Easy Sandwiches With An Artisan Feel

Stocking your cafe with a half dozen sandwiches with an artisan feel is an easy opportunity to sell to-go lunches during your breakfast rush or provide a more inviting menu for your lunch crowd when they crave something more than the typical pastry.

Turkey on Multigrain Croissant with Avocado Butter, Provolone & Lettuce.

Check with local vendors in your area for par baked pastries; most food wholesalers have amazing options on hand that you can bake off fresh in your own toaster or convection oven quickly every morning... and easily repeat later if you've had a rush on your new sandwich special.

Because this blog is all about maximizing profits for coffee shop owners by introducing simple food items, this post is going to focus on your new best friend: par baked croissants & rolls.

...if you have a freezer or if you're thinking about getting on, please keep reading

A freezer is a great addition to your store's food production. Par baked croissants and pastries are usually high in quality and easy to bake off in the morning while you prepare your store for your rush. You literally just take these croissants, for example, from the freezer, load them onto a sheet pan over parchment paper, and bake off per the instructions. A little time to cool down and they are ready to be presented as-is or you can open them up and make some easy turkey sandwiches. Blending up some sandwich spreads during a slow afternoon can add an element of artistry to the simplest turkey sandwich and make it worthy of a second glance.

Let's show the larger retailers how it's done

Best of all, small local coffee shops can easily outshine larger competitors that are limited by their available supply chains & consistency needs across their business platform

There is a large retail coffee shop that's open at 5:30 and happens to be enroute to my current catering kitchen. It has a nice friendly staff and I happen to like their dark roast coffee when I'm up that early and in need of a swift fuelling on my way to work. But when I glance at their grab & go case it's evident that these incredibly expensive snacks & sandwiches are not only overpriced, they are not fresh nor are they really made of quality ingredients. Customers are not being treated to something made with pride that's intended to be eaten within a day or two. And everybody knows it. But they capture a market that has no other choices and if they are purchasing some of those snacks it is more likely they are desperate for a little real food and don't have time to wait until later for something substantial and of better quality.

Comparisons may be odious but in this case use them to your advantage

When your customers see the menu you've created with care in your little kitchen they will be happy if they are hungry in the moment and also able to compare you against the larger chains and what they offer. And I'm confident that most customers do have experience in these larger chains wether by travel or accident or preference. Inviting the comparison against convenience menu items is a great place to outshine these larger behemoths that have dominated the market for too long. Creating your own easy snack & lunch menu is not just a matter of profits alone; it should be one of pride.

Even if you don't have a freezer to bake off your own baked goods, stay tuned, because in the next blog we'll show you how to shine using local delivered products and also how to work with food that has a one-day shelf life. Pastries - I'm talking to you and I'm coming your way.