New Trends For Consumers
According to food trend expert Nancy Kruse, there are six big trends that have recently impacted menus, which include freshness, flavor, authenticity, healthful additions, tableside activity and “zations.” A “zation” includes miniaturization, customization and premiumization. Kruse refers to the recent craze of miniaturization as “mini mania,” and stated that “small bites are big business.” Chili’s menu, for example, features Big Mouth bites, consisting of 4 mini-burgers topped with cheese, bacon, onions and ranch dressing. The Cheesecake Factory has also added 13 varieties onto a new Small Plates menu. Miniaturization isn’t just found in appetizers, but has recently become a popular dessert trend as well. Chili’s is covering both miniaturization and customization trends with their Sweet Shots dessert, where patrons can pick three mini desserts from a variety of offerings. In regards to premiumization, Kruse states that the greatest activity is with burgers.
In order to maintain as well as gain interest from consumers, it is important to be innovative and accommodate new consumer desires. These new trends and innovations have proven that a few small changes can result in big consumer appeal. For information on the checkoff's Beef Innovations Group, please contact Jim Ethridge at jethridge@beef.org.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.
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