MONTEREY, CA – Healthy foods and meatless dishes are some of the major trends influencing the foodservice industry. During a July 29 panel discussion at the Produce Marketing Association Foodservice Conference & Expo in Monterey, CA, participants learned about what’s driving future trends and emerging ones that will become more accelerated.
Demand for healthy products is strong today and will obviously continue to grow in foodservice, says Joe Pawlak, managing principal of Chicago-based Technomic Inc. Today’s consumers talk not only about food but also about their overall lifestyles, their physical and mental well-being and what they’re eating, including relaxation and balancing their lives. “Better-for-you” has transferred to more qualitative product terms. Descriptors, including fresh, local, clean, wholesome and natural, are more relevant to shoppers than low fat, low calories, low sodium, gluten-free and high in vitamins.
There’s more demand for meatless and vegetable-focused meals on menus. Some restaurants are listing vegetables up top on menus with meats listed as sides. Such efforts are breaking the paradigm of meat at the center of plate while bringing produce to the center of plate.
“There are lots of opportunities for making produce the star, making it the center of the plate,” Pawlak says. “The center-plate doesn’t have to be meat anymore; it can be plant-based. Obviously, there are lots of new menu development opportunities making produce the star, making it the center of the plate, making it the quote and unquote, the “meat” and making it the major component of the product, whether that be an entrée, a sandwich, a taco or a burrito. Consumers are looking more and more for unique ways of using produce in various menu options.”
Also, organic is experiencing higher demand across the board. It’s growing in importance to foodservice operators because consumers want it, Pawlak says.
Source: PerishableNews.com