Bye-bye, plain American pie: family chains roll out exotic roll out exotic desserts

Nation's Restaurant News, Jan 11, 1993 by Bill Carlino

"It [dessert] gives the customer another reason to come into your restaurant."

While dessert selections at family restaurants historically involved a choice between apple pie or ice cream, operators like Denny's, Country Kitchen, Bob Evans Farms, Shoney's and Village Inn have launched exotic apres meal complements that rival even those associated with more upscale segments.

From the "Chills 'n' Thrills" peanut butter, ice cream and fudge creation at Denny's to the new Peppermint Patty Pie at Shoney's, family players are tapping into the lucrative challenge of satiating America's sweet tooth.

"Desserts are definitely on the rise in this segment," reports Steve Sanders, division president for the 850-unit Shoney's restaurants. "We've certainly seen an increased demand for a good, high-quality dessert product."

Whether offering ready-made items, fare prepared on-premise or desserts using ingredients from nationally branded manufacturers like Nabisco and Hostess, family operators who have revamped their dessert menus have reported average check increases of nearly 20 percent.

"It [dessert] gives the customer another reason to come into your restaurant," said Susan Schneider, field marketing manager for about 1,000 corporate-owned Denny's restaurants. "Traditionally, Denny's has been known for its pies, but our new products have attracted customers that we haven't seen in a while."

Last fall, Denny's unveiled "Truly Delectable Desserts," a trio of new signature items priced under $3 and encompassing alliances with brands like Dreyer's/Edy's Ice Cream and Reese's peanut butter cups.

The new troika was designed to augment the chain's regular 20-item dessert menu.

Truly Delectable Desserts consist of "Chills 'n' Thrills" -- a swirl of chocolate and vanilla ice cream with fudge and peanuts over a chocolate cookie crust, whipped topping and peanut butter cups. The remaining two selections include "Peanut Butter Binge" -- a combination of chocolate and cheesecake on a bed of peanut butter cups -- and "Chocolate Challenge," a dark chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch-carmel topping.

Schneider revealed that Truly Delectable Desserts were tested in the company's Minneapolis, San Jose, Calif., and Philadelphia markets. Denny's is supporting the national rollout with a pair of 30-second spots featuring the chain's absent-minded spokescharacters the "Corlick Sisters" and with three-sided table tents within the units.

In the company's Florida market, a region comprised of 145 company and franchised Denny's restaurants, the units recently broadened their pie selections to 21, from its previous base of 10.

Among the new selections in that market are: German chocolate; egg custard; chocolate meringue; strawberry rhubarb; and raspberry. The pies, available either whole or by the slice, range in cost from $5.95-$6.75 for a whole pie and from $1.75-$1.95 per slice.

Country Kitchen, a 250-unit family operator headquartered in Minneapolis, offers an array of desserts under its "Sweet Memories" line, which is rotated seasonally.

"We feel we have one of the most competitive dessert programs in our segment," said Jon Ostrov, vice president of marketing for Country Kitchen. "Operationally, dessert is a lot of work because it has to be easy to prepare and you have to teach your waitstaff how to sell it correctly. But customers are ordering more desserts than they were three years ago, and that's largely a function of effective marketing and merchandising aids."

Ostrov says the only two desserts under its "Sweet Memories" banner -- an amalgamation of about 10-11 dessert made with Hostess products like Twinkies and Ho-Ho's -- which franchisees are mandated to include on their menu are the strawberry Twinkie and the hot fudge Ho-Ho.

The Sweet Memories line is exclusive of the company's traditional dessert items, like the "Down-home Apple Dumpling," bread pudding and pecan pie.

Other seasonal items at Country Kitchen include a peppermint and ice cream Ho-Ho during Christmas and a patriotic Fourth of July concoction with a Ho-Ho, three types of berries and vanilla ice cream.

At Bob Evans Farms, desserts are an integral part of the 270-unit chain's ongoing effort toward hiking its dinner daypart.

"Over the last few years, we've enjoyed good success offering seasonal desserts," explained Merl Berry, senior vice president of purchasing and technical service for Bob Evans. "It capitalizes on seasonal buying opportunities. Being a full-service family restaurant, desserts are a great way to complete the meal experience."

In January, Bob Evans will customize its existing cobbler program by rotating the fresh fruit fillings and toppings. Through January and February, the chain will offer a cherry cobbler, while March and April will feature a blackberry selection.

According to Berry, Bob Evans also plans to begin testing ice cream specialty pies, most notably an Oreo cookie ice cream item in a branding alliance with Nabisco.

"We normally begin testing a product about six to nine months in advance of when we'd like to roll it out," he explained.