COVID-19
“I stay close to Instagram and engage with followers and those I follow. There is a lot to learn there about what is going to be the next trend”
particular point in time. We can also identify that plant-based food and drink offerings are featuring in descriptors and are gaining traction with consumers.”
Trend and innovation platform Social media is a powerful tool to help operators on all levels gauge the mood and appetites among diners and consumers. Follow enough of the people that your operation targets and a picture will start to emerge. Patricia Mateo, director of gastronomy at Vocento Gastronomía in Madrid, Spain, works with some of the highest profile chefs and restaurants in Spain and beyond. “I stay close to Instagram and engage with followers and those I follow. There is a lot to learn there about what is going to be the next trend,” she says. The foodservice and hospitality sector has a tightly packed calendar of trade shows; operators, consultants and manufacturers travel all over the world to learn about current and future developments that can help them get a head start on competitors. One of the selling points of these shows is precisely that they offer a peek into the future, helping them to steer their business in the direction of competitive advantage. Claudia Johannsen, director for the Internorga show in Hamburg, Germany, says positioning the show as one that has new and innovative developments at the core is key. “Internorga has been the leading international trade show for trends and innovations and is seen as such a trend platform by both exhibitors and visitors. This is a high standard that we have to meet
anew every year,” she says. “In order to stay up to date, we constantly sound out the entire market and actively approach small, innovative companies and start-ups that complement and enrich the range of products and services at the trade fair. In this way, we ensure that all exhibition segments at Internorga reflect both the breadth and depth of the product range.” Johannsen says that staying on top of this requires a constant investigation and research effort behind the scenes. “We dig deep into potential trend topics and sound out whether they can really become trends. We look for key players from the respective areas and network with them, expand our knowledge and research the trend shapers with whom we then cooperate,” she explains, illustrating with the example of two areas: packaging and delivery and digital applications. “They have developed rapidly, partly due to the pandemic and the ever-growing sustainability aspect,” she says. “They pose a big challenge and are of great importance for the whole horeca market. Within two years, these topics have grown so much that dedicated hall areas will be set up at Internorga 2023.”
THE RISE AND RISE OF AVOCADO TOAST The last few years have seen a remarkable rise in the popularity of avocados and soon brunch menus across the world had to have avocado toast on the menu. How does this sort of rise to prominence happen?
“For avocado toast you had a lot of things going on,” explains Mike Kostyo. “People have been putting avocados on toasted bread for decades, but suddenly you had a number of factors at play, like an interest in artisanal breads, a demand for healthy fats and avocados overall, the growth of breakfast and all-day breakfast options, and the demand for social media- friendly foods that photographed well. So, chefs see them on the menu in Australia and California and adapt them for their own menus, consumers take notice and photograph them for social media or develop their own versions with avocado roses and the like for Instagram appeal, and media outlets start writing stories about these expensive avocado toasts that are showing up. Meanwhile, we’re tracking all of this, so a decade ago avocado toast is on 0.1% of menus and then in 2015 it goes up to 0.2%, then 0.7%, etc, and we’re reporting on that. Soon major national brands start putting it on the menu, while other operators play with new iterations and flavors to stay competitive. Today avocado toast is on 7.4% of menus and 42% of US consumers have tried it.
Patricia Mateo, gastronomy director of Vocento Gastronomia points out that just 20 years ago it was very rare to spot an avocado on the menu of a mainstream menu in Spain. “Today it is hard to find a menu without avocado, a restaurant has to have them because they are so popular,” she says. “They are everywhere now.”
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