Amy Shipley

After a roller-coaster decade, restaurants are tapping into grit, ingenuity and new revenue ideas to keep guests engaged in 2026. This feature highlights nine trends—from whipped cheeses to modular design—reshaping how Americans dine.

Great innovators look beyond trends to uncover the deeper “why” behind consumer behavior. At SRG, that means blending cultural immersion, emotional insight and AI-powered tools to turn inspiration into lasting impact.

Perhaps I’m in the minority, but I love surprises—especially when they are of the culinary sort. When Prepared Foods asked me to write about future food trends, it led me to think about all the change our food and beverage industry has endured during the past few years. I also am thinking how we’ve adapted so quickly, and with such extraordinary ingenuity. I started to reflect on what surprised me the most and what sort of change we can expect in the future.

Amidst the chaos of 2020, we’ve also experienced extraordinary resilience, ingenuity and creativity to address numerous challenges. SRG is fortunate to work with companies that are investing more in consumer research and “futures” work across the globe.