Mid Year Trend Tracker: As Seen at National Restaurant Show

A stalwart of the restaurant industry, the National Restaurant Show opened its doors in May, bringing exhibitors and attendees together for four days of products and presentations. Catersource was on site, putting in the steps and also sitting in on education sessions—all in an effort to report back on products, insights, and trends that piqued our interest.

Industry stats

During her session on Menu Trends, Nancy Kruse of The Kruse Company pointed to supermarket prepared foods as the fastest growing industry segment (at 3.8%) and noted that fast casual has experienced the most significant drop in US restaurant counts since 2008 (an example: Subway shuttered 359 stores in 2016).

As a whole, however, the restaurant industry is doing well, said Hudson Riehle and Peter Backman in their “US & UK Restaurant Trends” session, with a projected $799 billion in annual sales in the US alone. Yet, there are disruptive factors surfacing that may affect sales, such as the presidential campaign and administration dampening spending confidence, and gas and diesel prices on the rise.

Additionally, said Kruse, brick and mortar restaurants face competition from Amazon Fresh, food trucks, and also meal delivery kits like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, and Marley Spoon.

So when the going gets tough…it’s time to crank up menu R&D. Here are some thoughts to bring back to your kitchen:

Restaurant menu trends

• Natural, less processed foods and fewer ingredients are paramount for consumers. A great example is from a restaurant you might not expect to read about: Denny’s. At Denny’s, its pancake recipe was revamped to just four ingredients that any consumer would recognize: real eggs, flour, fresh buttermilk, and vanilla (though personally, I wonder if baking powder and/or soda and salt are a part of that recipe). Still.

• With the US vegetarian population remaining stable, and “flexitarian” and “reducetarian” lifestyles ever-rising, more attention needs to be focused on using vegetables as the center of the plate, as well as care and attention given to sides. Cauliflower has been elevated in various iterations from whole roasted, to a pizza topping, to even a cauliflower burger seen at Hard Rock Café.

Quinoa is still tops, according to Kruse, with potato, kale, and asparagus going strong. Think, too, of new ways to present vegetables: such as radish carpaccio, flash fried veggie frites, and the thousands of ways you can serve potatoes as center of the plate, sides, appetizers, and shareables.

• Make your menu a vast global pantry, instead of relying on the big three cuisines (Mexican, Italian, Chinese). Indian cuisine is emerging with plenty of room for growth; the Asian noodlepalooza is upon us in the form of ramen bowls; and simple Japanese katsu is on the rise

• Specialty meats are garnering attention: go beyond chicken and beef on your menus and into specialty items such as pork belly, venison, wild boar, lamb, bison, and duck  

• Finally, it’s play time. Unicorn Frappuccinos were only the beginning. Colorful cereal (Froot Loops, for example) is found in shakes and even garnished onto hot dogs; cake batter and cookie dough prevail (a cookie dough truck called Dough Dough just hit the streets of Minneapolis, Dō is open in Greenwich Village), Snicker’s pancakes and even Centerplate’s Smoothie King Stadium King Cake burger in NOLA celebrate over the top food fun.

The King Cake burger from Centerplate

On the showfloor

Oneida launched more than 20 designs innovative designs in a stunner of a booth showcasing its dinnerware, flatware, glassware, and buffet pieces via beautiful tablescapes and dining experiences. New products included Ivy Flourish, fine dinnerware with wide rims enhanced with a paisley pattern, a 1910 era flatware design called Patrician, and new “A” and “O” buffet stands.

From its Artisan Dinnerware collection is Knit, with beautiful texture and subtle color striations

Barilla R&D executive Giancarlo Addario flew from Italy to chat with NRA attendees about its 3D pasta printer prototype, along with printed shapes to check out. These innovative pasta shapes (Luna, Atom, Spider, and more) are made from durum wheat semolina and make a beautiful, special presentation.

The Vortipa shape is a perfect shape for a one-bite amuse bouche

With over 350 new products launched at NRA, there was a lot to look at in the Libbey Foodservice booth. Among them was a stand out regarding the trend toward tea consumption. In particular, studies have shown that of millennials, 87% of them drink tea regularly. Thus, an agreement was struck with VIVA Scandinavia to distribute its related tea serveware products.

Other standouts included additions to the Master’s Reserve glassware collection (Renewal), and Constellation, the first-ever porcelain dinnerware with built in Microban technology, which protects against improper cleaning and handling.

Libbey also exhibited a new Kentucky Bourbon Trail® tasting glass in conjuncton with The Kentucky Distillers Association

Showcasing single origin and blended coffees specifically crafted for restaurant and hotel trade partners, Lavazza exhibited hand-picked single-origin Ethiopian 100% Arabica. Catersource had the pleasure of sitting through a 20 minute KAFA workshop with training manager Salvatore Foto, tasting the coffee as espresso, pour over, and cold brewed within a n/a mocktail.

A Lavazza espresso shot

A single jackfruit can weigh up to 80 pounds, as showgoers saw in The Jackfruit Company booth. What is it used for? It’s recognized as a high-fiber whole-food meat alternative that also contains iron, potassium, and calcium.

Young jackfruit, before it is fully ripe and the sugars have developed, resembles pulled pork or beef because of its texture. It also chews like meat, which can help those making the jump from a meat centric diet to vegan or vegetarian.

Over the course of the past year, Wisconsin Cheese celebrated a historic winning streak, taking home top honors at the country’s three major cheese competitions. Lucky for Catersource, we were able to taste three of the best (Sartori Black Pepper Bellavitano, Agropur Cheddar, Marieke Gouda Belegen), plus a plethora of palate pleasing samples (including a personal favorite, the Pine River spreads were delicious!

Marieke, Sartori, and Agropur cheesemakers hold their winning products Photo Credit Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association

The simple and eco-friendly way to upsell a beverage—and keep plastic straws out of our landfills—might be the customizable paper straw from USA-made Aardvark Straws. Biodegradable and compostable, we love that they also do not deteriorate or bleed ink when placed into liquid.

Pretty and colorful, and made in the US.

Bauscher-Hepp celebrated mixology in all of its glory with beautiful glassware from Italy’s Luigi Bormioli. I went a little wacky over the collection, with standouts being the Sublime coupe, adorable dash bottles, and just about anything from the Atelier line.

Darling dash bottles named Elixer 1, 2, or 3 are perfect for just a touch of spirit, such as absinthe or Fernet Branca.

So many ways for caterers to use Oregon Fruit and the company made it easy by offering a different breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack each day. I happened upon the tropical cheesecake with Pink Guava Fruit in Hand Velvet (a smooth velvety textue) and Mango Fruit in Hand Compote (diced, a chunky texture), topped with coconut.

The Velvet style Fruit in Hand is blended smooth, and is a custom order.

So much for the caterer at Front of House! Trend-forward tabletop and buffet products left us dazzled at every turn.

These Kyoto pinch bowls are some of our favorites!

Hatco displayed a variety of handy and attractive products, including Rapide Cuisine countertop induction ranges and warmers, modular/ganged dry heated wells that offer reduced installation costs due to lack of plumbing restrictions, and the very new Toast-Qwik conveyor toaster—we especially liked it in the eye-catching red finish.

Edward Nunn displays a Hatco induction warmer.

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