It’s the New Year, and with it comes a new wave of prognostications that seek to give direction to operators and chefs looking for “the next big thing.” What can we look forward to?

Courtesy of Sysco Shape

Industry oracles see the continuation of such mega-trends as healthful dining, local sourcing and the ratcheting up of flavor profiles. In addition, sweet and spicy mashups, the blending of mushrooms with ground meat, increased menu transparency and the rise of Generation Z will help to drive innovation as we progress into the year. Here are 10 trends to watch in 2015.

A Matter of Taste
Middle-of-the-road flavor profiles are out; robust flavors are in. Once noted for their unadventurous palates, Americans now just can’t seem to get enough spicy fare at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our former “fear of flavor,” which once largely dominated domestic eating habits, is being supplanted by a bold, global attitude that embraces multiple culinary experiences—particularly those ethnic foods that pack a punch. Authentic Mexican and Latin concepts are among the most popular influences, together with other ethnic-inspired cuisines like Southeast Asian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. And white-hot ingredients like Sriracha can be found in virtually every professional kitchen today.

Premium Blend
A collaborative effort by The Culinary Institute of America, the University of California at Davis and the Mushroom Council found that both health and flavor concerns can be addressed by the blending of chopped mushrooms together with ground meat. Not only does this mashup yield a food product that is tastier, juicier and more nutritious than traditional ground-meat items like hamburgers, meat balls and meatloaf, but it adds volume as well, proponents say. At the same time, blending helps to reduce the amount of sodium, fat and calories in a menu item. Today, an increasing number of commercial and noncommercial operators are embracing the blending process, with many more expected to join the ranks this year. 

Consumers increasingly want to know what’s in their food, says Technomic. Can restaurants produce dishes that are both wholesome and delicious? A majority of diners apparently thinks so.

Today’s healthy food tells a story, and consumers want to hear it. Recent research by Chicago-based Technomic shows that most consumers want restaurants to be more transparent about menu-item ingredients. Further, two in five consumers cite a rising concern over food additives.

Because of this growing concern, health claims that convey wholesome, pure ingredients resonate strongly. For example, consumers say fresh, natural or unprocessed attributes help improve perceived taste and health. Similarly, ingredients that naturally boost the nutrition content of an item, such as fruits and vegetables, also enhance taste and health perceptions.

“Menu transparency is imperative and can help drive sales of healthy options,” says Sara Monnette, senior director of Consumer Insights & Innovation at Technomic Inc. “Telling an ingredient’s story—whether it’s farm-raised, local or GMO-free, for instance—can directly impact consumer decisions about what to order and where to dine.”

From molecular gastronomy to the growing demand for smaller-footprint, multipurpose devices, today’s foodservice students must be exposed to and proficient at utilizing modern cooking equipment while developing critical thinking skills to anticipate the advanced technologies of tomorrow.

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, HAAC

In education, we have a simple, but ultimately complicated, mandate: to prepare our students for the future they will inherit. In many foodservice operations, such thinking is trumped by the operational needs of running a foodservice business and the need to balance short-term profits and long-term fiscal health.

For us in the educational world of culinary arts, our focus is five to 10 years from now. Given the speed at which the foodservice industry changes, educators embrace an awesome responsibility. Our students trust that the education we offer will, indeed, point them toward success in the future. Thus, we look for the megatrends that will shape the future of foodservice without getting distracted by short-term trends or fads—which might get some mention in a quality culinary program, but will not earn star status by being incorporated into the curriculum.

When it comes to equipment, there are two distinct educational outcomes. The first is to simply familiarize students with equipment common to many professional kitchens. This actually goes beyond familiarization, as students need to know how to cook on this equipment and perform basic maintenance.

Cricket flour, cannabis, snack bars and sustainable packaging make the list.

Consumers will seek more from their food in 2015, whether stronger flavors, alternative sweeteners or snacks made with everything from plant-based meat to even marijuana. That’s according to predictions from the editors of Specialty Food News, the daily newsletter from the Specialty Food Association.

The $88.3 billion specialty-food industry is driven by innovation and small-batch production. Six out of 10 U.S. consumers purchase specialty food, and those numbers are expected to rise in 2015, according to association research.

“Food producers are tapping into the growing sophistication and buying power of today’s consumers,” says Denise Purcell, editor of Specialty Food News. “They are catering to new demands for better ingredients, sustainable packaging and more convenient ways to shop and eat.”

The Culinary Institute of America and Restaurant Associates announce a new partnership designed to accelerate innovation in contract-foodservice operations of the future.

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Restaurant Associates (RA) recently formed a strategic partnership geared toward fostering future creativity, innovation and “intrapreneurial” thinking in the contract-foodservice sector of the foodservice industry. In support of the CIA’s capital campaign, RA and Compass Group have also made a substantial commitment to provide financial assistance to students in pursuit of their professional degrees.

Along with increasing student scholarships, the nexus of the partnership will be the CIA’s new Student Commons, which is now under construction and scheduled to open in the summer of 2015. Located at the college’s flagship Hyde Park, N.Y., campus and designed under the direction of world-renowned Adam Tihany, the new facility will take the concept of student dining to a new level. The state-of-the-art facility will feature several cooking and dining venues, a high-volume production teaching kitchen, a fresh market complete with green walls growing herbs and vegetables, a teaching micro-brewery in partnership with Brooklyn Brewery, and a “black box restaurant” in which bachelor’s students studying intrapraneurshipwill develop and market-test new restaurant concepts.