Article

Napkin – an expense or part of the experience?

Could you imagine a dinner without serviettes? Usually the answer is a clear no. Napkin has its place and purpose.

Do you know what is ultimately the purpose of a napkin?

Napkins, or serviettes, are the final decorative touch on the table setting and they are used to wipe the mouth or protect clothing.

They are defined by three separate purposes:

1. Napkin is meant for protecting your clothes.  When we sit down, we open the napkin and place it on our lap. Napkin should be big and thick enough to serve this purpose. If it’s a size of a postal stamp, it protects no-one, and a thin napkin can’t fend off any splatters.

2. Napkin is used for wiping the corners of the mouth. The fabric should be absorbent enough for this purpose. If the print on the fabric is too decorative, napkin loses some of its absorbency, so bare that in mind when designing your napkins’ printing patterns. When the napkin is soft enough, wiping the corners of your mouth is a pleasant experience.

3. Napkins are decorations that finish a beautiful table setting. Beautiful folds, and occasion or theme appropriate colour scheme take the table setting to a next level and make it a memorable experience.

Focus on overall costs instead of purchase price

Traditionally, a napkin has been seen as a necessary evil that has to be provided, and thus, the price has easily been considered as the only factor worth noting when conducting purchases. The lower the purchase price, the better the deal. However, with this attitude you are focusing on the purchase alone and not on how many napkins are used in total. The overall cost might become Everest-like, even when the price of a single package is tempting.

A smart buyer does his or her research first about what kind of product suits their purpose. Which characteristics the napkin possesses, and most importantly, what purpose should it serve. A smart choice means buying the right product for the right purpose.

Overall costs should include other napkins as well, and not only the ones bought in bulks. In competitive tendering, your focus is easily on the napkin that is used in volumes, whereas other napkins might be left without clear instructions. Then monitoring the napkins’ use is easily neglected. Even when the most often used napkins have been carefully chosen and tendered, the consumption of other napkins may grow surprisingly large.

A good partner helps you to manage your entire napkin selection so that the big picture remains clear and serves the restaurant’s goals in the best possible way without forgetting the memorable experiences.

You can create, reinforce or lessen the memorable experiences with a napkin

Most often nowadays, restaurant business is also a business of creating memorable experiences. A memorable experience is created when you receive more than you expected. Experience is a series of coincidences, but a carefully considered entity lies at its heart. The million dollar question is, how can you build a richer experience in the pressure of reducing resources and increasing challenges?

Every restaurant needs a good partner and an expert who can inspire you when your own resources are running thin. In recent years, Fiblon has invested in expertise and responsibility. Experience worth of nearly four decades lays a solid foundation for expertise, and our constant desire to develop ensures that we have the latest information available.

Fiblon wishes to inspire and spar restaurants to utilise newest trends, and especially to encourage everyone to find their unique competitive advantage. You can find an ample pool of tips, ideas and stories from Fiblon’s website and social media channels.  These resources are particularly useful and inspiring in planning your memorable experiences.

Because various factors influence company’s success, you shouldn’t neglect any of them. One of the most underestimated and underused resources for building memorable experiences is table setting and its presentation.

How can a restaurant utilise its brand in customers’ social media activity?

Customers take pictures of their meals and are quick to share their opinion on social media. The importance of images has grown significantly. A well-designed and brand-labelled napkin can become a more valuable asset than you first imagined.

Necessity products become a part of the overall visual look, and a tempting dish is labelled unnoticeably with the restaurant brand.  The benefits of a personalized product multiply. This way also different campaigns can be included in the marketing with ease and cost-efficiency.

A partner with expertise will ensure that the products are always current. Constantly changing campaigns are part of the everyday business, and personalized napkins are tied in easily with the overall look. A short logistical chain makes management easier and quicker.

Making the world more sustainable, one napkin at a time!

How can a restaurant owner see that they have made a smart choice?

Is it enough that napkins have been manufactured from responsibly produced materials? There’s an easy answer to this question – no, it’s not.  In fact, choosing the right product for the right purpose is most important.

Is a cloth napkin a more sustainable choice? It’s easy to say no to this one. We have collected data and discussed this topic widely in our blog. If you’re interested, be sure to check it out.

Fiblon has made a biodiversity promise to spread information about the responsible choices related to table setting and cleaning products. Why? Because you can support biodiversity with responsible choices and avoid using resources redundantly. Fiblon’s corporate responsibility report includes an extensive set of information, and you can find it online at [osoite].

A memorable experience is created when you receive more than you expected.


Let’s make the world more sustainable, one napkin at a time!

Anne Ekberg

Laskutusohje

Toivomme, että lähetätte laskunne ensisijaisesti verkkolaskuina. Verkkolaskujen käsittely on sekä lähettäjälle että vastaanottajalle nopeampaa, luotettavampaa ja edullisempaa kuin paperilaskujen käsittely.

Operaattori

Apix Messaging Oy
(003723327487)

Verkkolaskuosoite

003703465487

OVT-tunnus

003703465487

Mikäli ette pysty lähettämään verkkolaskuja, pyydämme Teitä lähettämään jatkossa paperiset laskut ostolaskujen skannauspalveluun osoitteeseen:

Oy Fiblon Ab (Apix skannauspalvelu)
PL 16112
00021 LASKUTUS

Jotta skannauspalvelu voi kohdistaa laskunne, tulee tämä laskutusosoite tulostaa myös itse laskuun eikä pelkästään kirjekuoreen. Pyydämme Teitä myös huomioimaan, että tähän laskutusosoitteeseen ei saa lähettää muuta materiaalia kuin laskuja eli esimerkiksi tiedotusten ja markkinointimateriaalin postiosoite pysyy ennallaan.

Fiblon Oy:n sähköpostiskannauksen osoite: 003703465487@procountor.apix.fi

Lisätietoja laskutuksesta antaa: Sini Huhtasalo, puh. 0400 943 941

E-invoices

We hope that you will send your invoices primarily as an e-invoice. E-invoicing is faster, more reliable and cheaper than handling printed invoices for both the sender and the receiver.

Operator

Apix Messaging Oy
(003723327487)

E-invoicing address

003703465487

Edi code

003703465487

If you are unable to send e-invoices, from now on please send any paper invoices to the purchase invoice scanning service at the following address:

Oy Fiblon Ab (Apix scanning services)
PL 16112
00021 LASKUTUS
FINLAND

In order for the scanning service to direct your invoice correctly, this invoicing address should also be printed on the invoice itself, and not only on the envelope. Please note that no other material apart from invoices should be sent to this invoicing address. The mailing address for newsletters and marketing material will remain the same as earlier.

Fiblon Oy’s address for email scanning:

: 003703465487@procountor.apix.fi

Further details from Maiju Kärki, tel. +358 20 123 6664