Industry Headlines
November 21, 2012

E-mail Marketing

An e-mail campaign can be a solid and inexpensive tool in your marketing arsenal. If you are a “do it yourself” kind of person and prefer not to hire an e-mail marketing firm, it all starts with building a list. Offer your customers something in exchange for their e-mail address: a free menu item or drink might do the trick. However, to avoid getting labeled as a spammer, make sure your customers are aware that by providing the address they are giving you permission to e-mail them special offers and marketing messages.

From there, it’s about tailoring the right message and following through on your offers. Some things to keep in mind include:

• Making sure your subject line reflects the content of your e-mail.
• Mixing up your e-mail with images and text.
• Avoid using rented lists.

For more advice on executing an e-mail campaign, click here.


Dessert Pizzas

Dessert pizzas are not only a must-have on any pizza buffet, but they’re becoming somewhat en vogue in restaurats of all sorts. That’s good new for operators, because a great dessert pizza is easier to make than you might think.

A special crust is not needed, which greatly helps. Simply take your regular crust and brush it with butter, vanilla and brown sugar. From there, top with items such as cream cheese, fruit, peanut butter, chocolate, etc. Whatever suits your fancy will probably entice your customers.

One of the top-selling dessert pizzas in the country is a “cinnamon roll” pizza. Apple and cherry streusel pizzas typically fare well, too.

For more on dessert pizza, click here.


Down, But Not Out

It’s the middle of your Friday night rush and your oven suddenly goes down. Or you walk in on Saturday morning to find that a power outage the night before caused your dough to blow and the contents of your walk-in refrigerator to spoil.

It can happen at any time. Thankfully, proper precautions can help you be prepared.

Purchase back-up parts for your oven. What is most likely to fail on your unit? For a deck, keep a pilot safety, thermostat and door opening assist springs on hand. For a conveyor, consider stocking a drive motor, speed servo, chain belt repair kit and a few specialized electrical switches and fuses, says consultant Big Dave Ostrander.

“(For your walk-in refrigerator), buy the biggest generator you can afford,” Ostrander says. “It will pay for itself after it saves all of your refrigerated food from the dumpster and keeps your doors open.”

If an outage causes your dough to blow, don’t panic. Pizza Today has an “emergency dough” formula that can be used in these situations, courtesy of our Dough Doctor, Tom Lehmann. Click here to see it.


Featured Recipe — Linguine with Smoked Salmon & Peas

For some reason, linguine seems to be the official pasta of seafood. Hey, who are we to question … it works! In this recipe, we offer bold flavors that make for a perfect winter dinner dish.

Linguine with Smoked Salmon & Peas

½ cup frozen peas
1 pound linguine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup whipping cream

For the rest of this delicious recipe, click here.