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Comfort food, just the sound of these words will make you feel all warm and fuzzy, pleased and satiated, guilty and even guiltier. That is, if the comfort foods that you are thinking of are made of fatty, buttery, salty, and sweet-laden comfort foods.
However, this is not the type of comfort food that I have in mind for the 2011 food trend prediction as I went over the recent food crazes last year. In fact, the comfort food that I think is going to be the trend this coming year is going homestyle, especially homestyle Southern comfort food.
The New Comfort Food
If there is one thing that you will notice about the food trends this 2011 is that the trends are catering to customers who are tightening their belts due to the recession. There are the mini plates which are fast becoming very popular right now; the everyday low price menus which is what most customers are looking for; the food trucks that offer delicious meals at a whole lot cheaper prices; and the fast-casual brand extensions by some of the biggest restaurant names in the food industry to cater to the customers’ need for convenient, fast, healthy, and cheap foods. Right now, the need to go cheap can also be seen in comfort foods.
As stated above, my prediction for the 2011 food trends include the “back to our roots” concept in comfort food, especially that of the southern homestyle comfort foods. You can expect to see more grits in the menus or crab cakes. You can also expect to see more of po-boys and gumbos entering the whole nation’s culinary scene. Of course, there will be the ever-famous jambalayas and other types of seafood dishes, too. Aside from Southern-style comfort food, the trend will also shift towards retro-Italian cuisine as the “back to our roots” concept in comfort food continues, so you can be sure to see more pizzas, pastas, and the ever-present meatballs.
Popsicles for dessert and gourmet-style donuts for breakfast? Why not? You will most certainly see them come the year 2011 as more and more consumers crave for the comfort foods that they grew up with. They would also want to entertain friends at home, instead of eating at restaurants which could be quite expensive. Because of this, we are also sure to see the comeback of Southern-style party food recipes like barbecues with all its trimmings.
Why the New Trend in Comfort Food?
One reason why we are going to see more of the Southern-homestyle comfort food is that there will be an aggressive campaign to promote southern seafood cuisine, especially in light of the massive oil spill in the New Mexico Gulf. It cannot be denied that this greatly affected the economy of areas like New Orleans as well as Louisiana as consumers hesitated to purchase and consume seafood caught in their coasts. To combat the losses incurred, an aggressive promotion of Creole cuisine as well as Cajun cuisine will be launched. If this does not work, Southern cuisine will still be aggressively promoted in the Northern American regions where its seafood is considered to be very safe for consumption.
Another reason is that people are becoming far more wiser nowadays when it comes to spending money and choosing the types of food that they eat. Thus, there will be the new trend of cooking comfort foods at home and entertaining friends and families at home rather than paying for it at restaurants. Not only will the cost be cheaper, but there will be more servings.
Lastly, there is increased awareness for healthy and more satisfying types of food.
Chefs and Comfort Food
There are a lot of things that chefs can do to follow the trend. For one, you can brush up on your knowledge of Southern cuisine, especially the comfort food types. Not only are you going to capitalize on the new trend, but you are also offering them healthier choices when it comes to the foods they eat. You can take your inspiration from restaurant chains that specialize in Southern cuisine and go from there. Of course, you have to create something that is uniquely yours and give it your own twist.
Since consumers will want bigger and cheaper comfort foods, then why not follow a family-style format when it comes to the portions? This way, you are going to attract big parties of consumers with your family-size portions.
The most important thing though if you are going to go with the new comfort food trend is to make sure that you, as a chef, are making the right choices when it comes to the ingredients. Make sure that they are fresh and healthy.
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The restaurant industry may be recovering from the recession slowly, but there is no safe way yet to say that we have recovered from it. In fact, there are still some restaurants that are suffering from the repercussions of the recession. As for those restaurants that are surviving the recession, they have thought out of the box and reinvented themselves to stay afloat.
My Restaurant Trend Prediction
It cannot be denied that launching new restaurants are not only labor intensive but also very expensive as well. With the financially-trying times happening and big first-class restaurant chains still recovering from the recession, opening new restaurants under the same brand have become quite difficult. For this reason, brand makeovers became quite the trend in the restaurant industry.
This year has seen the emergence of fast-casual brand extensions launched by some of the major full-service restaurants in the industry. An example of this is the Denny’s Café launched by Denny’s only a month ago as well as the Souplantation Express by Souplantation that will be launched in January 2011. However, restaurant brands were not the only industry that got interested in the popularity and success of fast-casual brand extensions because there were also some non-restaurant brands that joined the bandwagon.
According to what I read in the Internet, we are going to see more of this trend during the next year as more and more restaurants, businesses, and companies look into fast-casual brand extensions as an added source of revenue.
A Growing Trend
It is quite difficult to ignore the potentials of this growing trend. In fact, the emergence of this new type of restaurant has seen a very good turnover this year. It is doing better than its competitors, which are the quick-service restaurants and the casual-dining restaurants, and it is also attracting a good number of customers who are looking for high-quality foods that are not only healthier but cheaper as well.
One reason why fast-casual restaurants are surpassing quick-service restaurants is the fact that its diners feel that they are being offered healthier menus than what the quick-service restaurants provide. Fast-casual menus may be a little bit expensive than quick-service restaurants but it is money worth it. Likewise, diners are still getting high-quality food in fast-casual restaurants at a relatively cheaper price than at full-service restaurants, which is far more costly.
Chefs and Fast-Casual Brand Extensions
It cannot be denied that more and more restaurants and chefs are looking into this type of service to gain more customers and profits. In fact, some of the celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay as well as Wolfgang Puck have already invested hard-earned money into the fast-casual setting, and what attracted them were the flexibility of the menus and the types of customers that it can reach. The ingredients are mostly locally sourced, too, so it is relatively cheaper than ordering food products from all over the globe. Furthermore, the efficient layout of fast-casual restaurants provides the luxurious ambiance that customers crave for, so the fine-dining feel is not sacrificed.
Going with the Trend
If you want to follow the concept of the fast-casual restaurants and capitalize on this trend, what you can do is to know the type of consumers that dine at your restaurant. Aside from this, you should also keep track of the kinds of dishes that they always order. It would also not hurt your cause to know just how much your customers are willing to pay for the food they eat. This way, you do not cannibalize your existing restaurants or dilute your brand by offering the same type of menus to the same type of consumers when you do open your fast-casual brand extension restaurant. Instead, you are focusing on your brand’s strength. Of course, the location will also matter, so be sure to check out the non-traditional markets such as gasoline and service stations.
Fast-casual brand extension restaurants are typically smaller than the full-service restaurants, so you can rest assured that your new establishment will be launched faster and at a lesser cost, too. Because it has a smaller square footage, you should make sure that its layout is very efficient and very organized, particularly since you can only serve a limited number of diners at a time.
Like any other new venture, this will require loads of hard work and determination to make a success out of your brand extension. However, if you keep your goal in mind, success will be yours.
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Do you simply want to beat recession and keep your head above the waters? Or do you want to beat your competition and stay ahead of the pack? If your answers to these questions are a big resounding “yes,” then let this article give you restaurant survival tips during these financially-trying times.
The Need to Go Lower
Though what I can see and read on the Web, one of my trend predictions for 2011 then will be that more people are growing tired of being frugal during the recession and that it is now time to spend money on high-quality foods and fine-dining experience. With what they call “frugality fatigue,” we can expect to see more diners willing to spend extra big bucks in flashy restaurants. However, not all can afford this luxury.
According to another my food trend prediction for 2011, more and more people are still going to gravitate towards restaurants that can offer them high-quality food at reasonably-priced menus. Consumers will want value for their money without sacrificing the good taste of a high-end dish.
Restaurant Survival Do’s and Don’ts
With the need to go lower so as to attract more customers, what can the chefs do to juggle price, quality, and quantity at the same time? After all, we have to adjust our business strategies to be able to cater to their demands and, at the same time, reap some revenues, too.
If we stick to our old ways, we run the risk of losing customers and revenues. On the other hand, if we take a leap and reinvent ourselves, we also run the risk of our new business strategy going flat and incurring losses along the way. For this reason, here are some restaurant survival tips as well as some do’s and don’ts on how to “go lower” without sacrificing quality.
Do’s:
- Do think of promotional actions like “everyday low price menus” to attract the interest of your customers. The menu need not be very pricey, but a very talented chef can make extraordinary dishes from ordinary ingredients. This way, quality is not sacrificed, and you need not shell out huge sums of money to purchase expensive ingredients. If it works, stick with it.
- Do look into the advantages of offering restaurant coupons. Customers are always on the lookout for such items, and since they will always be attracted by the idea of discounts and free meals, you are sure to see an increase in customer volume. This is a win-win situation for both you and your clients. You get to enjoy increased customer volume; your restaurant enjoys bigger revenues; and your clients get to enjoy discounted meals. To save you some money though, you can create meal choices that are not hard on your pocket but will give your clients the same quality and good taste.
- Do get the word out there about your promotions and special menus. For this, you will need the Internet to take advantage of social media and social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, among others. If you have a blog or a personal website, tell your audience about your promotions and advertise yourself. You could also get a lot of good referrals through social media and the like.
- Do invest in your customer service by reiterating the importance of customer service to your restaurant staff. It will not do your restaurant a lot of good to offer affordable meals at excellent quality if the services of your restaurant staff are below standards.
Don’ts:
- Do not listen to people who tell you that you have a crazy idea. Sometimes, the biggest rewards come from the craziest ideas, so don’t abandon your plans just because someone told you that it will not work.
- Do not do so many things at once. It is better to start small, and if what you are doing is succeeding, then continue towards a bigger goal. This way, you can keep your frustrations at bay.
- Do not get discouraged. You should know that there will be slow starts, especially when it comes to new ideas. But then again, you should always remember that good things come to those who wait. So if you pull back now, then all your efforts would have been for naught.
Do not sacrifice quality for quantity, however tempting it may be. Remember, your diners will want to see and taste quality, and if they realize that you have sacrificed quality for quantity, you might end up losing more than just your customers and revenues, but your good reputation as well.
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Restaurants also suffered the backlash of the recession when it hit. They lost costumers, especially those coming from the middle class. However, this did not stop people from enjoying good food though. It was just that they became more frugal and began choosing the places where they could still dine in luxury yet at very affordable prices.
Recession and the Restaurants
As stated above, the restaurant industry was also hit hard by the recession. It was not surprising to see restaurants with multiple dining rooms operating at only one room for the simple reason that there were fewer diners entering their doors. This is especially true when it comes to first-class restaurants who cannot afford to sacrifice quality for quantity.
Aside from this, some restaurants succumbed to the recession and totally reinvented their menus to adjust to the financially trying times. They began offering menus at very affordable prices just to keep their heads above the waters.
Then there is also the growing popularity of a “new” yet old concept of restaurants that popped up during the recession, one of which is the gastropubs. This type of restaurants offers excellent-quality food at very, very affordable prices. They became stiff competitors of family-owned restaurants who are already suffering from a losing battle against giant corporate restaurant chains. Middle class who wanted high-quality dining experience at cheaper prices gravitated towards this type of establishments in lieu of going to first-class restaurants that come with hefty-priced menus.
Lastly, many consumers opted to cook special meals at home instead of visiting high-end restaurant.
Dining Attitude for 2011
Things may slowly be going back to normal, but the restaurateurs and chefs admit that the recession has done substantial damage to the restaurant industry. In fact, they are one of the first to admit that the food and restaurant industry is still a very challenging environment that will need you to be innovative and creative just to survive.
Through the research that I have done on food trends, right now, I foresee that the trend of “dining in luxury at a very affordable price” will still continue come the new year. However, for those who have survived and are surviving the recession with some money to burn, they will go back to expensive menus amidst luxurious ambiance. To capitalize on this and recover from the losses incurred during the recession, we are sure to see more indulgent specials being offered by first-class restaurants.
On the other, most of the middle class society will still seek restaurants that will not only give them the luxurious gastronomical experience that they are craving for but also very reasonably-priced menus as well.
Beating Recession and Competition
We should not forget that we are still battling a financially-trying time, even though it seems that things are going back to normal, albeit slowly. For this reason, here are some of the things that you can do to give your diners that “dine in luxury at affordable price” experience:
- The mini plates. One technique that many restaurants utilized is the mini plates. This way, you still get to serve your diners the same high-quality menus but at a price that is not heavy on their budgets and on your pockets, too. The only difference is that they will get to enjoy the “mini everything” concept – from mini appetizers to mini main dishes to even mini desserts.
- The junk food upgrade. Yes, you can upgrade what people consider as junk foods and make them healthier for your consumers by making it yourself. One such junk food upgrade is the house-made Cheetos. Not only can you control the ingredients used in the “junk food” but you can also control the flavors and the textures, ensuring healthier food. Right now, there are many restaurants that are employing this technique.
- The food truck concept. Because competition in the food and restaurant industry is still, you could always explore the new trend of food trucks. This way, you get to provide high-quality food at so affordable price to a larger number of audiences.
- The everyday low price concept. There may be customers who are more than willing to shell out huge sums of money for luxurious fine-dining experience, but then again, there will always be a huge portion of customers looking for special rate menus. For this reason, why not create an everyday low price special for some of your menus? Offer the regular pricey ones but give them the option to choose the reasonable menus as well.
These are just some of the tips on how you can beat not only the recession but your competition as well.
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Australian Chef- Matthew J. Goudge is the mastermind behind the formation of the ProChef360 platform.