The Feast Day of healthfulness

Whether it’s another hipster trend or a healthy lifestyle choice, millennials are leading the push towards a healthier food industry. They are the main contributors to the 8.1% increased in plant-based food in the US in 2017. Healthfulness is now considered to be one of the most crucial factors when choosing a produce or a restaurant. With more emphasis on healthy eating, it’s almost impossible for restaurants to turn a blind eye to this new trend.

These tech-savvy young adults are looking for salutary healthy food options with contemporary vibes and beautifully presented dishes, so they can share their dining experiences on social media. Their social media shares could earn your restaurant some major free advertising.

Here's a walkthrough on how it works:

1. The long-anticipated food that looks like a work of art is delivered to the dining table.

2. Everyone halts the forthcoming indulgence, so they can take a photo of the stunning dish.

3. The photo is edited and photoshopped to make the food look even more mouthwatering than it actually is in real life.

4. Make sure to throw in some relevant hashtags, like #foodie, #eats, #dineout, so the uploaded photo will not only be seen by loyal followers but can also be discovered by strangers from anywhere in the world.

5. The touched-up photo is shared on various social platforms, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest - you name it.

6. Voila, your restaurant now appears on the screen of thousands’ and millions’ thanks to the hashtags and location tags.

7. People who are unaware of your restaurant now see how delicious the food looks and are tempted to make a visit to try it out themselves.

8. Like all good things in life, the cycle continues and there you go, free exposure and millennial-certified promotions.

There’s a way to satisfy your hungry and health-conscious millennials without a costly transformation–The Feast Day of Healthfulness! Essentially this would be a day for your restaurant to showcase a healthy philosophy, but also a perfect day to test out whether adding more greens to your menu will add more bills to your bank account. If it’s a flop, no harm no foul. On the other hand, if it turns out to be a hidden goldmine (like these restaurants, perhaps it’s time to consider a healthy revamp.

How to plan your green fest:

Handpick the menu

Ideally, the ingredients should be quite literally ‘handpicked’, meaning that they should be natural and organic. Millennials are all about the freshly picked, raw ingredients so put your focus into looking for organically grown local produce. Remember less is more.

Match the colors

An interesting fact that you probably don’t know is that people tend to eat more if the food matches the color of tableware and eat less if the colors contrast. If your restaurant closet lacks some essential earthy tones, why not consider using biodegradable plates and bowls. Not only do they come in various colors but they are also environmentally friendly!

Set the mood right

Lighting plays an important role in setting the right mood for your customers. If you want to lure your meat-eaters into eating healthier, first you must turn the lights up. Studies show that diners are more likely to order healthy food in a well-lit restaurant. On the contrary, those who dine in dimly lit rooms tend to order dishes with more calories. Besides, what’s the point of hosting a special day if it’s too dark to take a nice shot of the food?

Turn down the tunes

Pop and electronic music might be safe choices for your millennial customers but not necessarily the safest playlist for the Feast Day of Healthfulness. Instead of upbeat tempos, it’s best to put on some lounge and ambient music. This is because loud music increases heart rates which could misguide people into choosing unhealthy food options like fatty and sugary food. As much as pop and EDM music is everyone’s go-to, you wouldn’t want to risk turning customers away on this special day because of a wrong melody.

In case you don’t have a set of trendy tunes handy, here’s a playlist perfect for the occasion. (Do keep in mind that you must comply with the copyright status before playing music in your restaurant.)