Food Safety
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Safety
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • White Papers
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
    • Contamination Control
    • Food Types
    • Management
    • Process Control
    • Regulatory
    • Sanitation
    • Supply Chain
    • Testing and Analysis
  • PODCAST
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Food Safety Five Newsreel
    • eBooks
    • FSM Distinguished Service Award
    • Interactive Product Spotlights
    • Videos
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • MORE
    • ENEWSLETTER >
      • Archive Issues
      • Subscribe to eNews
    • Store
    • Sponsor Insights
  • WEBINARS
  • FOOD SAFETY SUMMIT
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issues
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Contact
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
ManagementBest Practices

Three Easy Ways to Assure Prospects and Customers Your Food is Safe

September 6, 2016

You’ve heard the statistics: Every year, one out of six Americans (that’s 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases.[1]

Of course, not ALL of these cases originate at a restaurant, but still: As someone who loves to go out to eat, that makes me nervous—and I know I’m not alone.

So how do you assure your potential customers that your restaurant’s food is not only delicious, but safe?

Here are three suggestions:

1) Add a food safety element to all of your marketing.

Let your customers and prospects know that you take food safety seriously.

In addition to mouth-watering pictures of your dishes, add a brief message—no more than a sentence, or no one will bother to read it—about your food safety standards. Even better, include your latest health inspection rating and any food safety certifications your staff has earned.

Put it on everything. That means your
•    Website

•    Facebook page

•    Direct mail

•    Commercials

•    Menus

•    Print ads

2) Get your message out with a direct mail campaign.

Even in the digital age, direct mail marketing is one of the most effective ways to bring in new business. Saturate your neighborhood with direct mail postcards inviting them to try your restaurant!

Check out these numbers:
•    60 percent of direct mail recipients were influenced to visit a promoted website[2]

•    92 percent of millennials—MILLENNIALS!—are influenced to make a purchasing decision as a result of direct mail they received[3]

But delicious food and high safety standards alone aren’t enough to bring in new customers. A retail research firm found that more than one-third of dining decisions are based on deals and special offers![4]

In other words, you need to eliminate the risk of trying a new restaurant.

Here are some of the successful offers that have been used:
•    $25 gift certificate

•    20 percent off the entire bill

•    Buy one entrée, get one free

•    Free cocktail and appetizer with dinner for two

To get the best return on investment, you need to mail to the same list again and again.

Here’s why:

Most of us need to hear a message multiple times before deciding to act on it. In fact, 80 percent of sales only take place on or after the fifth contact![5]

I know this from experience as a marketer AND as a consumer.

My husband and I often “forget” to try a new restaurant we’ve been talking about because we are not reminded. Think about that—a new restaurant gets some press, we say “Oooh, we need to try it!” Then we don’t.

When you market consistently, you are at the top of your prospective guests’ minds when they’re deciding where to go out to eat!

3) When a food-safety issue surfaces, react quickly.

If a public health concern arises, tweak your marketing message to include information about how SAFE and RELIABLE your food is—and it’s best to get as specific as possible. For example, if an outbreak is traced to imported produce, tell people that yours is grown locally (if, in fact, it is). Tell people the name of the farm you work with, or take photos of your own gardens if you have them!

Get your message out immediately with Facebook—where many of your prospects and customers are every day.

Facebook has 156 million users in the U.S.,[6] and 66 percent of users access it daily.[7]

Unfortunately, Facebook’s organic reach is only a fraction of what it used to be—as few as 2 percent of people who like your business page see your posts[8]— so you’ll need to fork over some money for an ad.

The good news is that the site’s ad manager is super easy to navigate and gives you tons of targeting options.

You can:
•    Boost your posts so more of your followers see them

•    Saturate the area around your restaurant

•    Target users by demographic

•    Target your own customer database

You can also reach your current database quickly with an email message telling them what you’re doing to prevent any issues at your restaurant. (You DO have a database of your current customers, right?)

Just don’t forget to give them a reason to come in. Whatever deal you offer, the initial loss is nothing compared to the value of a loyal customer!

Joy Gendusa is a business marketing expert.

References
1. www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/estimates-overview.html.
2. www.dmn3.com/dmn3-blog/10-mind-blowing-direct-mail-statistics-and-what-they-mean.
3. nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/56978/millennials-prefer-direct-mail.
4. www.forbes.com/sites/caroltice/2012/07/12/what-puts-diners-in-restaurant-seats-hint-not-social-media-reviews/#460208d36803.
5. www.morethanaccountants.co.uk/8-percent-sales-people-get-80-percent-of-sales/.
6. www.statista.com/statistics/398136/us-facebook-user-age-groups/.
7. expandedramblings.com/index.php/by-the-numbers-17-amazing-facebook-stats/.
8. blog.hubspot.com/marketing/facebook-declining-organic-reach#sm.00001ofj1rfpxd52u6u17thv0weta.
 

 


Author(s): Joy Gendusa

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • people holding baby chicks

    Serovar Differences Matter: Utility of Deep Serotyping in Broiler Production and Processing

    This article discusses the significance of Salmonella in...
    Microbiological
    By: Nikki Shariat Ph.D.
  • woman washing hands

    Building a Culture of Hygiene in the Food Processing Plant

    Everyone entering a food processing facility needs to...
    Facilities
    By: Richard F. Stier, M.S.
  • graphical representation of earth over dirt

    Climate Change and Emerging Risks to Food Safety: Building Climate Resilience

    This article examines the multifaceted threats to food...
    Management
    By: Maria Cristina Tirado Ph.D., D.V.M. and Shamini Albert Raj M.A.
Manage My Account
  • eMagazine Subscription
  • Subscribe to eNewsletter
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Website Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Food Safety Magazine audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Food Safety Magazine or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • mold
    Sponsored byIFC

    Tackling Mold Remediation in Food Processing Plants

  • a worker in a food processing plant
    Sponsored byLPS® DETEX®

    How a Beverage Facility Improved Food Safety and Compliance with Detectable Packaging Solutions

  • Two men standing in a produce storage facility having a discussion.
    Sponsored byOrkin Commercial

    Staying Compliant With FSMA

Popular Stories

sunflower oil

Louisiana Passes ‘MAHA’ Bill Targeting More Than 40 Ingredients, Including Seed Oils, Dyes, Sweeteners

smoked salmon in oil

Study Shows Food Type Significantly Affects Listeria’s Ability to Survive Digestion, Cause Sickness

Justin Ransom and Denise Eblen

USDA-FSIS Announces Dr. Justin Ransom as New Administrator

Events

July 15, 2025

Hygienic Design Risk Management: Industry Challenges and Global Insights

Live: July 15, 2025 at 11:00 am EDT: From this webinar, attendees will learn the importance of hygienic design to ensure food safety and sanitation effectiveness.

July 22, 2025

Beyond the Binder: Digital Management of Food Safety

Live: July 22, 2025 at 3:00 pm EDT: During this webinar, attendees will learn best practices for the use of digital food safety management systems across industry and regulatory agencies.

August 7, 2025

Achieve Active Managerial Control of Major Risk Factors Using a Food Safety Management System

Live: August 7, 2025 at 2:00 pm EDT: From this webinar, attendees will learn about changes to the FDA Food Code, which now includes a requirement for FSMS. 

View All

Products

Global Food Safety Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

Global Food Safety Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

See More Products
Environmental Monitoring Excellence eBook

Related Articles

  • Cleanliness is Next to Godliness and Essential to Assure Safe Food

    See More
  • Five Unusual Ways to Use Your Corporate Culture to Eliminate Foreign Material

    See More
  • Ib Elandaloussi

    Is your facility food safe and defensible?

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • food-safety-making.jpg

    Food Safety: Making Foods Safe and Free From Pathogens

  • 9781138198463.jpg

    Food Safety Management Programs: Applications, Best Practices, and Compliance

  • Food-Forensics-3D.jpg

    Food Forensics Handbook Practice, Instrumentation, Case Studies

See More Products

Related Directories

  • Nestle Quality Assurance Center Dublin

    The Nestle Quality Assurance Center (NQAC) Dublin provides the analytical testing businesses need to ensure product safety for consumers. We have supported the food industry world-wide for over three decades and offer an expansive portfolio of over 200 methods to meet your food safety testing needs.
  • ProSpection Solutions

    Prospection Solutions offers award-winning foreign material detection technology and cutting edge 360-degree product and package inspection systems and grinding technology that focus on food safety. We partner with companies to understand their issues and deliver innovative solutions, providing consistent quality to free up manpower for critical operations, to focus labor and add value.
  • Smart Food Safe

    Smart Food Safe is a leading and innovative software company specializing in providing state-of-the-art technology solutions for businesses to excel in Quality, Food Safety, Regulatory, and Traceability management. With a strong focus on empowering organizations, Smart Food Safe Software offers a comprehensive suite of customizable modules designed to streamline processes, ensure regulatory compliance, enhance product quality, and enable real-time visibility into operations.
×

Never miss the latest news and trends driving the food safety industry

eNewsletter | Website | eMagazine

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing