Food & Beverage
Show me the honey: Fall LTOs embrace nature's sweetener
Popping up as the star of many fall LTOs, honey is coming in strong in all day parts with chefs adding it to everything from drinks and desserts to appetizers and entrees.
September 22, 2020 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
Few will argue that we are in the midst of pumpkin season, but there's another flavor profile that is stealing a bit of its thunder: honey. Popping up as the star of many fall LTOs, the natural sweetener is coming in strong in all day parts with chefs adding it to everything from drinks and desserts to appetizers and entrees.
"As the holiday season is coming up, honey pairs with fall flavors, in sweet and savory categories — pumpkin pie and turkey equally," Suzy Badaracco, president of Culinary Tides Inc., said during a recent interview with FastCasual. "This is important because most trend items are not this amiable."
Honey, which claims September as its national month of celebration, has the ability to play the part of leading lady or best friend, another quality that not all products possess.
It can be the lead voice in a product — as in the Honey Roasted Peanut soft serve flavor created this month by Yogurtland — or it can take on more of a supporting role as in Atomic Wing's latest sauce flavor, Hot Honey.
"Having honey in the product name is still a strong draw," Badaracco said.
About 30% of restaurant operators have menu items featuring the natural sweetener, according to Lizzie Freier of Technomic, who said that the most common dishes using honey were shrimp entrees, Asian chicken and turkey sandwiches, respectively.
"One of the fastest-growing ingredients paired with honey are biscuits," Freier said.
Honey, which is native to the U.S., can be used as a remedy as well as a flavor. Starbucks, for example, offers the Medicine Ball — steamed lemonade, hot water, Jade Citrus Mint green tea Peach Tranquility herbal tea and honey — to soothe sore throats.
"Honey also has antimicrobial properties — so she really has strong ties to several powerful trends on the ground right now," Badaracco said. "She ties to health, immunity, nostalgia, retro and historical desserts, seasonal marinades and glazes for savory, holiday cocktails — mead — etc.
Describing honey as female, Badaracco said "she is a bit of a force, and there are no other sweeteners able to knock her out of position because others have personalities that are polarizing — like molasses, maple. She crosses all age groups in appeal, unlike the others."
Below are a few ways fast casuals are adding a little honey to their falls menus.
Yogurtland
For a limited time-only, Yogurtland is serving the Honey Roasted Peanut Soft Serve, which combines salty peanuts and honey for a gluten-free flavor.
"As we continue to innovate and bring new and craveable flavor profiles to the table, it's important for us to emphasize the use of real ingredients," Brittany Knollmiller, Yogurtland senior marketing manager, said in a company press release.
Yogurtland has more than 300 locations across the U.S., Australia, Dubai, Guam, Myanmar, Oman, Indonesia and Thailand.
Chick-fil-A
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| The Honey Pepper Pimento Cheese Sandwich is the first variation of the Original Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich the company has tested as a seasonal item. |
Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A garnered a lot of social media attention last week when it debuted the Honey Pepper Pimento Cheese Sandwich, featuring a Chick-fil-A filet drizzled with honey, topped with pimento cheese and served on a warm, toasted bun with mild pickled jalapenos.
The LTO is only available in the Greenville/Spartanburg North Carolina market.
Chef Stuart Tracy, one of Chick-fil-A's senior culinary developers, and his team developed the sandwich to be the perfect balance of savory, sweet and spicy, but guests can remove the jalapeños (or cheese or honey) if they prefer.
"The jalapeños add what we call 'entry-level' spice," said Tracy. "They give the sandwich just a little kick, bringing a Southwest influence that pairs well with honey and pimento cheese."
The Honey Pepper Pimento Cheese Sandwich is the first variation of the Original Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich the company has tested as a seasonal item.
"We have a feeling guests will love it," Tracy said.
Burnt Offerings
When it comes to the menu at Burnt Offerings, honey is playing the supportive role described by Badaracco. The Las Vegas-based fast casual chain is observing the Jewish New Year, and one standout is the Honey and Cranberry Challah accompanied by a jar of local honey for $25 including delivery.
"We want to offer a menu that continues to represent Jewish tradition while also appealing to any holiday celebration," chef Jennifer Eckmann said in a company press release. "I created something that can be enjoyed through the Jewish New Year and beyond as we gear up for the High Holidays."
Tacos 4 Life
The house-made Honey Limeade has debuted at all 17 Tacos 4 Life locations.Made with just four ingredients — honey, lime, water and sugar — according to a company press release.
Tacos 4 Life was founded in 2014 in Arkansas.
Joella's Hot Chicken
Joella's Hot Chicken has released the Heat Variety Pack featuring five Jumbo Tenders seasoned with one of Joella's six heat levels including a Spiked Honey sauce on the side. Guests may order the variety pack without a side for $10, and one Southern side for $12.
"This Heat Variety Pack is a great option for newcomers to Hot Chicken and also gives our guests a chance to be a little adventurous and taste different heat levels they may not have tried before," Katie Wollrich, chief marketing officer, said in the release. "Guests have also asked if we'd ever offer a variety pack because they are excited about the chance to see how much heat they can handle. The Heat Variety Pack is another way we're showing our guests that we value their feedback and are looking for new ways to respond to customer requests."
The choices are:
- Level 1: Traditional Southern (No Heat).
- Level 2: Spiked Honey (Sweet and mild with a twang) *heat level served on the side.
- Level 3: Ella's Fav (Flavor and lil' heat).
- Level 4: Tweener (Medium heat, between mild and hot).
- Level 5: Hot (Spicy fire, hot, but not scary).
- Level 6: Fire-In Da-Hole (Inferno – will light you up).
Founded in 2015, the Louisville-based fast casual has 16 locations in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, and will have 17 stores by the end of 2020.
Paris Baguette
Honey is just one of many flavors featured on Paris Baguette's menu featuring savory seasonal pastries and baguette sandwiches, as well as the classic must-have Pumpkin Spice latte. It's honey-centric offering is the Honey Chipotle Chicken Multigrain Baguette, which comes with chipotle chicken with a glaze of honey, topped with fresh mozzarella, roasted bell pepper and arugula on a classic baguette.
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| Paris Baguette's fall menu features the Honey Chipotle Chicken Multigrain Baguette. |
"Paris Baguette is thrilled to announce the expansion of our new fall menu, which offers more harvest-themed options than ever before for our loyal fan base," CEO Darren Tipton said in the release. "Whether it be our king cream donuts for our sweet tooth customers or our freshly made sandwiches, our new menu options provide something for everyone to crave and enjoy this season."
Other fall LTOs include the Ganache King Cream Donut, Tres Leches Cake, Tuna Salad Multigrain Baguette, Vegan Multigrain Baguette, Provence Chicken Pesto Baguette and the Turkey Pepper Jack Melt with Bacon Jam.
Paris Baguette operates more than 82 corporate and franchise bakery cafés throughout the U.S. and over 4,000 internationally.
Atomic Wings
Atomic Wings has debuted hot honey sauce along with a jalapeño pineapple sauce, marking the New York City-based franchise's 15th and 16th proprietary sauces.
"As far back as I can remember, my brother and I have always been concocting new ways to enjoy chicken," Atomic Wings CEO Zak Omar said in a company press release. "Our father owned a fried chicken business in the heart of Manhattan when we were kids, and we were always mixing different spices and flavors in the kitchen."
To create these two new flavors, Atomic Wings turned to two influencers and media personalities who are also fans of the brand: TV personality, New York Times best-selling author, businesswoman, producer and actress Lala Anthony, and host of the nationally syndicated morning show, "The Breakfast Club" Angela Yee. Their tastes were kept top of mind when creating the sauces, with Anthony introducing jalapeño pineapple and Yee announcing hot honey as their own signature flavors on Instagram prior to their official launch on the 13th.
Atomic Wings was created in 1989 and has more than 10 restaurants open in the U.S.
All photos provided by the companies.
About Cherryh Cansler
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