Engaging in restaurant trends helps your establishment remain relevant to consumers. Doing so shows them you are an industry leader who cares about providing them with great experiences.
Plant-Based Menu Choices trend offers solutions for the rising population of flexitarians and vegans; sustainability initiatives help decrease food waste while limiting environmental impact.
1. Plant-Based Menu Choices
Restaurant customers increasingly seek plant-based options with higher concentrations of vitamins and minimal products. Furthermore, plant-based offerings allow restaurants to meet customer demands for healthier eating while contributing towards environmental sustainability.
The owner of Ram’s Horn Restaurant Fraser suggests that future restaurant operators anticipate adding plant-based options on their menus at four times the rate they plan to remove them, driven by consumer demand for healthy and eco-friendly food options, particularly among younger generations of consumers who prioritize health, ethics, and sustainability.
Consumers prefer comforting, familiar food. Offering plant-based versions of popular meat dishes can be an effective strategy for restaurants looking to attract new customers; vegetarian lasagne is a delicious dish that customers are likely familiar with; similarly, fast casual eateries often serve vegan burgers and tacos so customers can become acquainted with new options more quickly.
The owner of Ram’s Horn Restaurant Fraser highlights that restaurants can add flair to their plant-based meals by employing different culinary techniques to make their offerings unique; for example, they can substitute dairy with oat milk or replace eggs with aquafaba (the juice from canned chickpeas). Chefs may also create colorful plant-based dishes that showcase all their components.
2. Sustainability
Restaurants have increased their sustainability efforts as part of an attempt to become eco-friendly business practices. This includes limiting food waste, using eco-friendly utensils and containers, sourcing ingredients from local farms, etc. This industry trend reflects diners' desire to support restaurants prioritizing sustainable practices.
Sustainability reduces their environmental impact and allows restaurants to increase profitability. For instance, restaurants that source their ingredients from nearby farmers can avoid high shipping costs and save both time and energy by purchasing local products instead of imported varieties; purchasing locally produced foods also limits how often food must be refrigerated or stored, ultimately decreasing food waste each year, as well as pesticide use and extra packaging requirements.
The owner of Ram’s Horn Restaurant mentions that the popular restaurant industry trend is to reduce waste by recycling, donating, and reusing leftover food. Furthermore, more customers prefer biodegradable utensils over plastic and Styrofoam ones. Restaurants can encourage employees to participate in sustainability-related training or workshops to become more engaged with their sustainability initiatives. This will increase employee engagement and loyalty to the company and build a positive reputation within the restaurant's communities while developing strong relationships with local suppliers.
3. Hyper-Local
Hyperlocal restaurants have become a fast-rising trend in the restaurant industry, providing food and drink made with ingredients cultivated on site - such as lettuce from their own restaurant garden or beer made right there on site. By adopting this concept, restaurants save money, reduce food waste, rely on less external resources, are more sustainable, and can inspire chefs to create innovative new dishes!
Increased consumer concern about health drives this trend due to the pandemic outbreaks and their desire to support their local community. It can be an effective strategy for small restaurants hoping to differentiate themselves and increase customer loyalty.
According to the owner of Ram’s Horn Restaurant, dining industry trends of 2024 also include an increased focus on authenticity in global flavors, with restaurants seeking out traditional ingredients and recipes to represent different cuisines accurately. Diners are exploring international cuisines for the first time, leading to increased menu diversity. Other trends in 2024 include natural sweeteners and non-dairy milk becoming more widely used; restaurants are implementing green kitchen practices by reducing waste, recycling materials, and using biodegradable wares in their kitchens.
4. Automation
Restaurants are increasingly turning to automation to increase customer convenience, streamline operations, and deliver a more tailored dining experience for their patrons. From ordering and payment processes to food preparation, restaurants use technology to simplify processes while simultaneously creating more personalized dining experiences for customers.
FOH automation solutions include self-service kiosks and digital menus that enable customers to browse options and make payments without engaging staff members directly. Restaurants are also increasingly adopting online reservations systems and tableside technology that enable servers to take diner orders directly from diners and submit them directly to the kitchen, thus decreasing wait times and errors while automating energy control systems improve efficiency by making better use of resources while decreasing utility costs.
BOH automation includes temperature monitoring and inspection systems to ensure foods are stored at safe temperatures, avoiding foodborne illnesses. Employee scheduling systems considering labor laws, availability, and demand patterns help restaurants efficiently allocate staff levels. Finally, food waste management systems help cut operational costs by automating the sorting of recyclable items to be recycled more easily.
As per the owner of Ram’s Horn Restaurant, automation is fast becoming a staple practice in restaurants, yet this trend poses several obstacles. Automation may displace staff from roles such as order-taking and cashiering; furthermore, overly relying on automation may decrease personal touches such as culinary artistry that customers appreciate in dining experiences.
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