Foods Trends 2017

     What's the #1 Food Trend for 2017?  New Cuts of Meat and Hyper-local sourcing was cited as the No.1 concept trend for the new year by the National Restaurant Association. Its 2017 Culinary Forecast offers a peak into the themes and menu items that will prevail in 2017. Examples of hyper-local sourcing include restaurants with gardens on site and house-made items. The local theme extends to locally sourced produce, meat and seafood.

     At least 70 percent of the 1,300 professional chefs surveyed by the NRA  ranked new cuts of meat (e.g. shoulder tender and oyster steak), street food-inspired dishes (e.g. tempura and pupusas) and healthful kids’ meals as hot trends for the new year.

     Here’s what made the list of trends that are heating up: Poke, house-made charcuterie, street food-inspired dishes, food halls (like a food court), ramen, breakfast burritos/tacos, house-made condiments, and lumberjack breakfast/fry-up.
Items that made the perennial favorites list include: fish and chips, French toast, bacon, mashed/pureed potatoes, barbecue, comfort foods (think chicken pot pie), shellfish, cannoli, bread pudding and zucchini.

Strange Food Trends of 2015

     A lot happened in 2015.  In 2015 we saw a lot of stories, fittingly, about food. From new inventions like caffeinated peanut butter and chocolate slices, to new-to-us concepts like eating bugs, and strange food-preparation methods like making soup in a Keurig and eating at a restaurant without human workers, the foods of 2015 felt like they came straight out of the future.

     From the crazy (24-karat gold Kit Kats) to the depressing (Norovirus at Chipotle) to the completely bizarre (FATwater) in 2015, it can’t help but feel like we saw it all. Maybe all this food news means we can come away from the year with a heightened sense of awareness about our food supply, or maybe it just means, as a culture, we have finally taken our food obsession too far. But whatever we decide to take away from this year’s food inventions, let us not forget the highs and lows that brought us here, to the end of the journey of our crazy edible year.

Caffeinated peanut butter

Coffee and peanut butter are, to me, two good things that do not need fixing. Yet caffeinated peanut butter, otherwise known as STEEM, is doing just that. The food fusion aims at “providing a consistent release of sustained energy” through the naturally slow digestion of peanut butter. STEEM’s mission is to free you from the humanly distractions of hunger and fatigue in one convenient jar. And a lot of people got very excited about this when STEEM first came out, because apparently we have become too busy to be expected to drink coffee and eat breakfast at the same time. The whole sentiment seems kind of depressing, like we are eventually going to get to a place where we stop enjoying food entirely and sustain ourselves off grey scientific nutrient paste. Wait, that already happened last year…

Chocolate slices

These are really amazing and it’s hard to believe it took us this long to figure it out. And unlike chocolate spreads, you don’t even need to dirty a knife. Chocolate slices make you realize that anything really is possible, all while wondering what other foods we’re missing out on by not slicing… Anyone?

Activated Charcoal Juice

While 2015 saw no shortage of cold-pressed juiceries, this year we saw liquid bottles of inky black activated charcoal slowly start to replace 2014’s vision of quintessential health: the green juice. Activated charcoal has been traditionally used in medicine to treat poisonings due to its ability to prevent the absorption of chemicals inside the body. Today the juice world touts activated charcoal as the latest answer in our never-ending quest to rid the body of those pesky every day toxins that we seem unable to escape… until now?

Hangover curing salami

Serious Pig, a London-based craft meat business introduced the world to its first hangover curing salami this year. The salami allegedly works as a preventative measure and is supposed to be eaten while you’re still drinking. It boasts ginger and chili to combat the two common hangover symptoms of nausea and fatigue, and is appropriately called Hangover Cured. Ginger is known to help with nausea, and chilli is an endorphin booster, meaning that while there is no scientific evidence to Hangover Cured, eating some when you’ve had one too many could make you feel a little better in the morning. 

Bugs

Otherwise known as “the protein of the future,” TIME Magazine called eating bugs a food trend of 2015, and they weren’t wrong. While in 2014 we heard a lot of talk of eating bugs, the discussions were mostly centered around how gross and unrealistic the eating bugs would be. But in 2015, as we begun to better understand the meat industry’s impact on the environment, we watched bugs mature into a serious, sustainable food option. Gourmet bug recipe books and inventions like cricket flour and cricket chips helped some move past the creepy crawly factor, and we realized over two billion people around the world already consider bugs a dietary staple.

Super-elaborate milkshakes

Want a milkshake as big as your head and absolutely stuffed with all kinds of sweet goodies? I mean, who doesn’t. That’s why a tiny cafe in Australia called Patissez went crazy viral with pictures of their fully wonderful, if a tad over-the-top, milkshake creations. I mean, look at them!

Savory yogurt

Chef Dan Barber’s family farm in the Berkshires Blue Hill Farms, which supplies produce for Chef Barber’s famous farm-to table restaurants in New York City and Pocantico Hills, New York, brought savoury yogurt to our attention in 2015. Available in seasonal flavors like butternut squash, carrot, tomato, and beet, Blue Hill Farm’s savory yogurts turned Americans onto the idea that yogurt doesn’t have to be sweet. Chef Dan Barber is a long-time food environmentalist pioneer, and author of The Third Plate where he also argues eating less meat could help the environment. It seems Barber has his fingerprints all over the food trends of 2015.

24-karat gold Kit Kats

Nestle Japan’s Kit Kat Chocolatory sold its 1 millionth chocolate bar this year and released edible gold-plated Kit Kats to celebrate, giving us a real life Wonka experience.

Burger King’s black burger

Burger King’s infamous black burger, which originally launched in Japan, came to America this year just in time for Halloween. The charcoal burger was an intriguing mix of terrifying and exciting until we found out the dye used to turn the bun black caused people who ate the burger to poop green. Then it was just terrifying.

Keurig soup

You can now make chicken noodle soup in your coffee-making Keurig machine and I’m not sure we will ever recover from this. After the world realized how horrible Keurig’s K-cups are for the environment, the company had a horrible year sales-wise, eventually leading it to partner with Campbell’s in hopes of boosting sales by revitalizing their brand to include soup. Campbell’s marketing director Michael Goodman declared the innovation a “winning idea.” Time will tell if the people agree.

FATwater

FATwater is a 20 calories water beverage with two grams of medium chain triglyceride fat derived from coconut oil per serving. It was invented by the founder of Bulletproof Coffee, you know, the trend that has everyone adding butter and oil to their coffee in hopes of losing weight? FATwater bills itself as a type of sports drinks. But instead of the immediate energy boost you get from other sugary sports drinks, FATwater aims at providing sustainable energy that doesn’t cause you to crash, claiming to also be “more hydrating” than regular water. But some researchers have disagreed with FATwater’s claims, stating that the type of fat in FATwater doesn’t actually give drinkers any energy at all, and that water hydrates the body on its own just fine. That’s a relief, because at $35.95 for a 12-pack, switching to FATwater won’t come cheap.

Automats

While self-serve kiosks have been slowly creeping into fast food restaurants for a while, 2015 saw an entirely different type of service: no human workers. Restaurants with no visible human help are called automats, and began popping up in America in 2015. San Francisco saw its first automat in the form of Eatsa, a healthy fast-food eatery with no cashiers or wait staff, requiring customers to place orders on tablets and receive their food at self-serve cubbies. Some claimed the rise of automats is linked to the pressure to increase fast-food worker’s wages, but companies like McDonalds and Panera, who are starting to implement self-serve kiosks of their own, denied the two are related, claiming the new digitized workforce will allow them to have a bigger workforce in the kitchen. But some have prophesized that robots will soon be able to assemble food orders themselves. Either way, one thing is clear: the future is most certainly now.

 

Responsible Alcohol Service this Holiday Season

Make sure that your Servers Act responsibly with Alcohol this Holiday Season

Many Customers spend the Holidays with family and friends, and alcohol is often a part the celebrations. If people get caught up in the excitement, they may consume too much alcohol. Because of this, be especially vigilant when serving drinks during the holidays.




ServSafe Alcohol shares these tips for responsible alcohol service:

Take the time to talk to your guests. This will help you determine the purpose of their visit as well as their intoxication levels. If guests are determined to become intoxicated, you want to know about it. Continue talking to each guest throughout his or her visit.

Watch for changes. You can learn a lot about your guests’ intoxication levels by watching for physical and behavioral changes. Examples include:

• Being overly friendly, unfriendly, depressed or quiet
• Using foul language or becoming loud
• Drinking faster or switching to larger or stronger drinks
• Talking or moving slowly
• Staggering, stumbling or bumping into objects

Watch the count. Some guests may not show physical or behavioral signs of intoxication, so counting their drinks can help you keep track of their consumption. Each of these beverages contains approximately the same amount of alcohol and should be counted as one drink:

1 drink = 5 ounces of wine; 12 ounces of beer; 1½ ounces of 80-proof liquor; 1 ounce of 100-proof liquor

Avoid over-pouring. Over-pouring liquor makes it difficult for guests to accurately track their consumption. Follow drink recipes closely to ensure each drink contains the intended amount of alcohol. If your establishment allows you to free-pour, test your accuracy periodically by using a pour test.

Offer food and appetizers. This is one of the most important things you can do to prevent intoxication and boost Sales. Food helps keep alcohol in the stomach, slowing the rate alcohol reaches the small intestine where most of it is absorbed into the bloodstream. The best food items for this are those high in fat and/or protein. These items are not easily digested, which slows the movement of alcohol into the small intestine.

Offer water. Drinking alcohol can lead to dehydration, making guests thirsty and potentially prone to consume more alcohol than they normally would. You can help by offering water and appetizers with their drinks and refilling water glasses often. This will help keep the guest hydrated and can reduce alcohol consumption.

Choosing the Right Commercial Slicer for You

There are a few questions you need to ask yourself before buying a Commercial Slicer to make sure you are spending your money wisely and it will function to the best of it's abilities.

What will you be slicing?

Understanding how you plan to use the slicer is just the first step in narrowing down your choices.

How many hours per day will you be using the slicer?

Most commercial slicers are designed for light, medium, or heavy duty use. Light duty units typically feature a ¼ HP motor and are fine for one to two hours of slicing daily. Medium duty machines typically feature a ½ HP motor and are designed for 2 to 6 hour of slicing per day. Heavy duty machines will likely feature a ½ -3/4 HP motor and are designed for continuous use.

Will you be slicing Cheese?

The moisture and consistency of cheese makes it difficult to slice. Light Duty slicers are NOT recommended for cheese. Medium duty slicers should be able to handle 1 to 3 hours of cheese slicing per day. Check the manufacturer’s specifications. Heavy duty slicers are recommended if you plan to do more than 2 or 3 hours of cheese slicing daily.

What is the largest diameter you will be slicing?

You need to make sure the slicer blade and carriage are large enough for the intended application. Most are designed to handle products from 7.5" up to 12" in diameter.

What is the thinnest slice you need?

Most commercial slicers will adjust to satisfy any customer’s needs. But if you plan to serve a large volume of paper thin artisan meats like salami, prosciutto, and pancetta, then consider a specialty slicer designed for that application.

Do you need manual or automatic slicing?

Automatic slicers are more expensive, but can pay for themselves in labor savings. They can also prevent repetitive motion injuries. High volume delis and supermarkets often use automatic slicers. Most automatic slicers will have a manual override for versatility and convenience.

What other features do you like?

Once you’ve narrowed down your choices to those commercial slicers that match your size and power requirements, you may want to look for a few other desirable features and benefits.

All commercial slicers come with safety features such as a blade guard and a pusher to hold the product while slicing. These protect fingers and hands. Some slicers may also include:

• A feature that requires the blade to be zeroed before the pusher or carriage can be tilted or removed,
• A safety restart switch.

Features that make cleaning and sanitation easier are also very desirable. Look for:

• a kick stand that holds the slicer up while cleaning beneath it,
• a carriage that tilts for easy cleaning,
• any removable parts that make cleaning easier (removable carriage, blade guard, blade and blade sharpener)
• switches and controls that are located outside of the area where meat juices can drip on them while slicing.

With answers to these questions you should feel better prepared to shop and select the commercial slicer that is right for your operation. If you need more information, visit the websites of the following manufacturers.

Foodservice Trends in 2015

     What's the newest Trends in Foodservice?  Number One is Ethnic Cuisine, Foodies are craving foreign flavors and spices and will pay top dollar too!  Try an appetizer of something Exotic or perhaps highlight something on your Specials and see how it goes before adding it as a permanent dish. 

     Ever hear of an "Ugly" fruit or vegetable?  Ugly fruit and vegetables were all the rage in France last summer? Well, they’re here in America. They’ve actually been here this whole time — just not on most people’s plates, nor in supermarket aisles. A new Oakland-based startup called Imperfect is out to change that. Its founders, three veteran food-waste entrepreneurs, are on a mission to bring ugly produce (they prefer the term “cosmetically challenged”) to, quite literally, your doorstep.  “Our bold vision is for consumers across America to have the option of having a box of Imperfect produce delivered to them weekly, for 30 to 50 percent cheaper than what they’ll find in grocery stores,” said Ben Simon, Imperfect’s cofounder. 

     Seasonal Sour items such as the Lemon and Key Lime are making a Summer splash and not just in Desserts.  Try making a Chicken or Fish dish with Lime instead of Lemon with some fresh herbs!

     Local Sourcing is still a big Trend in 2015.  Chef's are sourcing ingredients from local farms and highlighting on their Menus.  Consumers are enjoying knowing where their food comes from and selecting Menu items that state local sourcing.  China and Flatware are also reflecting a new Rustic feel and image.

     Allergens and Cross-contamination are still a big concern for Foodservice.  Gluten-free, Peanut and Fish allergies are on the radar for Food Prep and Service. 

 

Cheese, Now the Main Course

     Adventurous Restaurant Customers aren’t settling for plain grilled cheese or the same old Swiss on a sandwich, Chefs say. Foodies and their ever-more sophisticated palates are in search of new flavors, and eateries are answering the call with innovative dishes that meld flavors from around the world.

     Rob and Karen Lawlor left Restaurant careers when they bought Denver-based The Truffle Cheese Shop eight years ago and, in addition to selling retail and teaching cheesemaking classes, the shop sells its cheese to a long and growing list of local eateries. In recent years, Denver’s restaurants have gotten more innovative with their menus to feed the increasingly sophisticated palates of their guests, Karen Lawlor said.

     “The restaurants in Denver are more sophisticated than they were even five years ago, and they’re looking for European products as well as local,” she said, “Right now it’s a lot of fresh cheeses, mozzarella, ricotta, fresca. Those are seasonal for us, the fresh milk cheese because animals eat grass and when the grass is in season and fresh, that’s when they are most likely to have fresh milk.”

     Cheesemonger Michel Lemmerling, from the Brick Farm Market in Hopewell, NJ has earned the honor of Chevalier du Taste Fromage, routinely scours the neighborhood and US for the best-quality cheese.  Michel can also help you arrange for a beautiful cheese plate to match any entertaining occasion or is happy to use your own serving ware so that you may simply take it from their market to your table!  The Brick Farm Market also has monthly Cheese Classes.

     Andrea Frizzi, chef and owner of Il Posto in Denver is a Truffle Cheese Shop customer. Frizzi grew up in Milan, the son of a sommelier who learned the culinary trade, first in school and then in a series of restaurant gigs that brought him to Washington, D.C. and eventually Denver. He worked as a consultant on the openings of scores of eateries before opening Il Posto in 2007.

     He’s all for local sourcing when it makes sense, but the Italian menu at his upscale restaurant requires imported Italian cheeses. “I’ve got to use Parmigiano Reggiano, I can’t use a cheese from Wisconsin or California.”

     The menu at Il Posto reflects the more sophisticated tastes, with dishes including Bufala mozzarella Affumicata made with imported burrata, and ricotta gnocchi with imported Grana Padano. “In Italy, there are a lot of small producers doing a lot of stuff that’s really cool. My job is to take whatever we have and be an ambassador for these beautiful cheeses,” he said.  Frizzi says he loves dairy cheese too much to ever give it up. Increasingly, though, guests who eschew dairy cheeses for health or ethical reasons have increasingly tasty plant-based options.

     The menu at Veganized Foods in New Brunswick, N.J., includes 14 items that have some type of house-made, cashew-based vegan cheese, said General Manager El Rachmani.

     The menu at Veganized includes a raw beet ravioli with herbed nut cheese and saffron cream, a tempeh reuben with cashew cheese and a vanilla cheesecake, all made with different versions of the cultured cashew cheese he said.

     “We’ve pretty much been using the same recipe since day one,” he said. “My brother, the chef, has been making this kind of food for a very long time. We started in Brooklyn, were the more advanced vegan chefs have been doing it all over the city.”

     So we better keep up with our knowledge of Cheese!

 

Be Careful about Food Safety

     How many times have you said, “It must have been something I ate.”  That’s the typical statement when a person develops some relatively minor symptoms from food.  Maybe not severe enough to go to the doctor so you choose to tough it out without medical care.  Sudden onset of flu-like symptoms such as onset of stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting and fever could possibly mean you are the victim of a foodborne illness.   The illness is sometimes referred to as “food poisoning”, but it’s often misdiagnosed.

 

     Who’s the Culprit? Foodborne illness has occurred when you are sick from eating food that has been contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi.  Causes of the symptoms vary greatly, but it’s help to know that misinformation exists via the customer route, the food service managers and crew, and even the medical professionals (if they haven’t had much specific training about foodborne illness).
     The Best Investigators –In the food service industry, we never want to get a call from a customer with a foodborne illness claim.  Prevention of such an incident is what food safety is all about.   If the restaurant manager does get a call, you need to take it seriously and record the facts from the customer for further investigation.  Many times the consumer does an incorrect self-diagnosis based upon the last meal that they ate at a restaurant – never from food out of their own refrigerator or from a meal eaten days before the illness symptoms show up.  Health department professionals trained in food protection are the best source of helping to correctly diagnose a foodborne illness (contacted as soon as possible), provided the consumer has also contacted their doctor if they have acute symptoms.

The Common Foodborne Illness Myths:

1. Myth: Foodborne illness is caused by the last meal or food item eaten.
FACT:  Foodborne illness can be caused by foods eaten a few hours to several days prior to your illness.   A graphic point is that when symptoms show up, for example vomiting, you would throw up the last meal you ate, even though that is not the food that made you sick.  In the case of the Hepatitis A virus, you may not have symptoms for up to 50 days.  Can you remember what you ate for every meal up to a week ago, much less 50 days?  It’s a tough task.

2. Myth:  Foodborne illness is caused by eating foods from restaurants.
FACT:  Bacteria and other pathogens (germs) can live and multiply in both the home and restaurant kitchens.  Foodborne viruses are the very tiny hitchhikers that travel via fingertips and sometimes are airborne. Foods can be contaminated on counters, sinks, cutting boards, utensils, or via hands, resulting in a cause known as “cross-contamination”.

3. Myth:  Foodborne illness is caused by food that has “gone bad”.
FACT:  This is seldom the cause of foodborne illnesses.  You CANNOT see, taste, or smell the food poisoning organisms in the food.  Foodborne illness is usually caused by food becoming contaminated from the food preparers hands not being properly washed, incorrect time and temperature control, poor food handling practices, and unsafe preparation methods.

4. Myth:  It must have been the mayonnaise that made me sick.  It was not refrigerated.
FACT:  Commercial mayonnaise and most bottled salad dressings are what we call “acidified foods”.  They are safe at room temperature even after opening, although most restaurants and the manufacturer want them refrigerated to preserve the freshest flavor.  Mayo and salad dressings have an acid level low enough that they do not support growth of microorganisms, unless they are heavily contaminated by a dirty utensil or mixed with other foods changing the acidity level of the mixture (such as in potato salad).  Mayo all by itself and unrefrigerated is perfectly safe.

5. Myth:  Foodborne illness is easily diagnosed.
FACT:  In order to make an accurate diagnosis, the ill person must give a history of the symptoms and the foods eaten within the last three days.  A stool specimen is the most telling clinical sample and should be collected from the victim for lab testing to identify the organism.  Other samples to be collected might be emesis (vomit), the suspect foods from the restaurant or home kitchen, any leftover food from the suspect meal, and sterile swabs of equipment or food workers skin or nasal passage.  These samples are now like a fingerprint and organisms can be matched to one another or to other victims in many cases.  On a more positive note for food service, they can also be used to clear a restaurant of being the cause.  Viral foodborne outbreaks, such as the #1 leading foodborne enemy, the “Norovirus”, are also tougher to diagnose than bacterial illnesses and have an incubation time of 24 to 48 hours before the victim has symptoms.  Infection rate for Norovirus is high, but is sometimes not reported so continues to spread.

6. Myth:  All foodborne illnesses are the same
FACT: Foodborne illness is caused by many different organisms. For example, “Salmonella” has approximately 2000 identified types.  The organism determines how long it takes for illness to occur, signs, symptoms and duration of the illness. The illness can vary from mild flu-like symptoms to very serious illness or even death if the victim is a high risk individual (children, elderly, pregnant women, people who are immune compromised or on certain medications).

Are You Ready for Gen Z?

     Millennials. How can we engage them, how can we influence them, how can we gain their loyalty? ,How can we evolve with them as they age? How can we meet their shifting needs? Still others are starting to ask how to reach Millennials without alienating Boomers.

     These are all great questions, and all worthy of research, but there’s a major question that’s largely gone unasked: What’s next? Or more specifically, who is next.

MEET GENERATION Z

     Gen Z, Gen Next, Gen Tech, Post-Millennials. Regardless of what you call them, and of the larger societal factors that will ultimately determine how we classify this generation, they are next. With some defining the generation as those born as early as 1995, by some accounts they are already here. They share many traits that set Millennials apart from other generations, often to an even greater degree, but there are also important differences. The first true digital generation, Gen Z has never known a world without instant access to information via the Internet and mobile technology. They are highly multicultural—according to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly half (47%) of all Americans under the age of 20 are non-white. And they are grounded. Coming of age in a post-recession, post- 9-11 era has tempered the optimism seen among many Millennials.

     So why does Gen Z deserve our attention? Buying Power and Influence.  If you think Gen Z isn’t worth your time yet due to a lack of spending power, think again. Many are teens or college students, already with an estimated $250 billion in spending power and primary decision makers for both their retail and foodservice food and beverage purchases. Many college students, teens and, increasingly, even older tweens routinely visit restaurants outside of family-dining occasions.

     While the youngest in the cohort may not earn an income beyond an allowance, they have considerable pull when it comes to their parents’ purchases and dining decisions. Moms tell us that most family-dining decisions are made as a group and that children’s preferences are strongly considered. Technomic’s Teens & Tweens study found that parents also often comply with specific restaurant requests from their children. For example, 80% of parents whose child suggested a restaurant after seeing a television ad agreed to the visit Patronage and Reliance on Foodservice Gen Z uses foodservice heavily, and chances are good they will eventually be heavier users than any other generation.

     Technomic’s recent Generational Consumer Trend Report found that 68% of Gen Z consumers (defined as those aged 13-21) and 73% of older Gen Z consumers aged 18-21 already use foodservice at least

once a week. Their visitation is on par with Boomers (67%) and in the same ballpark as Millennials

(77%) and Gen X consumers (74%) — pretty remarkable for a group largely not yet earning a substantial income. Their usage will likely grow—and not just as a result of greater earning power as they age. Gen Z is poised to be especially reliant on foodservice because it’s deeply ingrained in their lifestyle. It fits their needs for a wide range occasions: a place to socialize, a place to work or study, and an easy source for the fast, convenient meals their busy schedules require. They’ve grown up using foodservice more than other generations and will likely continue the trend of increasingly opting for foodservice over cooking family meals at home.

     Expectations and Loyalty Gen Z is a highly demanding consumer group. Just as they were

raised to rely on foodservice, they have also grown up in an environment where foodservice caters to

customers’ needs and embraces technology that streamlines ordering and delivery processes, making

occasions more engaging and interactive, and putting them in greater control of their experience.

Although the general use of foodservice is already part of their lifestyle, Gen Z is still in the trial phase. Compared to other generations, their brand, food and flavor preferences are less established, meaning that their specific habits and loyalty are (largely) still up for grabs.

     WHY NOW?  Perhaps the most compelling reason to ask about Gen Z now is that few others are. The industry was late to jump on the Millennial bandwagon, responding to the shifting behavior of their changing customer base rather than preparing for it. The next big generation will both embody and create the future of foodservice. 

     Those who understand Gen Z before the industry as a whole will be best armed to anticipate and meet their needs, putting them at a significant advantage. Deciding if and when Generation Z deserves your attention is the easy part; the hard part will be figuring out how to get THEIR attention.

Source: Technomic Foodservice Monitor