger than wine (13%), small bottles of either 180ml or 300ml are the ideal size for pairing with dinner and are easy to handle/transport. If you sell sake by the glass as well, or you sell cocktails to-go, you must use plastic cups with lids or use mason jars.
2. Discount price
It may not be reasonable to sell Sake To-Go at the same price as for dining in. In general, sake/wine prices at restaurants are 2-3 times their wholesale cost. If this is the case for your restaurant, you may want to somewhat lower the price for To-Go. Discount prices attract customers. Simply choose some popular beverage options you think will sell and mark them “XX% OFF” on your menu or POP.
3. Visual promotion
Use visual images to attract attention. If delivery services such as Door Dash or Uber Eats are available at your restaurant, add product photos and explanations for your sake to your menu in addition to listing them by name & price. If your restaurant’s information is on Yelp, Google My Business, Instagram or Facebook, you may want to take & submit pictures or videos of recommended sake alongside popular “to-go” meals.
If you sell sake that’s PIL imported, we will help your sake promotion by making “To-Go” menus, or design images for SNS purposes. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected]
