Light Sauces: The thick heavy sauces of years past are losing their luster. While still rich and delicious, consumers see these sauces as “weight gainers.” We are seeing a move to more broth, vinaigrette, and infused brines. These are perceived as a lighter fare and are used to better accent the natural flavors of your foods.

Ethnic Cuisines: The growth and diversification of our population has led to an influx of new and exciting flavors to the palates of America. With almost world-wide availability, the ability to try new and different flavor combinations has led to an unrelenting customer base when it comes to exciting new menu items. By incorporating these ideas into menus, you can increase your customer base and profitability.

Functional Foods: Foods that offer health benefits other than nutrition are gaining increased marketability. With Americans becoming more health conscious, food with a connotation of increased health benefits are selling better than ever. Foods like beans, tomatoes, fruits, and whole grains are gaining popularity because of increased health benefits like high fiber, lycopene, and beneficial vitamins. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) continue to identify health claims they can permit to be used. For a list of examples and more information on the functionality of foods, please visit http://www.ific.org/nutrition/functional/index.cfm

Hand Held Meals: As society becomes more and more about squeezing as much into a 24 hour period as possible, foodservice operators need to be creative enough to develop new ways to pass their food to the customers. One way to achieve this is to create single serving meals. Wraps and sandwiches, items that can be hand held on the go, containing the proper balance of nutrition and convenience will be in high demand. Meal replacement bars are a hugely growing market share. Being able to offer the proper balance of flavor and convenience will become more and more important over the course of this year.