Grocery Business - December 2018

7 Key Restaurant
Trends for 2019

Technomic looked into wide-ranging factors affecting the restaurant industry and compiled seven key trends that are sure to gain traction in the next year:

Levantine cuisine: Growing interest in Israeli cuisine has led to increased flavor innovation from Israel’s surrounding countries.

Natural enhancements:

Next year will see a blossoming of the second wave of functional ingredients.

Sensory thrills beyond a snapshot: Instagram stories, Facebook Live and You Tube have extended the social media trend to what plays well through videos.

The next wave for third-party players: Food delivery companies are stepping up to feed an on-demand culture.

Extreme meat-free: Plant-based dining now includes zero-waste policies and a wider sustainability focus.

Tech taking over:

Technology amenities such as drone delivery are redefining convenience.

Multifaceted transparency:

Brands are moving toward full transparency on pricing, revealing true net costs and unbundled costs.

Technomic’s Ignite

technomic.com/ignite

1
Turnover of
Foodservice
Employees
Begins to Slow

Despite a historic drop in unemployment, foodservice employee turnover has dropped slightly, with data signaling the start of a new trend rather than a temporary pause from years of acceleration, according to new research from People Report. However, the macro trends that make recruitment and retention challenging for restaurants continued to gain momentum, leaving the foodservice industry stuck in a tightening vice. In September, unemployment dropped to a

49-year low of 3.7%, resulting in an increasingly shallow labor pool for foodservice operators. Meanwhile, demand for more employees continues to grow, with the number of jobs in the restaurant industry increasing 2% year over year in August. Still, the slowdown in employee turnover was good news for an industry that has winced through multiple years of acceleration. “This trend, however, is not expected to reduce turnover rates enough for retention to lose its status as a critical issue haunting operators,” People Report said.

FoodService Director

foodservicedirector.com

2

Now on Sale in Arizona: Marijuana Meals The nation’s first takeout kitchen for cannabis-laced meals opened in October, signaling a further convergence of the marijuana and restaurant industries. According to a study from A. T. Kearney, 41% of consumers in the U. S. and Canada would try cannabis-laced food if it were available. The Mint Dispensary in Tempe, Ariz., features entree-type items, from burgers to pasta, according to press reports, with the idea of providing users of medical marijuana with a way of consuming cannabis in the normal course of their day. The Mint Dispensary also offers buy one, get one free deals on its website, as well as daily specials and premiums. Online ordering is offered, and local media accounts say the facility plans to add catering and delivery for the holidays. Because recreational use is not legal in Arizona, The Mint Dispensary is available only to residents bearing a permit to buy and use medical marijuana.

Restaurant Business restaurantbusinessonline.com

3
3 Reasons Gen
Z Is Invaluable
to C-Stores

With members of the Gen
Z demographic saying
convenience is their top retail
channel, making nearly eight
trips to c-stores per month, the
14- to 25-year-old consumer
could be very valuable to
convenience-store retailers,
according to research from The
Coca-Cola Co. The company
during the recent NACS
Show in Las Vegas showcased
insights about Gen Z shoppers,
suggesting the use of engaging
in-store experiences to appeal
to this shopper base. Here are
some key research findings:
Gen Z trips to c-stores are
for immediate-consumption
items, and 1 in 3 of their trips
last five minutes or less.
There are 86 million
members of this
demographic, which makes
up 27% of the U.S. population.
Gen Z does most of its
shopping on weekends and
accounts for 21% of c-store
shoppers.