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Research into breakfast shows that nine out of ten Australians eat cereal for breakfast at least monthly. The convenience store market has seen a rapid increase in demand for convenient Breakfast options with products such as ‘liquid breakfasts’ and freshly squeezed juice chains. Why aren’t popular Breakfast options with cereal more conveniently available? Are there too few grab-and-go Breakfast options in hospitality? Travelfare Breakfasts are addressing this gap.

Travelfare Breakfast Packs are a self-contained, complete ‘Breakfast in a box’. The format is a popular ‘light continental’, based around cereal, milk, juice, muesli bar and extra items like bowl, spoon, sugar, mint and even a moistened handwipe. Its convenience is matched by its simplicity from an operational standpoint. They are easily up-sold, via rooms and apartments, and they suit the busy lifestyle of many travellers – particularly from the corporate sector. The formula has led hospitality operators such as Mike Clark from Quest Warrnambool, to enthuse:

“Moving from making our own Breakfasts to Travelfare Breakfasts has meant that the staff workload markedly declined. At the same time, I’ve doubled Breakfast sales.”

Travelfare Breakfast Packs are shelf stable with about 6 months shelf life. Complementing the range of over 20 Breakfast options are related packs, such as ‘Sweet Supreme’, ‘Late Night Snack’ and Beer and Chocolate Packs. These suit guests, groups and clients at other times of the day.

Travelfare Breakfast Packs are fast becoming part of the hospitality landscape. For example, Australia’s largest serviced apartment chain, Quest Serviced Apartments, has replaced its self-made “breakfast baskets” with “Breakfast Packs” as a standard offering, a change resulting from the Quest group embracing Breakfast Packs. Hospitality operators are finding how Travelfare Packs can:

• Extend service – give guests and clients more choice – in the room, on the go, portable
• Suit their image by offering healthy, nutritious convenience choices
• Capture lost revenue – why send customers off-site when you provide for them on-site?
• Provide a point of difference with an added, distinctive amenity service
• Add flexibility with staff, operations and stock management
• Reduce risk, overheads and labour costs

To find out more, contact Travel Essentials.

The Australian Fair Pay Commission has just announced an increase on the minimum wage of 69 cents per hour (or, $1,352 annual increase based on a 38 hour week). The HMAA explains the increase here.

At the same time, Travel Essentials is finding that properties in many markets are continuing to struggle with lower than budgeted occupancy levels and consequent pressures on rates.

Global uncertainty and increasing costs, such as wage increases, simply add pressure to the already stretched budgets of many operators. It all suggests that properties need to find better cost efficiencies and additional ways to add revenue.

Properties are reporting that Travelfare Packs are a significant time saver and there are many simple ways to add revenue through upselling Packs. To find out more, please contact us at the office.

Is Your Breakfast Service the Same Level as in 1973?

In today’s tough and competitive market, one might be forgiven for wondering why Breakfast offerings have largely remained stuck in operational routines which are decades old. As a frequent business traveller, I found that I and my fellow guests are often forced to choose between an in-house restaurant – or left to fend for ourselves.

There are times when I want an in-house breakfast. But there are others where it is inconvenient: when I’m jet-lagged or dog-tired after a big day of work. At such times, an in-house restaurant is not necessarily my first preference. Neither is trolling around a supermarket for breakfast supplies the night before. If only there was something conveniently on-hand in my room.

Well, I decided someone needed to create what I was looking for. And so “Travelfare Packs” came into being. Travelfare Breakfast Packs are a self-contained, light Continental Breakfast option. They extend convenience to guests who would prefer an in-room Breakfast which is simple, quick and reassuringly familiar (while I have a healthy appetite, I prefer to ‘eat lightly’ when travelling for work). The Packs feature a long shelf life (6 months), a popular Breakfast mix and an attractive, highly visible display. The last factor is crucial – most of us don’t want a ‘surprise’ ingredient at Breakfast!

Not only do Travelfare Packs work well for guests, they work even better for accommodation. They can upsell well enough so as to add noticeably to RevPAR (that means thousands of Packs sold per annum), plus bring significant operational savings. Properties which self-make Breakfast Packs stand to gain the most from labour savings, besides saving on miscellaneous equipment, inventory and compliance costs. Efficiency gains are also seen in greater operational flexibility, less stock losses and faster housekeeping.

From a guest perspective, however, the choice of a self-contained, healthy Breakfast available right when you want it is surely a step forward for service. Surely it’s time for accommodation to move out of the rut of Breakfast service format from the past. It’s time for Breakfast service to catch up to today’s guest expectations.

Read what Travelfare customers are saying…

Our popular Travelfare Chocolate Gift Pack has been released for 2010. It includes more chocolate and more variety than ever before, with seven different styles of quality chocolates.

At $15.00 inc. GST, it’s a way to leave a lasting impression on your client or guest.

Travelfare Chocolate Gift Packs ship in cartons of 20 with a long shelf life. They’re ideal for conference groups, winter packages, client or speaker gifts, and more.

We’re excited to announce that the upmarket Travelfare Executive Breakfast is now even better! All Travelfare Executive Toasted Breakfast Packs now come standard with:

Spoon (and Bowl), Moistened Handwipe, Sugar and Fresh Mint.

Travelfare Executive Toasted is a fully self-contained, portable Breakfast Pack (or Breakfast Box) which features the highly popular Carman’s Muesli. It also features larger portions of cereal and a large muesli bar.

Travelfare Pamper Pack gives relief to aid worker in the midst of terrible devastation

sometimes it’s the little things that count

Madeline, an Australian aid worker with a major    humanitarian organisation was deployed to the Haitian capital following the devastating earthquake in January. Packed in her luggage was a Travelfare Pamper Pack. It turned out Madeline was so glad she packed it:

“The Travelfare Pamper pack with the delightful honeycomb soap, the massage soap bar and exfoliating scrub made the cold showers bearable and helped to cleanse the stress and challenges of each day,” Madeline commented.

While few of us have to deal with trauma of disaster zones, whatever our travel experiences, as Madeline points out, “sometimes it’s the little things that count.”

Contact us now to get your new Tent Card! They’re FREE and they will help your business grow:

• they communicate clearly,
• they look professional,
• they’re robust (with a coated surface to protect against moisture) and,
• they let guests know that you’re looking after their needs

Sometimes we can overlook the conveniences we can offer those travelling. Kate called in to say how much she appreciated the convenience of a Travelfare Breakfast Pack on her journey:

“Absolutely brilliant!–Your Breakfast Pack saved me from dashing to Macca’s before I caught my train. It was so much more convenient being able to take Breakfast with me.” (Kate, country Victoria, Feb 2010)

Are you providing guests and clients with the convenience they are looking for during their travel? To find out more about how Travelfare Packs can cost effectively help your business gain appreciation, give us a call on (03) 9804 0099.

Recently the popular Late Night Snack got a make-over, with new-look packaging and especially a stronger, more vibrant seal sticker. Late Night Snack is an ideal way to offer late-arriving guests something convenient to snack on, without needing to run a mini-bar service.

Travel Essentials is attending the Quest Serviced Apartment Annual Gala Dinner as a finalist in the Supplier of the Year award. The winner will be announced at the Dinner on Saturday, 28th of November in Melbourne.