The pandemic is over, but the digital menu continues: understand why

In the post-pandemic scenario and in view of the trends in the food service sector, more and more companies are adhering to the use of digital menus in place of printed menus. While the printed menu is a traditional option and is still widely used in many establishments, the digital menu offers advantages that can improve the customer experience and increase the efficiency and profitability of the business.

According to Henrique Cassins, head of FoodCo, an education foodtech that offers content on trends, mentoring and solutions in the foodservice market for entrepreneurs in the food business, the digital menu, whether by QR Code, self-service totem or tablet on the table, must exist due to a demand from the new generations and due to post-covid changes. “It has an excellent cost-benefit ratio and is very practical for adjusting the menu, such as price and new dishes”, he adds.

Patrícia Veron Tessaro, partner-owner of Boi and Beer, has been using the menu via tablet since the restaurant opened in October 2018. Available at the establishment’s tables, the businesswoman comments that the digital menu has always been well accepted by consumers. “It’s a world of possibilities. The advantage is that it is very practical. Changing the menu is no problem. You take the product in 30 seconds. There is also no wear and tear of the customer asking for something from the menu and not having it, ”she says.

“There is also agility and economy, because printing menus is very expensive”, he adds.

In addition to the tablet, the businesswoman reports that the self-service system via QR Code will also be used by the restaurant in May. “It will be implemented so as not to make the customer wait in cases of large tables, with a large number of orders through the tablet. The customer will be able to scan the card from their own cell phone”, she comments.

Eduardo Richard, semi-finalist at Maschef Brasil 2019 and owner of Lemí Bar, a restaurant that uses the QR Code as an online menu access system, considers that the ease of changing products is one of the advantages of the digital menu.

“If you decide to put a new dish on the menu, it is not necessary to print new copies. There is a greater dynamism for the entrepreneur to keep the menu always updated, without having a printed menu crossed out or that was not ready in time, and having to write something by hand or stick a sticker of the dish that is available in the week”, explains.

Another advantage of using the digital menu indicated by the entrepreneur is the health issue. Eduardo explains that especially after the pandemic, customers did not like to share objects. “I think that each one having access to their own menu is an advantage in this sense, not sharing bacteria, dirt”, he comments.

Has the printed menu fallen into disuse?

Eduardo Macieira, digital marketing professor at EGG Educa, a gastronomy business management school, points out that although there is a stronger digital menu movement, especially after the pandemic when establishments started working with delivery, many still have physical menus. to assist elderly people who may not be as familiar with technologies.

This is what entrepreneur Eduardo Richard reports, who works exclusively with digital menus, but is organizing himself to have some physical copies. “In the case of people who don’t have a cell phone in their hands, who are out of battery or without internet or really an older person who doesn’t know how to use technology”, he comments.

Considering the experience of mentoring and courses given to entrepreneurs in the food service sector, Eduardo Macieira reports that small entrepreneurs in general prefer to work with physical menus, while large establishments use the digital format more.

“Bigger restaurants use digital and have a greater tendency to embrace technologies and also think about the environment”, he explains.

Even so, as Henrique Cassins points out, there is no unanimity among establishments regarding the use of digital and printed menus. “In the mentorships that we promote in partnership with EGG Educa, in short, we believe that the best solution is to work with both alternatives in order to serve all audiences and avoid possible adverse situations that both may present”, he concludes.

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Check out platforms that offer training courses for preparing menus:

FoodCo: @foodcobrasil

EGG Educates: youtube @negociosdagastronomia