Autumn Cafe Menu Ideas
As the nights draw in and the air gets colder, we can feel that autumn is on the way. After the bustle of summer, this is an important time to assess where your cafe is at and start preparing it for autumnal business.
At Projuice, we’ve been serving cafes across the UK for decades and know how important this period can be for owners. Here are some of our best pieces of advice for cafes preparing their offerings for autumn.
Why You Should Design an Autumn Menu
If you want to bring in as much business as possible year-round, it’s important to adapt to changing circumstances and customer needs throughout the seasons. Changes to your menu, both big and small, can really make a difference.
1. Align with Changing Consumer Behaviour
As the days get colder, outdoor table spaces will become less popular. Instead, more people will be looking for cosy corner spaces where they can relax with a warm drink or something sweet that will boost their mood.
If you don’t have much space in your cafe and want to keep as much of that summer traffic as possible, offering takeaway cups can help ensure you don’t lose out on business.
2. Keep Customers Engaged
Regular customers are always looking to try something new. Even something as simple as a new soup or our autumn smoothie bundle on your menu can inspire customers from the summer period to return with their family or friends during the autumn.
3. Connect with the Season
Certain times of the year evoke memories of specific foods and drinks. Even if we don’t consciously realise it, customers will gravitate to places offering comforting products with seasonal ingredients – ginger, cinnamon, maple etc. – that help us connect with this time of year.
Other menu swaps:
- Reducing your smoothies back to the bestsellers and add in a seasonal flavour. We suggest one of the earthy berry ones like Ginger Beets or Acai Kick, or go for a veggie one with our Super Green Super Smoothie.
- Swap ice cream queues for ice cream on the side of warm desserts!
Best-Selling Autumn Cafe Menu Items
If you’re not sure where to start with your autumn menu, it’s a good idea to go with tried and trusted favourites. These types of products always sell well during the autumnal months and are really easy to add to your menu.
1. Hot Chocolate
Both sweet and warm, there’s a reason why hot chocolate is such a mainstay for cafes across the country during the colder months!
Hot chocolate is easy to sell as an eat-in or takeaway option. It also offers a wide range of upsell opportunities, from something as simple as marshmallows to more extravagant dessert-style toppings.
2. Waffles
Another warm and sweet addition to your autumnal menu. Waffles can be super easy to prepare, with some simply requiring a minute in the microwave before serving, or you can work with frozen dough if you have a waffle machine.
The great thing about waffles is that they’re super versatile. Offer them as a breakfast menu with a warm berry compote, or sell them as a dessert with ice cream and marshmallows.
3. Soups
Another super easy autumnal favourite, a good soup is a great food option to add to your menu. Soups can be prepared super quickly, offering an effortlessly tasty winter warmer for your customers to enjoy.
Soups are also really versatile, able to be served as a small starter or a main meal or be offered to-go for busy office workers.
4. Smoothies
As more customers gravitate towards health-conscious options, smoothies are becoming popular menu items year-round. As with other suggestions here, smoothies can be incredibly easy to prepare and sell, especially if purchased fresh from frozen.
In autumn, seasonal flavours such as ginger can make smoothies hugely popular options.
Autumn Cafe Menu Ideas: Our Top Picks
1. Dairy and Vegan Choc-o-Lait Hot Chocolate Stirrers
The perfect menu item for hot chocolate lovers – let your customers make their own hot chocolate with our DIY hot chocolate stirrers!
Simply put the hot chocolate stirrer into warm milk and watch as the magic happens while the ganache centre gently melts until the milk becomes hot chocolate.
The ganache centres in our most premium Choc-o-Lait sticks give a rich swirl of ganache through the centre for an ultimate indulgent experience.
2. Belgian Liege Waffles
Treat your customers to a taste of simple luxury with our authentic, premium Belgian Liege waffle doughs.
There’s no batter or powder with our Belgian waffles, just quality ingredients combined in a brioche-like yeast dough and studded with pearl sugar to make thick and fluffy waffles with a crispy sweet finish.
Our waffles can be purchased as either pre-cooked, requiring just a simple microwave before serving, or as frozen dough for you to prove and cook in your waffle machine.
3. Organic Soup
Warm your customers’ hearts with our handmade vegetarian soups. Super easy to prepare, these wholesome soups are a great addition to an autumn menu and can be served as eat-in or takeaway with our take-out soup pots.
We offer a range of soup flavours for you to choose from, including some autumnal favourites like:
4. Autumnal Smoothies
Smoothies are a great added-value menu item, and with our frozen fruit sachets, they’re easier to prepare than ever before. Our health-packed smoothies are made with premium fruits, delivering a wonderful consistent flavour with minimal waste.
We have launched an autumn smoothie bundle containing many of our most popular seasonal flavours alongside posters and a counter card for promotion. Some of the flavours in the bundle include:
- Ginger Beets – Beetroot, ginger, pineapple and blueberries.
- Berry Burst – Blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry and banana.
- Acai Kick – Acai, blueberries, strawberries and mango.
- Passion Storm – Passion fruit, papaya, pineapple, peach, guava and aloe vera.
Top Tips to Prepare Your Cafe for Autumn
Feeling inspired ahead of the autumn season? Here are some next steps you can take:
1. Prepare Your Stock
Late August and early September are the best times to get your autumn stock in place. UK weather is temperamental at the best of times but especially in September, so having your autumn favourites ready to go can be a real benefit.
If you’re still working through your summer stock, you may want to make sure it’s being promoted as much as possible to make space for your autumn goods.
2. Promote Your Menu
Make sure new and returning customers know of your new offerings. It’s good practice to make sure your menu is published online, so people looking for local cafes can see what autumn treats you have.
Also, make sure you’re advertising your autumn favourites. We stock a range of posters, table cards and pavement signs for our items which you can get with our product bundles, making it easier than ever to spread the word to passing trade.
Get Autumn Ready with Projuice
At Projuice, we offer premium, award-winning and sustainably sourced wholesale café concepts. Our vegan, dairy and organic products are pre-portioned for speed, serving consistency and to reduce waste.
We source the highest quality ingredients including premium fruit and veg that is individually quickly frozen to pack in the flavour, colour and texture.
Shop our range of autumn and winter concepts for your menu online 24/7, or contact us directly to discuss larger wholesale orders.