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Western Expo: Top trends in foodservice

Industry professionals at the recent hospitality trade show provide insight into opportunities for restaurant operators.

September 3, 2009

Foodservice professionals at the co-located Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo and Expo Comida Latina expressed hope in the restaurant industry's recovery as the economy begins to turn around. Held Aug. 30 – Sept. 1 in San Diego, the show wrapped up earlier this week.

Vendors at the show also provided insight into a number of trends in the industry, from growth in the beverage segment to opportunities in social media. Here's what they had to say:

Beverage opportunities

The beverage segment remains a growth opportunity for limited-service restaurants, from adding new flavors to beer or wine. Flavored beverages like teas are taking off in the economy as chains focus on offering variety while using more profitable, existing menu items, said Dave Swisher, business development manager, Southwest Region, Monin Gourmet Flavorings

White peach is a trending flavor, preferred for its light, delicate taste, Swisher said. For pizza concepts, fruit-flavored Italian sodas are gaining popularity, with flavors such as strawberry, blackberry and cherry the most popular.

Family-owned Peerless Coffee & Tea features single origin, handcrafted individual coffees for the fine dining restaurant industry. But George Vukasin Jr., Peerless executive vice president, foresees consumer interest in farm-specific coffees trending down into limited service. "People want to have that connection to where the product is coming from."

Regarding tea, Vukasin said organic options are growing in popularity, so much so that Peerless' entire line of iced teas features organic offerings. Like Swisher, he sees a continued growing consumer interest in flavored iced teas, especially with tropical notes.

Distributors of beer and wine said a growing number of fast casuals are adding beer and wine to their beverage offerings. Kevin Furgal of Strauss Brewing Co. said with beer, fast casuals tend to offer types that match their menu. For example, Wahoo's Fish Tacos is adding light Mexican beers to its menu.

Daniel Alexander, California and Nevada regional manager for Antares Wine Co., said adding wine to the menu is a profit opportunity for limited service. Unlike fine dining restaurants that have extensive wine lists, fast casuals usually offer about five varieties by the glass. The inexpensive yet quality wines allow operators to expand their offerings and easily create new, higher price-point combo choices.

"It's added an extra way to make dining more fun and make lots of money," Alexander said.

Service as a differentiator

A growing number of fast casuals — and even quick-serve restaurants — are implementing table service as a way to differentiate themselves, said Jim Livingston, vice president of sales for Long Range System. LRS offers pagers as well as a new table locator system, the Table Genie, that eliminates food runners needing to roam the dining room looking for customers' numbered table tents. Stores using the system can save 20 hours in labor costs a week, about a $7,000 savings, LRS estimates.

The Table Genie was second runner up in the Innovative New Product Gallery People's Choice Awards. The winner of the Best in Show was Sunkist Foodservice Equipment for the Bar Buddy, a device for uniform cutting of fresh fruit. The first runner up was Just Enjoy LLC, which developed an iPhone application that delivers fully interactive menus and communication from a store's point-of-sale system.

Growing interest in nutrition, healthy

Lucy Needham, CEO of nutrition analyst FoodCalc, said her company has noticed a growing number of restaurants adding nutrition analysis as a way to compete in the segment. A number of communities and a few states now require restaurants to post caloric and sometimes nutritional information on their menus, but FoodCalc is seeing an increased number of requests from operators in areas without such legislation.

Needham said restaurants are seeing an increased number of requests from consumers looking for nutritional information, particularly on their Web sites. Consumers also are increasingly interested in online interactive applications that allow them to customize their menu selections and quickly learn the nutritional data, such as FoodCalc's Meal Builder. Such tools will likely next be available as mobile apps, as more consumers look for restaurant information from their smartphones.

Consumer interest in healthy menus also is sparking interest in concepts focused on better-for-you offerings, a number of operators at the Western Foodservice show told Needham.

"Restaurants are hearing customers looking for this (tool) and for concepts that meet their diet related needs," she said. "It's an opportunity to differentiate yourself."

Flavor expansion

At the Expo Comida Latina, exhibitors discussed trends in Mexican flavors. Rosemarie Aviles, sales area manager for PIVEG Inc., said operators are developing new menu items that utilize popular spices like chipotle and habanero. But the chiles are no longer limited to burritos. Now, they are showing up in desserts, such as chipotle brownies or ancho chile-infused white chocolate.

"It's such a different taste experience; the burn comes at the end," Aviles said.

In salsas, sauces and food items, fire-roasted vegetables are growing in popularity because of the way the flavors develop, said Don Moderich, vice president of Haliburton International. Other trends include toasted chiles, a popular menu component in Mexico, making its way to American menus. Also, salsa is transitioning from a dip for tortilla chips to a condiment for beef and even seafood.

Marketing: local, social media and e-mail

Linda Duke, CEO of Duke Marketing, said operators who are taking an active approach to marketing their store and menu items are succeeding even in the downturn.

"If you think you can sit in your restaurant and wait for customers to come in, you're sorely mistaken," Duke said. Therefore, operators need to focus on local store marketing and tie promotions to the season, such as a football-themed offer.

Social media expert Paul Barron spoke to a packed session for his presentation "How to Implement and Harness the Power of Social Media in Your Restaurant Business." Barron is executive vice president of NetWorld Alliance Inc., publisher of QSRweb.com, FastCasual.com and PizzaMarketplace.com.

In addition to describing the key points of getting started on social media site Twitter, Barron outlined several trends for the marketing tactic. For instance, he said he predicts that social media capital will become the top asset in valuation for restaurants, citing statistics that show that visiting social media sites is now the fourth most popular online activity — ahead of personal e-mail. The key is remembering that social media is a two-way interaction, unlike traditional marketing.

Mark LeRoy, director of strategy and creative for marketing firm silverEcho was in the audience and agreed with Barron's insight.

"You have a position in helping to inform consumers about your brand," LeRoy said. "If you don't take charge of it, then other people will." The key is experimenting with social media to test the right mix as a brand learns what its customer responds to.

Boris Bugarski, president and CEO of marketing agency mUrgent, cautioned that social media is just one component of an operator's marketing mix. Bugarski conducted four sessions on beginning and advanced e-mail marketing tactics at the show and said social media has yet to develop a proven model. E-mail marketing remains a proven method of connecting with customers.

For any marketing plan, restaurants need to focus on acquisition and retention of their customers and know their target demographic and how they interact with the brand, he said in an interview from the show floor.

"E-mail works across all audiences," Bugarski said, and can be used as a starting point for social media efforts.