Autumn Cafe Menu Ideas

AsAs the nights draw in and the air gets colder, you can feel that autumn is on the way. After the bustle of summer, this is an important time to take stock of where your cafe is and start getting it ready for the cosier months.

At Projuice, we’ve been serving cafes across the UK for decades, and we know how much this period can shape an owner’s year. Here are some of our best pieces of advice for cafes getting their menu ready for autumn.

Why You Should Design an Autumn Menu

If you want to bring in as much business as possible year round, it pays to adapt to changing circumstances and customer needs across the seasons. Changes to your menu, big and small, can really make a difference.

1. Align with Changing Consumer Behaviour

As the days get colder, outdoor table spaces become less popular. Instead, more people will be looking for a cosy corner where they can relax with a warm drink or something sweet to lift their mood.

If you don’t have much space and want to hold on to as much of that summer traffic as you can, offering takeaway cups helps make sure you don’t lose out on business.

2. Keep Customers Engaged

Regular customers are always looking to try something new. Even a small change, like a new soup, a hot panini or our autumn smoothie bundle, can bring your summer regulars back through the door with family or friends.

3. Connect with the Season

Certain times of year bring specific foods and drinks to mind. Even without realising it, customers gravitate to places offering comforting products with seasonal ingredients, think ginger, cinnamon and maple, that help us connect with this time of year.

A few menu swaps worth thinking about:

• Pull your smoothies back to the bestsellers and add a seasonal flavour. We’d suggest an earthy berry one like Ginger Beets or Acai Kick, or go veggie with our Super Green Super Smoothie.
• Swap the ice cream queue for ice cream served on the side of a warm dessert.
• Add a hot lunch option like our handmade paninis, and a warming porridge pot for the morning trade.

Autumn Cafe Menu Ideas: Our Top Picks

Not sure where to start? A mix of tried and trusted favourites and one or two new headliners is the way to go. These are the items that sell well through the colder months and are genuinely easy to add to your menu.

1. Paninis

This autumn, our handmade paninis are the item we’re backing hardest. They’re handmade in the West Country in quality ciabatta bread, arrive frozen and individually wrapped, and go from freezer to plate with almost no skill or prep. Defrost, heat in a panini press or high speed oven until piping hot, and serve.

There’s a flavour for every autumn appetite. The Brie, Bacon and Cranberry is the one we’d lead your seasonal board with: creamy brie, crispy streaky bacon and a touch of sweet cranberry. For something heartier there’s the smoky Hunters BBQ Chicken, Bacon and Cheese, and the Mozzarella, Tomato and Pesto keeps your vegetarian customers happy.

Each box holds 20 paninis, and once defrosted they keep for two days, so you only prep what you’ll sell. Every order comes with free promo material to shout about them, and pairing a panini with a warming soup gives you a full autumn lunch menu in a couple of moves.

New to serving them? Our guide on how to add a panini menu to your cafe without a kitchen walks you through it.

2. Hot Chocolate

Sweet, warm and a real autumn mainstay, there’s a reason hot chocolate sells so well across the country once the temperature drops.

Our Choc-o-Lait sticks and spoons let customers make their own at the table. Drop the stick into warm milk and stir while the ganache centre gently melts into a rich, indulgent hot chocolate. It’s easy to serve in or out, and an easy upsell too, from a simple handful of marshmallows to more extravagant dessert-style toppings. There’s a plant based option in the range as well.

3. Soups

A good soup is one of the easiest wins on an autumn menu. It’s quick to prepare and versatile, working as a small starter, a light main, or a takeaway for busy office workers.

Our handmade vegetarian range includes autumn favourites like Spiced Root Vegetable Soup, Vegan Thai Green Lentil Soup and Leek and Potato Soup. Serve it alongside a panini and you’ve got lunch covered.

4. Waffles

Another warm and sweet addition, and a genuinely versatile one. Our Belgian Liege waffles are made with a brioche-like yeast dough studded with pearl sugar, so there’s no batter or powder, just quality ingredients baked into a thick, fluffy waffle with a crispy, sweet finish.

Buy them pre-cooked for a quick blast in the microwave before serving, or as frozen dough to prove and cook in your waffle machine. Offer them for breakfast with a warm berry compote, or as a dessert with ice cream and marshmallows.

5. Porridge

Warm, filling and perfect for the morning rush, Wolfy’s porridge pots are a proper autumn breakfast with almost no faff. They’re made in the UK with British oats, contain nothing artificial, and hide a little pot of handmade jam, honey or marmalade under every lid.

Serving couldn’t be simpler: add hot water, stir, leave for four minutes, then top with the jam pot. The pot is the serve, so there’s no takeaway packaging to buy, and margins start around 41%. The Spiced Porridge with Pear and Ginger is about as autumnal as breakfast gets.

6. Smoothies

Health-conscious customers order smoothies year round, and made from frozen they’re quick to prepare with minimal waste. In autumn, pull back to your bestsellers and add a seasonal flavour with an earthy, warming note.

We’ve launched an autumn smoothie bundle with many of our most popular seasonal flavours, plus 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 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, and especially in September, so having your autumn favourites ready to go is a real benefit.

If you’re still working through summer stock, promote it as hard as you can to clear space for your autumn range.

2. Promote Your Menu

Make sure new and returning customers know what you’re offering. It’s good practice to publish your menu online, so people searching for a local cafe can see your autumn treats.

Advertise your seasonal favourites, too. We stock a range of posters, table cards and pavement signs, and many come free 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 cafe concepts. Our vegan, dairy and organic products are pre-portioned for speed, consistent serving and less waste.

We source the highest quality ingredients, including premium fruit and veg that’s individually quick frozen to lock in flavour, colour and texture.

Shop our range of autumn and winter concepts online 24/7, or contact us directly to discuss larger wholesale orders.