"No Outside Food Or Beverage" ?

QUESTION FROM: Mario in ITL

"What are your policies on customers bringing outside beverages? I own a restaurant with several small coffee shops in the area (including starbucks) and customers repeatedly try to bring in their own coffee and/or drinks. 

When my policy of "no outside food or beverage" is posted on the door and clearly communicated to them or enforced, they usually choose to leave or threaten to never come back."

HH ANSWER:

Let's put it this way: Imagine confronting a guest with a Starbucks cup and they choose to enjoy the beverage they already spent money on- and leave rather than throw away their $11 Dragonfruit Refresher. You've not only lost the sales from that guest, but potentially thousands of dollars in repeat sales from that one customer and potentially tens of thousands more if they badmouth your place to their friends.  

If you’re coffee is as good or better than the shop/roaster down the street they’ll be buying it from you instead anyway - perhaps focusing more on improving your coffee offering / forming a strategic alliance with a small local roaster is a better use of your time than policing a policy that serves as a point of friction with / deterrent for your guests.

Also consider the fact that, with so many people on-the-go, it’s very likely that they had been walking or driving around with their coffee, water or can of soda long before deciding to come in and will (very likely) not be impacting your sales at all. 

Sure there are exceptions which should be handled accordingly i.e., accepting that Starbucks cup through the door when you’re a coffee shop / cafe or instead of a coffee cup - it’s a full fledged hoagie / outside food - which is a topic frequently encountered with lots of restaurants. 

While I believe each event and location should be evaluated independently- I typically favor / start from a zero tolerance policy when it comes to food due to numerous reasons and liabilities. But, apply the same scenario with an outside beverage being brought in with a party of six and one having serious food, allergies/dietary restrictions and needs to bring their own food with them. Would you rather risk their health and comfort… Sure it’s an inconvenience but you and your chef should understand that if one out of six guests is not going to be a paying customer - it’s not worth turning the other 5 away. Obviously a much different scenario than a two top walking in the door, unpacking their own food, and simply ordering a bottle of Pellegrino. You can't let the public use your square footage the same way they would use a public park and the picnic table. In that sort of case, I would apologize about the fact that our tables are for reserved at this particular time and ask that they come back when we're not anticipating more guests or when they're interested in trying what food we have to offer. Again, it's very much a case by case scenario that is heavily dependent on: the location, the day-part, the guest(s) and the particular item(s). (just another reason why it makes sense to carefully vet management that has/is capable of displaying good judgment and common sense... and mentoring them to know what you might do in a similar situation).

I was in Paris with a client recently, who was complaining about guests who were buying to-go desserts/pastries from a shop down the street and then eating them at their outdoor cafe tables. 

He wanted to ban the practice, but upon closer inspection, I realized they were buying pastries from Cedric Grolet, a world-renowned pastry chef, and denying them access to the outdoor bistro tables seemed not only petty - but like they were unwilling to support another local business owner who was not really directly competing with them anyway. That being said, we obviously couldn't simply turn this gentleman's business into a seating for another's.

Instead of banning the practice, I convinced him to simply implement a policy that his tables are reserved for paying customers only. In all honesty, there is no way they were going to buy his desserts over those of a pastry chef down the street with over 1 million followers online - However, his location was ideal for people watching and the opportunity to up-sell these particular guests on numerous signature beverages, salads, and light bites was undeniable. Even if they didn't buy more than water or coffee at that very moment, they would surely remember the perfect setting/location, warm hospitality and offerings that might be exactly what they want later in the day or later in the week.

If you are not in a tourist destination, and instead are an amenity for retail a or downtown location with numerous direct competitors and need to enforce a zero tolerance policy; the simpler the better.

In the situations, I prefer to put up a sign on every door (and train my staff to politely explain and apologize to anyone who missed it) “NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGE”. You're not going to be able to make every single person happy. And, at the end of the day, that's not why you're there anyway.

A lot of amenity outlets or outlets, situated near heavily, trafficked, foot, paths, beaches with boardwalks often face a similar / related but different issue: people wanting to sit at their tables who have not purchased anything there…or anywhere else but simply want top take a break/rest or grab a cup of water - something you wouldn’t think twice about for a paying guest but might hesitate at the tought of your tables turning into a campground.

Many folks, especially those in beach towns or who are in stadiums, ice rinks, or shopping malls (aka amenity locations) get inundated with requests for "just a glass of water". If/when people request it, I’d either offer, bottled water for $3 or direct them to an area where you can easily refill 2-3 plastic pitchers with some ice water, an upside down sleeve of paper cones (or other cheap cups) and a waste basket.

Consider the big picture. At the end of the day, regardless of the inconvenience, you really don’t want to fight your location / or any member of the community if it's possible to embrace and easily accommodate them at little or no additional cost. Bending...just a little, also sends a clear message to management and staff that no-one is there to police the public who may end up becoming guests.

Believe me, I know how annoying it is but I’d also try to be a little more hospitable and let people sit for a break..unless or until I needed the table or chair for a paying guest. instead of being frustrated about people, breaking the rules, try looking at it as an opportunity to sell them on returning when they’re actually hungry.

I think if you approached it with that mindset – you’d see that “problems” like these are actually opportunities. There are so many clients of mine who don’t have potential guests right outside their door… let alone inside their door - to sample their foods, beverages or simply their own brand of genuine hospitality.

Let your creative hospitality juices start flowing and let me know what you come up with. (Hint: think bite sized samples to dull the pain of having to get up when a paying party arrives).

Keep me in the loop and let me know what you decide to do. Always interested to see how my advice or alternative plans pan out,

Josh Sapienza | UbiquityAdvisors.com