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2 winter menu magnets customers can't bear for you to ignore

What do QSR customers want this winter? Look in the spice rack and away from the meat locker.

November 7, 2019 by Andrew Rosenbloom — Director of Marketing, Consolidated Concepts

Burger King's recent commercial highlighting a taste test between its original Whopper and the brand's plant-based version tells an interesting story of consumer preferences and trends. QSRs cannot ignore consumers' plant-based preferences, nor any other strong flavor trends within their menus this winter. And while flavors from all manner of hearty gourds — from butternut squash to pumpkin — have seen high levels of QSR menu inclusion, other flavors, like cinnamon, are coming on strong as part of the restaurant industry's growing gravitation toward the use of more ingredients from the 47 nations and territories of the Pacific Rim.

Cinnamon in ...

Long-heralded as an addition to coffee (think, Starbucks' cinnamon dulce lattes and Dunkin's cinnamon sugar pumpkin latte), cinnamon is now being added to almost everything and every menu. For instance, Arby's recently added its new cinnamuffin to breakfast menus, while Dairy Queen introduced consumers to its cinnamon roll shake. Even Pizza Hut has introduced Cinnabon mini rolls. 

Buyer's Edge Platform — which tracks foodservice purchase histories across Buyer's Edge, Dining Alliance and Consolidated Concepts' restaurant customers —backs this preference up, with data showing that purchases of cases of cinnamon increased 34% year-over-year from 2016-2019. So while in 2016, those restaurants bought just 210,394 cases of cinnamon, that number has grown to 475,000 cases year-to-date for 2019, with even more increases expected as we head into the holiday season. 

One reason for the rise of cinnamon's popularity is its waning reputation as just a holiday-time flavor, with data now indicating consistent purchase levels month-to-month. Unlike pumpkin, cinnamon can be used year-round and is equally at home in sweet items as those that are savory. 

QSRs can capitalize on this trend by infusing cinnamon into flavor pairings already familiar to customers. For example, cinnamon-and-walnut combinations for beverages and breakfast breads, or cinnamon-and-sugar blends in desserts. Raisins also work well with the spice and can be used to enhance an existing menu items that pair well with both ingredients. 

... Meat out

Food trend experts also anticipate that meatless fare will continue to grow in popularity as more Americans adopt this dietary approach, either occasionally or across their diets. This preference is making menus and whole restaurant concepts move toward more vegetarian and vegan dining, from one coast to another. 
In fact, Mintel data indicates that 31% of consumers now practice "meat-free" days, while "The Economist" dubbed 2019 the "Year of the Vegan." Similarly, June Buyer's Edge platform data indicates that sales of meatless alternatives have grown 268% in the last year. 

For QSR operators, more vegetarian and vegan consumers serve as an opportunity to build flavorful and creative dishes around vegetables and pastas that work well as center-of-the-plate alternatives to meat. But it's important to remember that vegan, vegetarian and flexitarians diners still crave taste as much as any other diner, so colorful and highly flavorful combinations are a must. 

In this dining environment, QSRs can't just get by with a black bean burger and bland sides anymore. Things like seasoned fries, charred vegetables and creative salads must be considered as they will serve as plant-based "magnets" to attract a more conscientious and even experimental diner to your door. 

Even consider cooking mediums as you take on this mindset, perhaps using plant-based oils and broths instead of those old standbys of chicken and beef-derived sources. After all, today's consumers not only knows, but seeks those kinds of differences and will find it at another QSR if it's not available at yours. 

About Andrew Rosenbloom

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Andy Rosenbloom is a foodservice professional who heads up the marketing team at the Buyers Edge Platform and its associated GPO brands, including Dining Alliance, Consolidated Concepts, Buyers Edge, FoodBAM and others. Andy’s insights come from a cross-section of the operators, distributors, manufacturers, service providers and trend-watchers.

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