News

Changing menus prove new consumer attitudes

AEB emphasizes that restaurants must jump on the group's preferences for locally grown, sustainably raised and non-processed foods.

May 7, 2015

Beyond food origin and farming techniques, restaurant operators must heed the millennial generation's ecological concerns, technological demands and social agendas, according to the American Egg Board, a site catering to industry professionals.

AEB emphasizes that restaurants must jump on the group's preferences for locally grown, sustainably raised and non-processed foods. The generation's racial diversity drives a taste for "adventurous and ethnically diverse dining, as well as a liberal social bent," AEB reported. Following these trends has led to the rapid expansion of chains like Blaze Pizza, which, according to the article, formed specifically to capture the millennial crowd.

Millennial tastes have also diversified egg choices on the menu. For example, Third Coast Spice Café in Chesterton, Indiana offers build-your-own omelet options with 23 locally-grown/organic meats, vegetables and cheeses, and seven vegetable-based relishes and sauces. Additionally utiziling sustainable and/or biodegradable packaging, the restaurant represents what millennials crave.

Eggs are now commonly added to burgers, kale to omelets and other unique mixes are proof that millennial influence is widespread, the article said. The NPD Group reported in 2014 20 percent growth in fresh foods, such as fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, poultry, fish and eggs between 2003 and 2013. A 9 percent rise in fresh food is expected by 2018.

Subway and Dunkin' Donuts recent removal of dough conditioners and whitener additives and Panera Bread's commitment to remove artificial ingredients by the end of 2016 is more proof of changing consumer attitudes, according to AEB.

Mark Erickson, provost at the Culinary Institute of America and a certified master chef, said in the article, "We're beginning to get to where Eastern culture has been for thousands of years, which is the idea that food is medicine, and we cannot disassociate our health with what we eat."