It doesn’t take a road map to connect the dots between football and onions, and now’s the time savvy marketers are looking to the Big ‘Un, Super Bowl LI (51, for the Roman Numeral-challenged) playoffs and the game itself for a bump in sales during what is sometimes considered a quiet time.
The game, which will dominate TVs and mobile devices in virtually every setting across the nation, is being played at NRG Stadium in Houston, and kickoff is 6:30 p.m. ET.
Football, of course, is what brings everyone together. But there’s just as much focus on food – from backyard and tailgate blowouts to buffet extravaganzas. Whether it’s home prepared or enjoyed in a restaurant/sports bar setting, Super Bowl food always – ALWAYS – includes onions.
Recipes and full-blown menus are everywhere on social media. Pinterest, of course, boggles the mind with its array of suggestions that range from simple to gastronomic. Enjoy. https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=onion%20recipe%20nfl&rs=typed&term_meta[]=onion%7Ctyped&term_meta[]=recipe%7Ctyped&term_meta[]=nfl%7Ctyped
We also want to steer you to our friends at the National Onion Association, where the Onionista has been busy cataloging great uses for our favorite vegetable in every meal course at https://www.onions-usa.org/onionista/. Scroll down to Game Day Chili recipes… Super for the occasion and a retail friendly approach to moving onions during cold weather season.
Foodservice works diligently to combine football with good food, as evidenced by the Tavern on Third in New York where a special Game Day Menu uses onions in several dishes. How many of your foodservice customers are taking advantage of that ready-made “holiday?” Find ToT at http://www.tavernonthird.com/menus/nfl-gameday-menu.
In Florida, the Sanibel Seafood Grille has its own college and NFL special menus and promos. Keep in mind these eateries have taken a lot of time to put these promotions in place – and keep in mind the omnipresent onion. Go to http://sanibelseafoodgrille.com/nfl-college-football-game-day-specials/ to check out the seaside approach.
VB3, or Villa Borghese III, is located in Jersey City and caters to football fanatics with DirecTV Sunday Ticket for all the games. It also has a crazy good football-perfect menu, heavy on the onions. You really need to visit http://vb3restaurant.com/menu/football/
We looked at some archival stuff, and one site, an East Coast catering service called Fairway Market, really caught our eye.
You can access it at https://www.fairwaymarket.com/content/uploads/2013/09/2014GameDay_Catering_Menu-lo.pdf.
The market has been a bit funky lately. Could pigskin make a difference? Let us know what your Super Bowl promos include, and we’ll write you up.
