Side Dish, Food and Beverage Industry Trends: Center for Culinary Development

SIDE DISH - CCD's Monthly Compilation on Food and Beverage Industry Trends

EMERGING INGREDIENTS, FLAVORS AND DISHES

August 2008

Cool drinks: Aguas frescas beat the SoCal heat…The refreshing Latin beverages mixing fresh fruit with water and sugar are appearing in both traditional and upscale restaurants and bars. Found in the traditional beehive vitroleros, the drinks take many forms: Hungry Cat in L.A. serves a peach one sweetened with lavender-infused simple syrup; Loteria Grill at the L.A. Farmers Market offers cucumber-lime version with Serrano chile and salt. (Los Angeles Times, 7/2)

Note: We profiled agua frescas back in 2005 in our Culinary Trend Mapping Report.

Subway franchisee to open café concept…The café concept to be rolled out in the Washington D.C. area will be more upscale with panini sandwiches, gelato, baked goods and coffee drinks on top of the regular menu. If it’s a hit, perhaps the idea will spread to other Subways? (Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN 7/7)
Small. Medium. Gone….Chicago’s Intelligentsia Coffee will stop serving venti (or “large”) drinks, forcing customers to slow down on their caffeine consumption out of respect for the brew. According to intelligentsia CEO Doug Zell, the large size “throws off the proportions of the beverage.” (Chicago Tribune, 7/9)
Cheesecake’s RockSugar seeks upscale sweet spot…Cheesecake Factory has just launched its new concept, RockSugar Pan-Asian Kitchen in the Century City mall in Los Angeles. The menu borrows from Thai, Vietnamese, East Indian and Malaysian cuisines thanks to a Singaporean chef. (NRN, 7/9)
In Manhattan, sliders for all tastes…High-end sliders, which we profiled in our Handheld Foods Culinary Trend Mapping Report earlier this year, are taking Manhattan by storm and appearing in a variety of guises. Shaffer City Oyster Bar offers beef, crab cake and salmon sliders while Chop Suey serves oyster poor-boy sliders. (New York Times, 7/16)
In a pickle?...Both Bay Area and Los Angeles chefs are embracing a pickling trend at the moment. In L.A., Julia Wolfson at Ammo pickles everything from fennel to watermelon rinds to Bing cherries for her nine-vegetable pickle plate, steak tartare and braised pork ribs. In the Bay Area, Chefs’ Council® member Erica Holland-Toll of Lark Creek Inn pickles cauliflower with brown mustard seed or green tomatoes for house-made pastrami. (Los Angeles Times, 7/23 and San Francisco Chronicle, 7/30)
Stand back, Mister Softee: There’s a new swirl in town…Soft swirl ice cream is this summer’s frozen darling at restaurants and ice cream shops across the country. In the Bay Area, Picco in Larkspur offers several flavors, one with olive oil and sea salt on top; at Sketch in Berkeley, balsamic Bing cherry is on the menu; Kyotofu dessert restaurant in NYC offers chocolate black soybean, green tea and white sesame soft serve flavors. (NY Times, 7/23)
Fresh goat meat finding favor on upscale menus…CCD Chefs’ Council® member Janet Fletcher reports on the growing trend of goat meat in fine dining restaurants that we profiled in our Meat Culinary Trend Mapping Report last year. Oakland’s Oliveto served seared goat loin with purslane and lemon, goat sausages with mint and honey, and goat chops fried Milanese style. Another Council member, Marsha McBride of Café Rouge in Berkeley attracts diners with grilled goat brochettes with zucchini and hummus. (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/30)
Pizza Hut answers America’s call for natural foods with new pizza…The new pie, dubbed “The Natural” features sauce made from organic tomatoes, toppings free from artificial preservatives and a multi-grain crust. (PRNewswire, 7/30)
Jet Blue banks on travelers’ worldly appetites…Jet Blue’s Terminal 5 in Kennedy Airport will soon serve flyers with a host of new fine-dining inspired restaurants. AeroNuova is a rustic Italian trattoria, Deep Blue will serve sushi, La Vie embraces the French brasserie tradition. Tapas and Mexican food are also on tap. (New York Times, 7/30)

NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES

August 2008

Starburst juices up lineup with Gummi Bursts…Targeting late teen Gen Y’s, Starburst has introduced Gummi Bursts, liquid-filled gummies. The launch is accompanied by an integrated ad campaign with TV and online elements, including YouTube video shorts. As our recent Gen Y research shows, both gummi and online videos are the perfect way to attract flavor- and texture-craving Gen Yers. (Brandweek, 7/18)

Low-key Drank goes against flow of high-energy drinks…Innovative Beverage Group has launched the opposite of a high energy drink, one that helps consumers relax by using valerian root, rose hips and melatonin. (Houston Business Journal, 7/4)
Unilever unveils Promise SuperShots for blood pressure, the first functional shot to increase daily potassium intake to help reduce the risk of high blood pressure…In response to recent studies suggesting potassium can help lower hypertension, SuperShops may close the potassium gap for consumers. Each shot is three ounces and comes in fruit flavors like strawberry banana. (Biz.Yahoo.com, 7/7)
New Smart Start Strawberry Oat Bites Cereal makes it easy to live with heart…The Kellogg’s cereal is aimed at women and is made with whole-grain oats, potassium and is low sodium. (Food Ingredients First, 7/8)
Fancy Food, via Africa…The New York Times visited the N.Y. Fancy Food Show and discovered several promising African products, something we’ve been tracking for a few years now. Elephant Pepper sauce is derived from chiles grown to be a barrier to elephants that are repelled by the plant. Khaya Cookie Company makes mini shortbreads and granola bars that create jobs for women in poor townships around Cape Town; the cookies are made with local ingredients like rooibos extract and grapeseed powder. (The Moment Blog, N.Y. Times, 7/11)
Yoplait Light lets you have your cake…and eat it, too…Three new yogurts position themselves as dessert via beloved cake flavors including Strawberry Shortcake, Raspberry Cheesecake and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. These cake-flavored yogurts tap into the nostalgia trend and offer consumers lighter versions of traditional desserts. (PRNewswire, 7/21)
Absolut Vodka puts a spotlight on Los Angeles with new limited-edition, city-inspired flavor…The flavor celebrates the city’s trend-forward ideas and is made from blueberry, acai berry, acerola cherry and pomegranate. This is the second recent City flavor; last year’s New Orleans was flavored with mango and black pepper. Portions of profits go to city-focused community organizations. (Biz.Yahoo, 7/22)
New LiveActive Chewy Granola Bars offer “Grab and Go” probiotics…Kraft rolls out new non-refrigerated bars with live probiotic cultures as well as fiber. The three varieties are Blueberry Almond, Chocolate Raspberry and Peanut Butter. (Biz.Yahoo, 7/23)
Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss now available nationwide online through partnership with Diamond Organics…Bliss Unlimited’s first ice cream is made from cholesterol-free coconut milk and sweetened with agave syrup. It is certified organic, 100% vegan and a healthy alternative to dairy-and soy-based frozen desserts. Flavors include Cherry Amaretto, Dark Chocolate, Mint Galactica, Cappuccino and Strawberry Lemon Love. (Biz.Yahoo, 7/23)

FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY HEADLINES

August 2008

Wild taps potential for fruit and blossom combos…The flavor house is extending its use of blossoms in flavor blends for beverages and working with companies to use lavender, rose, and elderberry in combination with fruit flavors. This confirms our profiling of the floral flavor trend in last year’s Indulgence Culinary Trend Mapping Report. (Food Navigator, 7/22)

Boston’s “Green” dining scene…Home to the Green Restaurant Association, the city hosts nearly two dozen restaurants and cafés that have met the group’s green certification standards. This means restaurants must engage in recycling, remove Styrofoam and implement at least four carbon-footprint-reducing initiatives. There are about 150 certified restaurants nation-wide. (Wall Street Journal, 7/7)
As food costs soar, it’s back to basics for meal planners…Consumers respond in a variety of ways: by growing vegetables and fruits in the backyard, by eating simpler soup-based meals, by dining out less, by using coupons, and by turning to cheaper cuts of meat and bulk foods. (USA Today, 7/7)
Newer gluten-free foods have more flavor, healthful ingredients…Gone are cardboard-tasting and refined-grain-filled gluten-free foods and in are more flavorful versions made with ancient grains like amaranth, quinoa, millet and sorghum. Other options are garbanzo beans, navy beans, buckwheat, almonds, brown rice, and flax. These products also appeal to gluten-eaters who are curious about ancient grains. (Los Angeles Times, 7/7)
Save room for the truck…Sweetmobiles are tempting New York dessert lovers with crème brûlée, fresh waffles and other high-end desserts. The Treats Truck, the Dessert Truck and Wafels and Dinges as well as fancy ice cream trucks attract lines at neighborhoods around the city. Chocolate bread pudding, Pavlova and milk chocolate mousse with caramel corn are a few offerings. (NY Times, 7/9)
Denny’s launches B-FST 2GO…Hoping to up the quality of take-out breakfast, Denny’s launched their own program offering customized choices in Dome packaging, which maintains fresh, hot food. (QSR, 7/9)
French connection: Try a little bite of Paris with sweet and flavorful macaroons…Sacramento has welcomed several French macaroon makers. Different from their American coconut macaroon cousins, French macaroons are almond meringues discs with ganache fillings, like an ultra-gourmet sandwich cookie. The meringue is also often flavored and colored; varieties include standards like coffee, chocolate and strawberry as well as exotics like lavender, black pepper or rose. (Sacramento Bee, 7/9)
Business sprouts for local growers: Profits grow on the appeal of hometown food…Pure Food 2 U, a food delivery business in Detroit, is one of several food businesses succeeding at providing locally grown food to consumers. Others include farms, markets and shopping service. (Crains Detroit, 7/14)
Urban Fresh by Jewel to open in Chicago’s Lincoln Park Area…Following the trend of smaller footprint specialty markets, 16,000-square-foot Urban Fresh will offer foods for busy, on-the-go professionals and time-sensitive commuters in the neighborhood, including a variety of ready-to-go meal solutions, organic produce and fresh meats and seafood. (Biz.Yahoo, 7/15)
Gen Y’s fave: Whole Foods…According to a recent survey by Outlaw Consulting on eco-friendly brands, Whole Foods emerged as the number one business that communicated greenness to Gen Yers between 21 and 29. Trader Joe’s came in second due to its often wasteful packaging of produce. (Brandweek, 7/27)
"Is your company ready for the BPA storm?" Commercialization News brought to you by Jan Matsuno, our Director of Commercialization, reports: "Bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical used in plastic bottles and metal can coatings for everything from baby bottles to chicken soup, is suspected by some to cause a variety of health and developmental problems. While some consumer groups and legislators call for a ban on BPA, the packaging and grocery industry defend the additive as safe. In the end it could be consumers that push the decision. Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, and plastic bottle maker Nalgene have all announced they will phase out BPA containing bottles in response to customer concerns. Could it be that with all the concerns around health and sustainability of packaging, we will see a resurgence of one of the world’s oldest, safest and most sustainable of materials: glass??"