Blog

A trend walks into the unemployment office

August 30, 2010 by Suzy Badaracco — President, Culinary Tides Inc

He sat patiently on the hard little chair, not sure what to expect. The paper in his hand seemed small and sparse but it would have to do. The door opposite the magazine rack opened abruptly and a woman entered saying loudly “number 44?” That was his number. He followed her to a smaller room and waited for her to sit before he took his place across from her.

“Name?” she said.

“Middle East, though some people confuse me with North Africa – probably the politics,” he said nervously.

“Occupation?” she asked taking the paper he was clutching.

“I am a flavor trend, I mean I would like to be, that is…” he trailed off.

She leaned back in her chair and ran her pencil under her nose as if smelling the painted wood would help her decide his fate. “The trends game is a hard one to play,” she said, “not many make it – you have to tie into other existing trends and you need a champion, someone to carry you forward. Do you have a champion?”

He edged forward in his seat, “Yes, a few. Papa Bello signed a lease to open a second Kebab Café last March and Falafoul, a quick service concept, just announced expansion plans this week.”

“Yes, expansion plans, that’s good. Tell me about the supporting trends. Any factions you’re linked to?” she queried.

“Yes, several, I fit well with vegetarian cuisine and street food too. I practically grew up with head to tail cooking – he’ll tell you, he’s one of my references. Oh, and with the lateral expansion that breakfast is going through, well, I mean that’s just a natural fit don’t you think?” He smiled, hoping she would agree.

She held her gaze, not convinced. “You list here travel, but I don’t quite understand the tie.”

He wondered why this wasn’t obvious. “Well, you see, travel trends are often tied to flavor trends. People seek to duplicate the food experiences they had during their travels upon returning home. Some of the top travel trends right now include Iran, Dubai, Syria, Oman, Jordan, and Israel. Also consider Morocco and Egypt getting mixed in - that adds up to a lot of press.”

While she considered this, he continued “And don’t forget the corporate expansions taking place. They act like travel trends. A company moves into a country and the flavor trends work their way back to America. Some of the companies expanding there include Blimpies, Symrise, Sandella’s, Freshii, Wendy’s, Caribou Coffee, Nestle, Hershey, and Hardee's. Just this month Quiznos announced expansions too.”

“OK, but what about flavor and health trend links?” she prompted.

“Oh yes, some regional flavors hitting right now are from Gaza, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Liberia, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon and Dubai. Lots of press in both consumer and industry mags. Here, I have some clippings” he pointed to his resume where it said “references available”. “And Middle Eastern cuisine has strong ties to the Health and Wellness megatrend. The backbone of the cuisine includes whole grains, florals, beans, almonds and its uses more spice and less salt.”

The interviewer sat up at this. “I see, yes, very good ties. Now, what about consumer links?”

“While the foods of the region give consumers a feeling of hope and healing the cuisine also seems exotic and lets them be experimental and adventuresome but in a controlled way. There are also historical ties to the region which make the consumers feel grounded, something they seek during troubled times.” He smiled hopefully.

She returned his smile this time “I like your attitude kid, I’ll see what I can do but I don’t think you will have any real trouble. You have a good base of support. You may have to work a few temp jobs first, will that be OK?”

He rose and offered her his hand in thanks “Yes, yes, fine, whatever it takes,” he said. He gave a nod of encouragement to Central America and the other hopeful flavor trends as he strolled through the waiting room and toward his future.