restaurant menu trends | Prepared Foods

New Food Industry LTO Platform Unleashes Creativity For Chain Restaurants

Mattson launches ProtoThink LTO™, a new service to help operators accelerate ideation and development of scalable LTOs

October 14, 2021

Mattson, a leader in food and beverage innovation announced its newest service, ProtoThink LTO™, during The Flavor Experience foodservice industry event in Monterey, Calif., on September 8. This new platform is a revolutionary way for foodservice operators to create exciting, limited time offers in as little as two to three months and help drive users to QSR and Fast Casual brands.

ON THE NATIONAL MENU

Functional Foods and Drinks Find a Home on Restaurant Menus

Functional—to Feel Better: A growing number of consumers are familiar with basic ingredients that have a profound impact on health

Maeve Webster

October 4, 2021

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Look for more restaurant operators to menu, promote functional, better-for-you foods, beverages.

Bourbon Secures Spot on the Menu, in New Product Development

What Can Brown Do For You? For savory applications, chefs find that bourbon makes a great base for sauces and marinades across all industry categories

Juliet Greene

September 30, 2021

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Whether over the rocks or incorporated into a savory or sweet dish, bourbon is a go-to flavor of fall. Bourbon-flavored dishes are often associated with comfort food and also one of the reasons it has experienced continued and growing popularity.

Red Robin Island Heat Crispy Chicken Burger

ON THE NATIONAL MENU

Build a Better Burger (or Hot Dog)!

Datassential insights give formulators more cookout-inspired creativity

Emily Murawski

May 24, 2021

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With summer nearly here, all things grilling and barbecue become top of mind. When it comes to burgers and hot dogs, restaurant operator trends pave the way for cookout-inspired innovations, and Datassential's MenuTrends database provides the trend data to help focus creativity.

Gathered Foods Launches Restaurant Industry Partnership with Plant-Based Leader Veggie Grill

Innovative new plant-based tuna melt launches nationwide

October 9, 2020

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Through the end of the year, Veggie Grill will add a limited-edition exclusive Tuna Melt to the menu featuring Good Catch's Plant Based Tuna, giving conscious consumers the opportunity to enjoy a classic and indulgent tuna melt without contributing to known issues like overfishing or exposure to harmful heavy metals.

Spice Blends Start to Star on Menus

Special Spices: American consumers are embracing the complex flavor profiles of international spice blends, while research chefs and food scientists are use them to develop innovative dishes

Maeve Webster

April 27, 2020

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Spice and herb use is nothing new in foodservice. These are the fundamental building blocks of flavor and are key in the identity of world and regional cuisines.

2020 State of the Restaurant Industry Report

National Restaurant Association annual report finds that industry sales are projected to reach $899 Billion in 2020

February 28, 2020

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The report is an authoritative look at the industry and its challenges and opportunities based on a range of national surveys of restaurant owners, operators, chefs and consumers.

What's Hot on Restaurant Menus in 2020

New National Restaurant Association survey identifies top restaurant menu trends for the coming year

January 14, 2020

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Diners will see many more alternatives in restaurants this year, as owners and operators adopt eco-friendly packaging, plant-based proteins, revamped classic cocktails, specialty burger blends (mushroom-beef burgers, etc.), and unique beef and pork cuts, which all made the list of top 10 trends.

2020 Global Restaurant Trends

Plant-based “meats,” third-party delivery apps and social media-friendly dining spaces will be vital to the industry

December 20, 2019

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Plant-based “meats,” third-party delivery apps, social media-friendly dining spaces—these were not much more than blips on the radar in 2010. But in 2020, they are essential and vital to the industry.

Versatile Veggies: Plant-Forward Innovation Transforms Menus

Consumer shift toward vegetables leads to unforeseen menu items across product categories

Maeve Webster

November 12, 2019

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More consumers are changing their eating behaviors to include plant-based products and this is impacting new product innovation. And perhaps what's most interesting about this innovation is the broad and deep exploration into the versatility of vegetables.

The immune and gut health space is packed with pre and pro-biotic products, making it hard to stand out, but now there’s a new player in the game: postbiotics.