By Cathy Nash Holley
January 13, 2021

Curating a set of trends during a pandemic is no easy feat, and like so many others in the industry, necessity has forced us to adapt and challenge ourselves. This process has been insightful and yielded new learnings about our overall approach here.

In the days when “SKU rationalization” wasn’t an everyday term, menus knew no bounds. Flavors were served up with such joyful abundance, and picking up on menu trends was a fairly straightforward process. But at the same time, when trend-forward flavors and ingredients are offered at such a bountiful pace, it’s all too easy to miss the details, the backstory, the culinary intention of the builds.

Since the onset of the pandemic, every decision food and beverage menu developers make has had greater intention behind it. This is not to say that mindfulness was nonexistent in pre-COVID days, but it could easily go unnoticed. Now, consumers are in a state of longing, and that makes the intention behind any menu-item build even more important. They’ll be more considerate of flavors, and their backstory, picking up on nuances they may have overlooked before.

Contemplating flavor and menu trends through this recalibrated lens can perhaps better leverage the opportunity they represent.

Consider this special issue’s Top 10 Trends from a new perspective—with intention, if you will. Take seaweed for example—rather than a cutting-edge, latest-greatest ingredient, approach it as one with timely purpose and flavor, and an intriguing backstory. Envision the renewed culinary interest in bread making as a critical extension of hospitality, offering a warm smile when we need it most.

See the bright, cheery profile of Thai tea as a welcome fit for the times. Even the light flavor touches and refreshing effervescence of trend-forward hard seltzer innovations can be interpreted as uplifting, providing a bit of optimism through your beverage offerings.

The American foodservice marketplace is nothing if not constantly innovating, and the fast-track flavor innovation of recent years will return. In the meantime, step back and take a more contemplative approach of trends, and factor this into the renewed intention you’ll be giving your menus in 2021 and beyond.

THANK YOU

In a year in which deadlines did not come easily, Managing Editor Katie Ayoub delivered in spades. Her dedication to and passion for the foodservice industry shines through in the articles spanning these pages.
Katie is this industry’s biggest fan, and works tirelessly to deliver meaningful content that highlights pathways for its success.

Cathy Nash Holley
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
[email protected] | @GetFlavor