Takeout From The NRA "What’s
Hot
For The Upcoming Year"
By Elizabeth J. Goodgold |
Miles of Aisles
After mingling, munching, and meandering through miles of aisles at
the Restaurant Show, not only are our feet properly exhausted, but
also our marketing sense has been put into overdrive. With such a
diverse show, can we narrow our predictions for the hot trends for
1998? We’ve gambled on the food forecasts below. Place your bets
now and we’ll compare notes in May 1998.
Wraps and Roll
If you haven’t seen wraps yet, just wait. Wraps are tortillas,
chapatas or lavosh flatbreads filled with anything from vegetables
to meats to cheese to make appetizing sandwiches. There are whole
wheat, sundried tomato, spinach, herb, jalapeño, garlic, curry,
and even sweet varieties including apple cinnamon. Big manufacturers
such as Uncle Ben’s and Tyson have entered the market and restaurant
chains are rolling forward with the Wrapp Shack and Wrap & Roll
Café.
Smoothie Sailing
Often paired with wraps, smoothie is the fun word for frozen concoctions
mixed with fruit and carrying a healthy halo. Some smoothies are definitely
healthy and low fat with fresh strawberries, bananas, berries and
nonfat yogurt, wheat germ, bee pollen, and the like. Other definitively
cholesterol-clogging drinks include mocha cocoa made with heavy cream,
chocolate syrup, and mix-in candies. In every shape, they are profit
margin boosters requiring quick-witted marketing and a strong blender.
Coffee is Hot and Cold
With over 50 coffee manufacturers at the show, coffee sales will continue
to perk. New dark roasts are arriving daily from mainstream manufacturers
such as Boyd’s, Superior, and Procter & Gamble. Even specialty
roasters like Seattle’s Best Coffee and Caravel are looking to
leverage their brand name with co-branding and co-op opportunities.
Making an appearance at a menu near you will be iced coffee, iced
latte, and other mocha java combinations. Look for coffee to also
appear in cappuccino smoothies, cafe latte cheesecakes and espresso
cocktails. Flavorings too will be in abundance with new flavors from
butterscotch to hazelnut to the more mundane vanilla, chocolate, and
almond.
Up in Smoke
Classy humidors, display cases, and high-priced cigars are ubiquitous
in the restaurant/nightclub market. Combined with top-shelf martinis,
cigar purveyors are hoping to widen this trend by offering cigar smoker
nights, teaching restaurant shelf how to manage sales, spot trends,
and service the free-spending cigar smoker.
Well Packaged
Innovative packaging is hot, hot hot! From imprinted four-color coffee
bags to take-out orders to imprinted ribbons, packaging is completing
the theme and imagery of the restaurant establishment. Gone are the
days of trucking leftovers home in a plain white "doggie bag."
Cool packaging is making leftovers packaged in a picnic-type box look
out and out alluring! Elegant shopping bags with logos and handles
are also necessary for toting home all of the collectibles purchased
at restaurants. In fact, it is estimated that over 40% of Planet Hollywood’s
revenue are derived from the sales of T-shirts and other souvenirs.
Custom Tailoring
The ability to customize everything was the watchword at the show.
Laser-ready papers (similar to Paper Direct for the restaurant trade)
are available in pre-designed breakfast, dessert, pizza, and wine
list motifs from Redi-Print. Innovative table tents in pre-designed
and peforated sheets are eye-catching from Gastro-Gnomes. Both companies
allow the proprietor to easily create menu and table tents with a
few strokes of the keyboard. Emblazoned linens, plates, shirts, and
serving wear allow eateries to differentiate themselves from competitors
while reinforcing brand identity.
High Fat Mama
Low-fat foods and especially no fat goodies have slowly disappeared
from the show. Sure, Gardenburgers, turkey meatballs, and salmon and
tuna burgers abound, but "no fat" is definitely not a buzzword
of 1997. Instead, decadent desserts including royal miniatures, gourmet
cakes, rich cheesecakes, turtle pies, and fruit pies, pecan pies are
here in abundance. Of course, don’t forget the beef – everything
from thick, aged steaks to Argentinean beef to buffalo are making
a strong showing. It is not so much that per capita consumption of
red meat has skyrocketed; it is that the venue of choice has changed.
In other words, when diners wants a really good steak, they choose
a specialty chophouse versus cooking it at home.
International Exotica
1997 is supposed to be the year of the multicultural invasion, but
few potential winners seem apparent. It as if the easy to accept international
foods have already been introduced to American tastebuds (i.e., pizza,
pasta, tiramisu, and fajitas), and the more exotic flavors and textures
have left Americans cold. Look for more Southwest offerings of churros,
salsas, flaming hot sauces, and bottled hot peppers. To the East,
chutney is still trying to go mainstream, and chai, served either
hot or cold, is trying to become the next beverage of choice. Since
chai is an unusual flavor with the earthiness of tea combined with
the spiciness of cardamom and cinnamon, it might prove to be a tough
sell.
Kosher products, on the other hand, are enjoying mystical growth.
Even though 2/3 of the consumers purchasing kosher foods are not Jewish,
the perception that kosher food is cleaner and healthier is fueling
manufacturers to add certification to their labels. Watch for this
trend to continue and trickle down to the supermarkets.
Computer Mania
Last year’s entrepreneurs looking to put every restaurant on
the Internet with its own web-site has finally given way to sanity:
most potential diners don’t use the Internet for restaurant assistance
and out-of-town visitors don’t know the names of local restaurants
to visit anyway. Thus, restaurant listings are now grouped by city
and sponsored by Dine Fine, (a subsidiary of the NRA), Restaurant
Registry, and Digital Cuisine, for example.
The most innovative use of computers making its debut this year is
customer tracking. American Express’ new SE Insight program allows
establishments to track consumer spending at their own businesses
as well as 10 identified competitors. Thus, Windows of the World can
see that it is gathering a 4.5% share of stomach whereby Tavern of
the Green is garnering at 22% share. Moreover, it allows you to create
a customer database useful for future mailing and consumer contact.
You can also track demographic trends as American Express can segment
your market by zip code and DMA. Of course, these trends are limited
to American Express spending, but they may be a representative sample.
Look at your business, seasonally and quarterly for even better analytical
tools. For $200.00 per year, it may be a bargain!
A Hole In One
Bagels! Bagels! Bagels! On every street corner and on every menu,
they are there to haunt you. Local restaurateur, Arnie’s Bagels,
has teamed up with Quaker Oats to establish branding at new establishments.
Big manufacturers are also introducing bagels at the speed of light.
New flavors, such as cheese, chocolate, are bubbling as are bagels
filled like mini pizzas.
Final Takeout
Although there are no standouts as in previous year’s introductions
of kiwi, ostrich, cappuccino, and no fat cookies, thee are still many
items on the horizon. The goals are to define your market, serve that
market well, make the experience fun and memorable, and constantly
tweak your menu and your offerings to adjust to changing tastes.
Nation’s Restaurant News, July 14, 1997. Reprinted
with permission.
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