Darren Tristano is chief insights officer at Technomic’s parent company, Winsight. Since 1993, he has led the development of Technomic’s Information Services division and directed multiple aspects of the firm’s operations.
Pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, sausage and green peppers: Consumers certainly love these pizza toppings, and they are staples on any pizza menu. But, they’re hardly the only toppings people are willing to try.
Consumers are snacking more than ever. They also are increasingly “switching up” the kinds of items they reach for between meals, with both healthy and not-so-healthy snacks in demand.
The vast majority of adolescents apparently underestimate the number of calories they consume in meals purchased at fast food restaurants, according to new research. As reported in the October 5, 2011, Chicago Sun-Times, teens aged 11-20 were surveyed outside fast food chains in four U.S. cities.
Speaking of fast food, a new Zagat survey recently revealed the names of “America’s best and most popular chains,” according to a September 7, 2011, Los Angeles Times article.
There are more than 18 million college students in the U.S., according to the National Center for Education Statistics, and they are increasingly selective about where and how they spend their foodservice dollars.