Well, Spring has finally arrived and we’re well on the way to Summer. This can be a difficult time for cafes with only limited outdoor seating, or none at all, as most customers enjoy sitting outside taking in the sunshine, which can leave empty cafes all over Brisbane.

So the question is how can you still attract customers to your cafe despite the sun? We’ve put together a few tips to get your cafe ready for the summer by tweaking your menu in order to maximise your profits.

Summer drinks

Milkshakes and frappes are massively in demand in the summer months but do require a commercial blender to get those lush frothy results. Frappe mix can be a little expensive if you don’t offer them as standard so it may be a better option to serve a variety of milkshakes instead. Roband milkshakes mixers are one of the best on the market for giving perfect results every time.

Other drink options include:

Iced coffee

These can be created quite simply by pouring espresso and cold milk over ice or you can go to town and add a scoop of ice cream which can be blended like a milkshake before pouring over the ice. You can also ring the changes with coffee syrups and different flavours of ice creams, eliminating the need for any expensive mixes. What’s more you can charge more for these than your normal lattes, meaning that they’re good for your bottom line.

Fruit smoothies

These delicious drinks are really popular and healthy too and can be made in a variety of ways using fresh fruit, milk, yoghurts, oats, and ice. Whatever method you decide upon, make sure you promote their health benefits like crazy.

Iced Tea

Iced tea is refreshing and with a little imagination, you can play around with flavours, types of tea, and herbals which will have customers coming back for more. One way to make iced tea is with syrup, cold water and heaps of ice. However, you can also brew up multiple tea bags in a small amount of hot water and top with ice and water. It’s an extremely cost-effective drink to make and you can also charge more than for a regular cup of tea:)

Most importantly, be sure to offer all of your summer drinks in a takeaway form so that customers can enjoy them on the hop. By introducing some stylish summer crockery and new exciting flavours, your cafe will soon be heaving with summer customers.

Summer Snacks

Less is definitely more when it comes to summer snacks. Generally speaking, people don’t want heavy cakes at this time of the year especially if they’ve ordered a calorific milkshake. You might want to tweak your snacks and make your menu lighter with less chocolate which only melts anyway! Try and include a few unique offerings which other cafes don’t have on their menus.

Good quality ice cream desserts and sorbets will make your cafe a summer destination and help to increase the spend per head. Try swapping out the cakes in your cabinets for lighter products such as cheesecakes and flapjacks.

Finally, salads are a great thing to add to your menu but make sure they aren’t boring. Try using pasta, couscous, seeds, and exotic dressings and promote them as takeaway options too. Customers will be keen to purchase these and eat them in the park during their lunch break.

Hopefully, these tips have given you a few ideas for attracting new customers during the summer. Meanwhile, if you do have a terrace then now’s the time to jazz it up for the months ahead. We’re offering 10% off all our polypropylene chairs so there’s never been a better time to update your cafe furniture.