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However, there are a few ways that this can be done easily and without too much of a learning curve for kitchen and wait staff, and we will discuss these in depth in the following paragraphs. Whether you run a quiet local spot or a popular destination spot serving mostly tourists, read on to find out how to keep your restaurant at the top of everyone's list.
There are lots of current food trends that are predicted to be all the rage in 2018, and just some of these include regional foods such as Mexican and Chinese, colorful food, vegan desserts, veggie-centric dishes, specialty pizza, farm to table menus, wine bars, cold brew coffee, algae, locally sourced foods, and ancient grains. Many of the trends this year come out of a desire for food to be both healthy and instagrammable. Locally sourced ingredients are a huge component of many of this year's major trends, as consumers have a desire for more simplicity and freedom from additives, specifically since so much information has come to light recently on the potential dangers of chemically and genetically altered foods. Food that is particularly pretty or "instagrammable" is also a hugely popular because of the boom in social media use. People want to share pictures of their food with friends and followers, leading to a race to make every dish as visually pleasing as possible. Usually this is done by mixing a lot of unexpected, delicious, and visually appealing ingredients to make a dish that engages multiple senses. Some current Instagram worthy dishes include extreme milkshakes and rainbow bagels.
One of the most simple ways to keep up with top food trends is to integrate a farm to table element into your menu. In order to do this easily, simply replace some of your existing ingredients in dishes with locally sourced ones. The wording on a menu can simply be switched up to emphasize these new, fresh ingredients, making dishes more appealing to trend-seekers. Even adding some simple appetizers and salads made with local ingredients and supplying information about the local farms that these items came from can help boost business among people searching for the freshest and simplest dining experience. Perhaps the best part about following this trend is how really easy it is, as most farm to table style dishes emphasize simplicity and short ingredient lists.
Perhaps one of the easiest food industry trends to incorporate into your menu is the Instagram-worthy food trend. In order to accomplish this, just add a pop of color, some kind of unexpected ingredient combination, or a fancy plating technique to some items on your menu. In descriptions, be sure to include some information about how visually appealing or beautiful this item is, and orders will surely increase. People want to impress their followers by eating fancy, new, and trendy foods, so making menu items fun and visually appealing is absolutely imperative. Make a few simple changes to the presentation of food, ensuring all or most of the ingredients are visible, and you will surely see an increase in business. This is especially true because as people begin to post dishes from your restaurant on their social media accounts, word about your product will spread and more people will want to come see what the hype is about.
With the rise of alternative diets such as vegan, vegetarian, paleo, and keto, the demand for food that fits within these lifestyles increases. Vegan and vegetarian dishes are seeing a huge boom in popularity as of late due to more people wishing to eat healthfully and with the environment and animal welfare in mind. This is a great opportunity to expand your restaurants menu with a few more veggie-centric dishes, as it will generate more business from this group of customers. Vegans and vegetarians are growing tired of going to restaurants and having only one or two options, so learning some unique and flavorful vegetarian options that go beyond salad and veggie burgers is more important thane ever. By adding a vegetarian friendly section to your menu, you will surely generate tons more business from an entirely different sub-population of people.
As you can see, adding some trendy foods and keeping up with the latest new food trends is easy, generally cost effective, and can generate a ton of new business for your restaurant. It is important to do so as the restaurant business is constantly changing and evolving, therefore if you do not keep up, you will rapidly begin to stagnate and lose business. Keep up with the hungry public, add some trendy foods to your menu as soon as possible and watch the business roll in.
