5 ways to make your venue more family friendly for Christmas

It’s time to deck the halls! Boughs of holly and carol singers are optional; trees, lights and a few well-chosen decorations – as well as a good selection of Christmas music – are a must for giving your venue a festive feel and getting your guests in the mood for celebrating.
Cater for kids and put parents’ minds at rest by making sure that children’s drinks are clearly visible behind the bar and age-specific menus are easily available. Consider providing extra treats for little ones, such as mince pies and babycinos after meals or arranging a visit from Father Christmas himself.

There’s nothing like the taste of cranberries, dried fruit, or spices to make you feel more Christmassy. As older guests sip mulled wine or festive cocktails, be sure to not leave the older children and teens out – serve J2O in branded glassware with festive garnishes and ensure you are stocked up on Fruit Shoot for the younger ones.

You can encourage sales of J2O this festive season with our J2O festive POS kits, these will be sure to encourage your customers to give it a try. Why not offer the iconic J2O Winter Woo Woo as a festive cocktail too!

To maximise festive sales, offer promotions that make it easier and more affordable for families to get together at Christmas. Offering early bird deals allows guests to save money and plan in good time. It also allows operators to anticipate demand during this busy period.

Festive kids’ meal deals are a great way to improve parents’ value perception and excite younger guests. Try offering Fruit Shoot with three-course meals for younger kids, and Britvic Juices to make mocktails for older teens.

Christmas is the time for splashing out. Premium drinks occasions are driving growth in pubs and bars, with cocktails increasingly chosen as part of quality-led experiences². So it’s likely parents will be getting more adventurous with their drinks when they’re out celebrating this Christmas. Why not the kids? Offering older children more sophisticated soft drinks and giving them the chance to personalise their drinks with Mathieu Teisseire flavour syrups, garnishes and ice can make the occasion even more exciting.

Of course, you can have too much of anything – including excitement. So, it’s worth offering younger guests calmer activities such as colouring, word searches and other games to fill the time between courses while their parents are socialising. After all, the happier the kids are, the happier the parents will be and the more likely they’ll be to come back for more celebrations in the new year!

This year our Fruit Shoot Christmas Activity Packs contains 200 elf hats for children to colour in with activities on the reverse to keep kids occupied while parents relax.