The ultimate guide to creating foodie merch that bites

Restaurant merchandise is “hot”. That’s how GQ put it in a write up dedicated to a run of t-shirts and sweatshirts produced by New York dining institution, Mission Chinese Food.

“This is not some overpriced ‘Beefy T with a logo haphazardly screen printed on a pocket’ merch,” they wrote. “This isn’t a jauntily designed matchbook. These are pieces that have more in common with what Justin Bieber or Kanye West offer up to fans, instead of what we usually associate with restaurant merch.”

It’s clear our conception of restaurant merch has radically changed. No longer does it evoke a Hard Rock Cafe cap. The rise of independent, street-food style eateries has helped fuel the boom in restaurant merch; now it means streetwear collabs, hip logos and designs that customers wear with pride.

So how should you go about creating restaurant merch your customers will buy, and actually wear? We’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you get it right.

How to create restaurant merch – a guide

Step 1: Understand your restaurant brand (and customers)
Step 2: Keep your design simple – but recognisable
Step 3: Pick the right merch
Step 4: Collaborate with brands and artists
Step 5: Promote your restaurant merch creatively
Step 6: Summary

Step 1: Understand your restaurant brand (and customers)

What kind of restaurant do you run? Is it chic? Is it quirky? Is it sincere? It’s important to have a real understanding of this before charging ahead and printing merch that won’t resonate with them. If your restaurant is a casual dining joint, you want to produce a merch line that reflects that, t-shirts and caps would make sense. If it’s more upmarket, a smart tote bag might appeal.

For most “hip” eateries, however, t-shirts and sweatshirts are the best bet. In London, pizza parlours like Voodoo Rays and Yard Sale both produce a range of t-shirts with bold graphic prints that tug on the heartstrings of their hyper-loyal customers. To get a sense of what your customers might actually want, try asking them. Posting on social media to get a sense of demand is an easy way to do some market research (and starts building a bit of hype for when the merch is ready to drop). 

Printing merch or t-shirts for your restaurant, coffee shop or street food business? ICON Printing offer fast turnaround printing with a wide-ranging catalogue. Get a quote in 2 minutes online. 

Step 2: Keep your design simple – but recognisable

The key to good merch is to create a design that’s easy to wear. Merch is advertising and the more people wearing your t-shirts, the more word will get out about your restaurant. The streetwear approach, of creating iconic-feeling designs that feel new, yet familiar, is a good one to follow. This was the approach taken by the now iconic Peckham chicken shop, Morley’s, which produces a clothing range of t-shirts and polo shirts, capitalising on the loyalty Londoners foster for their favourite fried chicken shop.

Have a look at examples of the kind of merch that’s popular and consider this a starting point. Try starting with one “classic” design with the restaurant logo, before working on some alternative designs. Designs that have a bit of humour or reflect the love people have for different kinds of food are always popular. It’s also worth considering a design that could work well as a uniform for your staff – not only will this help create a cohesive brand, but it will promote the merch in the process.  

Printing restaurant merch or t-shirts for your food business, coffee shop or street food brand? Get in touch with ICON Printing today

Step 3: Pick the right merch

Don’t waste money on products your customers are unlikely to buy. Choose a few pieces of merch to sell and focus on pushing these. Most restaurants will offer one, or two t-shirt designs. Others might also offer a tote-bag, or caps. Focusing on the kind of merch that’s cheaper to buy is sensible too, as you want customers to be happy to buy it on a whim. Producing a bomber jacket with a logo on the back might look cool, but unless your restaurant has a really high degree of brand loyalty (or is, say, a bikers bar), you might struggle to sell them all. T-shirts, caps, mugs, tote bags and key rings are all popular choices for restaurant merch.

Step 4: Collaborate with brands and artists

Today, restaurant merch means collaborations with leading artists, streetwear labels and fashion houses. In the age of logomania and bootlegging, it comes as no surprise that designers have turned their heads to their favourite food joints. Prominent examples include fast food chain White Castle, which collaborated with Supreme, and New York’s East Village noodle bar Momofuku, which had a set of trainers produced by Nike SB.

Collaborating with an artist or illustrator feeds back into the aim of creating something wearable in its own right (which is important), as well as putting a creative stamp on your business. Pick an artist that connects with your customer base, ideally one that is known in your city. Linking up with an existing clothing brand – like White Castle x Supreme – is another approach that can help create some really desirable merch. You might not be able to negotiate a collab with a major street wear label, but perhaps there’s a local brand or fashion designer that shares a crossover with your customer base. It’s always worth approaching other creatives to see if they are open to working together, as this will amplify the merch, increase sales, and build the brand profile of your restaurant. 

Step 5: Promote your restaurant merch creatively

So you’ve got your merch. Now it’s time to flog it. Get your staff to wear it, plug it on your socials and set up an online store. But think about creative ways you can promote it. Run a competition for your customers with a t-shirt as the prize. Give them out free to your most loyal customers. You could also offer discounts on your food to customers wearing your merch. Pizza East give out branded key rings to its customers, which mean they can get half-price food on Tuesdays. This is good example of creative promotion using merch.

Step 6: Summary

The first step to creating good restaurant merch is to understand your brand. This will inform the kind of merch you create. Secondly, you need to choose a design – keep it simple, iconic and most of all, wearable. Third up is choosing what to print on – think about the kinds of products your customers might actually buy, before wasting money on printing. The fourth thing to consider is ways to collaborate with artists and other brands, this is how you can amplify your merch and create a better design in the process. Finally, it’s time to promote it – thinking about creative ways to do this will help get the word out.

Want to print merch for your restaurant? At ICON Printing we offer fast turnaround printing with a wide-ranging catalogue from t-shirts to caps to bags. Get a quote in 2 minutes online.