News

COVER: Sweet surrender

In today's fast-paced, health-crazed world, desserts are proving they're here to stay.  

April 2, 2007

When Johnny Jazzar and his brother-in-law, Rudy Khouri, opened La Baguette Bakery in 1984, it was unclear how successful their Norman, Okla., operation would be. Norman, the state's third-largest city, wasn't exactly a sophisticated metropolis at the time of La Baguette's launch. But, says Jazzar, the concept has caught on.

 

Known for its European-style breads, but mainly for its desserts, La Baguette now boasts a strong and loyal following. Popular dessert items include Chocolate Mousse Cake, Carrot Cake and Italian Cream Cake, recipes all developed by self-taught pastry chef Khouri.

 

To increase foot traffic, the bakery expanded its offering to include sandwiches, soups and salads, but desserts are still its big sell, indicating sweets always will have a place in the hearts and minds of consumers.

 

"Dessert is a tough thing to cash in on because portion sizes are large and a lot of times people are too full to order dessert. But, a lot of restaurants are putting big (dessert) flavors on the menu," said Maria Caranfa, director of Mintel Menu Insights in Chicago.

 

Caranfa admits fast casuals aren't the innovators when it comes to unique dessert flavors — popular desserts for the lunch daypart still consist of cookies and brownies — "but there are a lot of things happening in desserts that fast casuals could adopt," she said.

 

Unique offerings include popsicles in flavors such as pomegranate and blood orange, and floral flavors such as rose, lavender and hibiscus. (Even Baskin-Robbins cashed in on the floral trend, launching a Swiss Chocolate Treasure ice cream for Valentine's Day. The ice cream featured blueberry and lavender combined with milk and swiss chocolate ice creams with chocolate-filled lavender cups.)

 

"With dessert, consumers aren't really worried about health. It's an indulgence," said Caranfa.

 

According to a survey conducted by Opinion Research, 84 percent of respondents said they order dessert, despite the fact that 60 percent of them were on diets. Additionally, a quarter said they worry about calories, but order desert anyway.

 

Confection affection

 

Consumer indulgence is something foodservice suppliers are counting on to boost sales.

According to market research firm NPD Group, dessert is ordered during the lunch daypart about 10 percent of the time. That number has stayed consistent during the past five years, but the number of diners has increased. For the dinner daypart, desserts were ordered 12 percent of the time, also consistent within the past five years, but again, the number of dinners overall has increased.

 

Joan Killingsworth, director of customer marketing for Sara Lee Corp., said according to their research, dessert servings have increased in the fast casual and quick-service segments.

Sara Lee consistently monitors the dessert movement, and develops their dessert lines around four key trends: indulgence, nutrition, convenience and operator efficiency.

 

Sara Lee's Swiss Chocolate Cheesecake

"First, we look at consumer insights so we understand what consumer and operator needs are," Killingsworth said. "Consumers are looking for indulgence, but they still want flavor."

 

In the dessert world, chocolate still reigns and so does cheesecake — giving Sara Lee the ability to build upon two classic flavors, but each with added twists, such as the Mocha Chocolate cheesecake and the California-style cheesecake.

 

"People still like things they're familiar with," Killingsworth said. They also are enjoying more infused flavors. For example, Sara Lee developed a pumpkin and pecan praline pie with a vanilla crust; and a peanut butter pretzel pie with chocolate crust.

 

Mintel's Caranfa said peanut butter is becoming a big dessert-flavor trend, with restaurants offering their own versions of peanut butter cups and other peanut-butter flavored confections. (One restaurant even offers a Nutter Butter Fluffer, a roasted peanut and bittersweet chocolate mousse cylinder, with a peanut brittle crème brulee shooter and marshmallow ice cream.)

 

Caranfa said the use of peanut butter follows the trend of consumers looking to the past to dictate future flavor trends. Other trends include: health-friendly dessert fare, such as sugar-free or reduced fat; miniature desserts, including éclairs and crème puffs; and items consumers can share.

 

According to the Opinion Research survey, two-thirds of respondents said they offer to share a dessert with dining companions, while only a quarter say they eat the dessert themselves.

 

"There's a segment of people who come in each day who want dessert," said Jim Greco, chief executive officer of Bruegger's Enterprises. "We had a fairly limited dessert selection prior to that and had concluded we were missing an opportunity."

 

The Burlington, Vt.-based Bruegger's recently expanded its dessert offerings, adding items such as cookies, dessert bars and brownies, and made each item trans-fat-free.

 

Greco said the theory is one out of every 10 guests order dessert, but "if you can sell one out of five, you can make a significant impact on the average check, and that's what we've seen."

 

Experts say one reason behind the dessert swell is the "coffee culture" ripple effect — the practice of having an afternoon snack of coffee and a pastry. More snackable desserts and an increase in standalone dessert boutiques, similar in concept to La Baguette, have sweetened the mix.

 

"It's all about one-stop shopping," said Caranfa. "And it's about being able to satisfy whatever food craving you have at any time of day."