According to The National Restaurant Association’s “What’s Hot” survey of more than 1,500 professional chefs local and hyper-local sourcing, healthy children’s meals, sustainable seafood, and gluten-free cuisine will be among the hottest trends on restaurant menus in 2011.
“Locally sourced food and a focus on sustainability is not just popular among certain segments of consumers anymore; it has become more mainstream. Diners are requesting to know where their food comes from, and are concerned with how their choices affect the world around us,” said Michael Ty, CEC, AAC, ACF national president. “Nutrition will continue to play a key role in 2011. With the results from this survey of American Culinary Federation chefs, restaurants across America will be able to tailor their menus and better serve their guests.”
In tune with increased consumer awareness and interest in food sourcing and farm-to-fork practices, the leading culinary theme revealed by the survey is sustainability, which occupies four of the top five trends. The top two items, both with 86 percent of chefs identifying them as a hot trend, are locally sourced meats and seafood and locally grown produce.
Ranked as the third hottest trend is sustainability as a culinary theme. Hyper-local ingredients (restaurants with their own produce gardens, and chefs managing the raising and butchering of their own meat) lands at number five, with nearly 8 in 10 chefs calling this a hot trend.
Nutrition, children’s nutrition in particular, is another trend identified by the survey. Nutritionally balanced children’s dishes is ranked the fourth hottest trend on menus next year, while kid’s nutrition as a culinary theme comes in at number six. Nutrition and health as a general culinary theme is number 15.
Gluten-free and food allergy-conscious items are number eight in the trends survey, with nearly eight in 10 chefs agreeing it’s a hot trend.
What does all of this mean? Perhaps it’s time to step back and take a good look at your menu. With consumers trending more towards locally produced and nutritious dishes, what do you have to offer? |
