A new wave of healthy habits inspired by holiday overindulgence and New Year’s resolutions sweeps the nation each January. Diet season is in full swing, something that many in the foodservice industry see as a customer deterrent. The key to drawing the crowds to your door during this time of year is catering to their calorie counting. Here are some tips on restaurant equipment to rev up your post-holiday profits.

Salads are an obvious menu selection for those with a health-conscious New Year’s resolution. Take advantage of this by incorporating a salad bar into the flow of your restaurant and advertising the healthy selection available. Mobile food and salad bars are an eye-catching addition to attract customers. If a stand-alone food bar seems like a design challenge, Serv-U also offers a variety of tabletop food bars. Portable buffet bars allow for easy loading and unloading.

Stock your salad bar with insulated drop-in ice pans to keep the produce crisp and appetizing. These pans can be frozen overnight for ease of service. The technique keeps pre-chilled product at or below 40 degrees for 8 hours. Toppings and dressings can be stocked in round food storage crocks on the salad bar. The crocks are both freezer and dishwasher safe.

For another profit-boost during the diet season, have your chef create an in-house dressing that can be marketed as a special low-calorie option. Placing a cold crock of the homemade dressing at the end of the salad bar decreases your food costs so you can profit from post-holiday health consciousness.

Salads prepared with kitchen equipment behind the scenes and served as entrees can be profitable in a fine dining environment. While a self-serve bar is the ultimate labor-saving route, a chef-prepared salad takes fewer ingredients and energy than many other menu items, thus increasing your profit margin.

By stocking up on salad bowls, tongs and serving accessories, you can turn salad season into a profitable period for your restaurant.