All They Want for Christmas is…Input: How to start in the sun and sleigh in the season
The holidays are a season of giving, but the smoothest celebrations are planned long before the sleds fly. For onsite dining teams, starting early creates an opportunity to offer customers something more meaningful than another over-engineered seasonal latte: the gift of being heard. In return, your operation gets actionable data on what dishes earn attention, drive purchases, and deserve an encore. It’s the onsite dining version of a gift exchange with fewer returns and considerably more pie.
Jingle Bell Bracket – Nothing ushers in the holidays like a festive food feud. Build an eight-item bracket around one category like holiday sides, desserts, or comfort-food classics, and let customers vote in head-to-head matchups. Research suggests customers are more engaged when their participation leads to a successful result,¹ so post each round’s results and put the champion on the menu to show how their votes went from bracket to plate. Track votes, round-to-round participation, and sales of the winning dish to see what creates buzz, holds interest, and turns opinions into purchases.
Seasonal Starters – Holiday food is basically a time machine with gravy. Nostalgic products, including foods, can help satisfy a need to belong,² so ask customers to complete the statement: “It doesn’t feel like the holidays until I eat ___.” Collect responses on ornament-shaped cards or by QR code, then feature them in a rotating gallery on a wall, tabletop display, or digital screen, grouped by family classics, regional favorites, and global traditions. Review submissions for recurring themes and participation trends to learn what customers want holiday dining to taste and feel like.
Holly Jolly Taste-Off – Before a holiday dish debuts, serve two bite-sized versions labeled A and B and ask three questions: Which tastes better? What stands out? Would you buy it? Keep the recipes a delicious mystery, but be sure to identify major allergens for each sample.³ Because visual cues can bias taste perceptions, keep portions and presentation consistent and labels neutral.⁴ Review customer feedback, sales, and food waste after the launch to see whether you’ve made menu magic or should ho, ho, hold off.
Need help turning customer opinions into holiday magic for them and useful data for you? Reach out to us here; we’ll help with the heavy lifting and leave the fruitcake entirely up to you.
1. Alarcón-López, R., López-López, I., & Ruiz-de-Maya, S. (2025). Low and high outcome quality in co-created hospitality services: Two explanations for consumer satisfaction. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 31(1), 3–21.
2. Loveland, K. E., Smeesters, D., & Mandel, N. (2010). Still preoccupied with 1995: The need to belong and preference for nostalgic products. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(3), 393–408.
3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2022). Food Code 2022.
4. Hoegg, J., & Alba, J. W. (2007). Taste perception: More than meets the tongue. Journal of Consumer Research, 33(4), 490–498.
