Menu Strategy: Getting Down

T.G.I. Friday’s promotes smaller, lower-priced Right Portion, Right Price menu items to drive repeat traffic and attract new guests.

By Monica Rogers, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 6/1/2007

On a bright red plate as cheery as the signature stripes on T.G.I. Friday’s awnings, the serving doesn’t look small. "It’s ample," my dining partner decides, twirling his fork in a tangle of Alfredo-sauced noodles and tilting his head sideways to get a better view of the glazed and grilled chicken breast on top. "They certainly didn’t skimp on the noodles."

This Right Portion, Right Price version of T.G.I. Friday’s Jack Daniel’s Chicken Alfredo has one-third less chicken and costs $7.99, one-third less than the regular-sized $11.82 offering. It’s one of 10 Right Portion entrees the chain started promoting in March, all priced between $6.99 and $8.99 and half to one-third smaller than regular entrees.

Despite knowing that it would lower the check average, Mike Archer, president of T.G.I. Friday’s U.S.A., believes Right Portion has the potential to drive traffic. "We’re hoping Right Portion gets existing guests in more often and attracts new guests who used to veto Friday’s because it was ‘so much food,’" he says.

Whether Right Portion items will increase traffic enough to offset anticipated dips in check averages has yet to be determined. But five weeks after launch, 15 percent of guests were ordering Right Portion options. "Which is exactly where we hoped sales would be," says Archer. "We’re also seeing that people are finishing all of their food." He adds that guests ordering Right Portion entrees are having dessert slightly more often, but exact percentages are not available. Friday’s also anticipates increased appetizer sales with Right Portion orders.

Range of Reasons

"Right Portion is a big idea with a lot of longevity," says Phil Costner, vice president of research and development for the Carrollton, Texas-based chain.

Costner started digging in to Right Portion development about six months ago. He says Friday’s guest studies showed people were interested in smaller portions, not strictly for health benefits but because they had shifted the way they were eating. "It was much more about offering choice within a range of smaller-portioned items," says Costner. "Bigger, bolder flavors across the board, some indulgent items and some better-for-you options."

Friday’s first 10 Right Portion options include indulgent items such as the Half-Rack of Baby Back Ribs, $8.99. The Jack Daniel’s Chicken Alfredo also falls into that category with char-grilled chicken breast drizzled with spicy Jack Daniel’s sauce, served on fettuccine Alfredo with bacon, grape tomatoes, sauteed red onions and mushrooms.

New items include Cedar-Seared Salmon with Pasta, $8.99, salmon pan-seared with cedar seasoning and served over pasta with lemon-infused Alfredo sauce, bruschetta tomatoes and roasted zucchini; and Asian-Glazed Chicken on Field Greens, $6.99, chicken glazed with spicy-sweet Asian sauce and served with a sprinkling of toasted cashews and macadamia nuts over field greens with cilantro-lime dressing.

Items marketed under the Better for You banner have fewer than 500 calories and 10 grams of fat. For example, Dragonfire Chicken, $7.99, features marinated chicken breast with Kung Pao sauce, Mandarin oranges, pineapple pico de gallo, stir-fried brown rice and cilantro-lime-seasoned broccoli.

Underscoring the idea that guests order the smaller options for a variety of reasons, Friday’s lists several dishes in multiple locations on the menu. Diners gravitate to the Shrimp Key West, $8.99, seasoned shrimp, skewered, grilled and served with citrus sauce and mixed vegetables, listed on the seafood section, for example, as frequently as they pluck the dish from the Better for You list. "We’re thrilled about this," says Costner.

Sweet Heat, Smoky Flavor

Creating the Right Portion lineup, Costner looked at upscale and casual-dining restaurants. He found sweet-heat and hardwood-smoked flavors resonated in both arenas.

Cedar-smoked salmon does well in white-tablecloth restaurants, he says. To duplicate that flavor without actually using wood, Costner selected a seasoning with a smoky flavor that scored well with guests.

Costner used chilis with honey or other sweeteners to achieve "very trendy sweet heat" that worked well for the Asian dishes in the Right Portion lineup.

Aggressively Smaller

To determine portion size, Archer and Costner looked at how people eat at home and noted a change in attitude about leftovers. "Mom used to cook enough for three days and people assigned value to leftovers from those meals and from restaurant meals." But today, Archer says, guests in Friday’s surveys suggest that they rarely eat restaurant leftovers.

Friday’s tested portion sizes with guests, starting with half the size of a normal entree. "If the surveys came back saying, ‘I just wish I had a few more bites,’ then we adjusted accordingly," Costner says. The majority of guests agreed that most Right Portion dishes should be one-third smaller than Friday’s average entree.

The decision to showcase Right Portion entrees on red plates was serendipitous. During a tasting one day, Costner sent out a test portion of one of the Right Portion entrees on a red plate he just happened to have in the kitchen. Archer recalls, "It had so much impact, we said, ‘That’s it,’ and decided right then the Right Portion entrees would all be served on the red plate."

While it’s too soon to say which of the Right Portion entrees will stay and which will be replaced, Costner envisions the menu section as one that will continually evolve. Archer agrees: "We’re still studying what guests are ordering, what they say they like, what they want more of."

One good guess: Right Portion appetizers and desserts will likely emerge. "It’s reasonable to say that other categories of the menu would work with this," says Archer.