FoodBytes MAY 2014

A TOPICAL TREND REPORT FROM

NRA RECAP TOP TRENDS FROM THIS YEAR’S SHOW

GROWTH, OPTIMISM AT THE

ANNUAL RESTAURANT TRADESHOW

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SHOW TO EXPAND TO FOURTH EXHIBITION HALL IN 2015

The general mood at the 95th annual National Restaurant Association tradeshow? Optimistic.

The show, which returned to Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center May 17-20, saw both an increase in attendance and exhibitors; in fact, this year’s show featured over 1,800 exhibitors representing every facet of the foodservice industry, many of them expanding their booths for 2014. Exhibitors also reported a generally positive outlook about the future from attendees, noting that visitors were more serious about making deals and purchases this year. The increase in attendance even led the NRA to announce that the show will expand to a fourth exhibition hall for 2015.

For this year’s show the team at Datassential covered the entire trade show floor in order to bring you the latest food, flavor, beverage, and operational trends. We tested the new restaurant technologies, tasted everything from fishless filets to moonshine to chipotle chocolate ice cream, and spoke with exhibitors about the trends they have been seeing. We’re also bringing you a look at Datassential Senior Director Maeve Webster’s presentation on craft beverages, one of the hottest trends on the show floor, from craft beer to cider to soda.

In this month’s FoodBytes, Datassential’s free TrendSpotting Report, we take you on a trendspotting tour of this year’s NRA tradeshow. Enjoy!

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FoodBytes MAY 2014

FOOD & FLAVOR TRENDS

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KIDS’ MENUS Covered in our April edition of FoodBytes, kids’ menus continue to evolve, and our team tasted a low-calorie, low-sodium turkey sausage pizza on a whole grain wheat crust marketed for the kids’ menu, one of the 30 exhibitors showing off a “Healthier Kids Fare” show sticker denoting a product that focuses on kids’ menu nutrition. Meanwhile, another company was building the “only kids’ food franchise in the U.S.” by targeting schools and parents with healthy, kid-friendly lunch items.

SWEET + SPICY Many exhibitors were combining sweet and spicy flavors, from a beverage manufacturer sampling a mango jalapeno cocktail to a number of manufacturers spicing up frozen treats. One gelato company (nearly 20 exhibitors featured gelato) amped up red raspberry gelato with ghost peppers (see our January issue of On the Menu for more on ghost peppers), while a hot sauce producer was offering samples of chocolate/chipotle ice cream. Attendees at the Sweets and Snacks Expo, held a few days later, also noted that hot flavors were popping up in a number of chocolates and sweets, while sriracha could be found in full force at both shows.

PRETZELS Pretzels continued to make their mark beyond the ubiquitous pretzel buns and other carriers. There were cookies (a general show trend) with pretzels baked into them, a line of pretzel crumbs, and a just-released wheat beer featuring orange and pretzel flavors.

MEAT SUBSTITUTES & HEALTH TRENDS A number of exhibitors were showing off new vegan and meatless products, from flavored mayos that swapped out eggs for plant-based substitutes to a fishless filet served like a traditional fish and chip dish, complete with newspaper cone. There were also seafood-free shrimp, meatless gyros, and an entire “Alternative Bitestyle” aisle showcasing products for those with special dietary needs, including gluten-free and allergy-friendly products.

ETHNIC Global spice blends and flavors were adding more adventurous flavor profiles to many dishes, from Greek/Mediterranean and Middle Eastern products to Asian-inspired dishes, including matcha and togarashi (both covered in Datassential’s On the Menu this year). Global exhibitors were well-represented at this year’s show, including over 60 Chinese exhibitors, exhibitors from Peru sampling pisco sours (covered in World Bites: Peru), and representatives from Brazil (featured in June’s World Bites).

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FoodBytes MAY 2014

MEAT & SEAFOOD Of course, there was still plenty of meat itself at the show. We tasted a turkey burger amped up with on-trend ingredients like brown rice and dried cherries, while another company was offering up samples of bacon sausage, and a number of exhibitors had charcuterie-friendly meats on display. When it came to seafood, sustainable varieties were still prevalent at many booths.

Soft-serve gelato could be found on both the show floor and at Chicago’s Eataly complex, a popular destination for NRA attendees.

OPERATIONAL TRENDS

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TECHNOLOGY One of the biggest stories at this year’s show? The huge number of tech solutions available, from digital menu boards to POS systems to social media tracking firms to loyalty program software systems. One new tablet-like register system has an “App Market” where businesses can download relevant applications depending on their needs, such as a customer loyalty app or employee management system, while another tablet system was designed for nearly every aspect of restaurant management, from reservations to tableside tablet ordering transmitted directly to the kitchen to inventory management. Many of these technologies prominently marketed the analytical capabilities of their products, from tracking dish popularity to dynamic pricing solutions. There were also 25 digital menu board exhibitors at the show, with one exhibitor predicting that the technology will be standard in almost all operators in just a few years, according to Fast Casual.

PACKAGING Many attendees commented on the cleaner, more modern packaging that could be found on both front and back-of-house products. Simpler, more type-driven designs and matte textures, a trend in many retail products, were featured on many products at the show, while bottles often featured interesting shapes. Eco-friendly materials were also widely seen, from compostable cutlery to bamboo bowls, while one company’s edible spoons were in use by other booths on the show floor.

FAST CASUAL DESIGN Restaurant design elements often associated with chef casual and fast casual restaurants could be found throughout the show. Rustic, reclaimed wood was a notable design material found on the show floor, from wall paneling to serving boards to chairs (and even the exhibitor booths themselves), while the show’s “Ask the Design Experts” area had design and management consultants offering up advice on eco-friendly design.

Creating a celery ginger soda at Austin’s Qui.

HIGH-TECH DRINK DISPENSERS Beverage machines, in particular, have gone high-tech, with exhibitors showing off new customer-controlled, customizable smoothie and milkshake machines (found at many c-stores covered in this month’s Creative Concepts: Upscale C-Stores). Pepsi unveiled their new line of customizable Pepsi Spire machines, while Coca-Cola expanded their Freestyle line to include a smaller countertop model. And many exhibitors showed off self-serve beer and wine taps, including one with a high-definition touch screen.

CHEFWEAR Even chef and cooks’ uniforms have gone modern, keeping up with a new generation of casual chefs looking for something beyond the traditional chef whites. One booth had a line of more form-fitting, colorful chef coats, while another featured coats with pockets for phones and iPads. And chef hats are now available in kitchen-friendly fedoras and field caps.

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FoodBytes MAY 2014

The growth of digital technology in restaurants, from menu boards to tablet ordering, will also drive a need for high-quality photos and graphics.

FoodBytes

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FoodBytes MAY 2014

CRAFT BEVERAGE REVOLUTION

GROWTH IN CRAFT BEVERAGES The use of the term “craft” has grown 60% on beverage menus in the past four years, where it is most commonly used as a beer descriptor – 14 percent of menued beers are described as “craft,” followed by cocktails and, tied for third place, ciders and sodas. But the latter two are growing quickly, with craft soda (a trend seen throughout the NRA show) becoming an important ancillary product for craft beer brewers, with companies like Goose Island and Abita manufacturing their own craft sodas.

MACRO TRENDS The proliferation of craft beverages can, in part, be attributed to related macro trends. Craft beers, for instance, are a natural fit for the beverage menu at on-trend German and English beer halls in the U.S., while craft cocktails can be found at the new generation of Prohibition-style speakeasies (see last month’s Creative Concepts), and craft sodas tie into trends in freshness and ethnic beverages found at chef casual and fast casual restaurants.

BEVERAGE TRENDS AT THE SHOW

This year Datassential Senior Director Maeve Webster presented research on craft beverage trends at the show’s panel, “How to Take Your Craft Program From Ordinary to Extraordinary: Wine, Spirits, and Beer.” The presentation, moderated by Greg Sanders, publisher of Food News Media, also featured Paul Tanguay of Mercadito Hospitality and Steve McDonagh, who, with his partner, is one half of the celebrity chef duo The Hearty Boys, behind Chicago’s recently-opened burger and craft soda restaurants, Spritz Burger. Here are some highlights from Webster’s presentation:

Beer, spirit, and mixer producers

are following industry trends

closely, featuring on-trend

products like moonshine and tiki

cocktails; one flavor syrup

producer prominently displayed

tiki drinks at their booth, while

many attendees headed to

Chicago’s Three Dots and a Dash

tiki bar after the show. Frozen

beer, featured at a number of

ballparks covered in last month’s

FoodBytes, was sampled at the

show, with an expanded line that

includes newer beer brands. And

there were a wide variety of

mixers available, often featuring

more unusual and adventurous

flavors; one exhibitor featured a

line of teas designed to mix with

beers and spirits, with flavors like

chai, Darjeeling, and hibiscus.

Craft soda was well-represented

on the NRA floor, with many

exhibitors marketing the healthy,

artisan, and natural aspects of

their products. One soda company

noted the actual number of fruits

that went into each bottle of their

soda, calling attention to the pulp

that could be found in the drink,

while, again, more unusual spices

and flavors could be found in

many of the sodas – elderflower

(covered in this month’s On the

Menu), chamomile, tarragon, etc.

But, for those that want to

indulge, a number of the craft

soda distributors also marketed

their products as ideal mixers.

THE FUTURE OF CRAFT The craft beverage trend certainly has room to grow – over 80% of operators reported an interest in menuing craft beverages, though operators and consumers disagreed about the longevity of the craft trend. While 62% of operators thought craft beer was a long-term trend, over 60% thought craft cocktails were a fad, and over 70% thought craft ciders and sodas weren’t here to stay. Yet the vast majority of consumers, over 90%, thought craft beverages were a long-term trend overall. And our data revealed that, while many consumers had yet to try a craft beverage beyond craft beer, those that were aware of the trend were far more likely to have tried a craft beverage – meaning the trends are particularly susceptible to marketing and sampling. With their relation to several macro trends and popularity with consumers, craft beverages will play an important part on the beverage menu in the years ahead.

FoodBytes

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FoodBytes MAY 2014

TRENDSPOTTING REPORTS TOPICS COVERED IN LAST MONTH’S

ON THE MENU In April’s On the Menu, we sought out the rich, chef casual-friendly flavors of Kewpie mayo and Scotch eggs, the creamy tastes of nut milk and brie, and the tart bite of picklejuice/picklebacks and cranberry. And in our extensive coverage of new menu items and LTOs at top chain operators, we checked out on-trend chicken dishes, new French toast flavors, and more dessert hybrids popping up on menus.

DINE AROUND: NASHVILLE In Dine Around we traveled to Nashville, a city where chefs were both perfecting and updating on-trend Southern cuisine, from old-fashioned sodas and cocktails to fried green tomatoes to numerous variations on a true Nashville original - hot chicken. And, for the first time, we introduced data from Firefly, Datassential's brand new universal operator database.

CREATIVE CONCEPTS In April’s Creative Concepts, we took you behind the hidden, password-protected doors and into the luxurious modern speakeasy, with an in-depth look at seven operators who exemplify this trend, creating serious cocktails with on-trend ingredients, house-made bitters, fresh-squeezed juices, savory herbs and spices, and artisan ice programs, all paired with innovative, chef-driven bar snack menus.

TIPS In this quarter’s TIPS report, we brought you an in-depth look at trends along every stage of Datassential’s Menu Adoption Cycle (MAC), with profiles of Filipino cuisine, fin-to-tail restaurants, non-traditional ragu, za’atar, hard cider, modern steakhouses, white chocolate, and biscuits, with extensive data, background, and real-world examples for each one.

WORLD BITES In World Bites, we looked at the clean, simple, ingredient-driven flavors of Nordic countries, from flavors like juniper and lingonberry to dishes and drinks like pølser and aquavit. This edition also included an interview with Claus Meyer, a founder and proponent of New Nordic cuisine, including his takes on flavor trends and the Nordic dishes that could translate to the American plate.

INTERNATIONAL

CONCEPTS In our very first edition of International Concepts, we covered the top chains in Mexico, from well-known flavors and ingredients like avocado and chimichurri to newer flavors like panela cheese, as well as the dishes that have become standard in chains across Mexico – molletes, huaraches, elote, etc.

NEVER MISS OUT ON A TREND! Contact Maeve Webster at 312-655-0596 to subscribe to Datassential’s entire TrendSpotting Report series.

FoodBytes

FoodBytes

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HUNGRY FOR MORE? This is just a small taste of the research and data we have collected in order to make accurate, data-backed trend identifications. Now let Datassential take you deeper into the implications of these trends and what they mean for your company.

We can take you behind the data that shows how restaurant menus are shrinking and morphing, show you an in-depth look at the surprising demographic data on consumers (including Millennials) that informed these trends, and show you real-world examples of every trend covered.

And it’s all backed by the industry’s most accurate and trusted menu database, MenuTrends, and the industry’s largest operator research panel, OPERA.

To start putting these trends to work for you, contact Datassential today:

1-888-556-3687 info@datassential.com

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FoodBytes

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A MAJORITY OF CONSUMERS SAY

THEIR TASTES ARE SHAPED BY

THEIR RESTAURANT EXPERIENCES

What’s happening on the menu today can

be a leading indicator of tomorrow’s food

trends.

Datassential MenuTrends tracks 7,000 distinct US restaurants and over one 1 million menu items. Because the database is designed to mirror the US restaurant census by segment, region, and menu type, MenuTrends is the only system that offers true projectable data. All segments and cuisine types are tracked extensively – from food trucks to fine dining. MenuTrends INSIDER is also updated every month with Limited Time Offers (LTOs) and other new menu activity, with product photos that bring the listings to life. And with thousands of ready-to-use reports and simple trend detection tools, you can jump right into the database, identifying, measuring, and predicting the food and flavor trends that matter to your business. Call us today to begin using the food industry’s authoritative resource for flavor trends.

Call Jack Li at 310-922-6299 or email jack@datassential.com.

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FoodBytes ARPIL 2014

FoodBytes

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