4) Bowl meals
Finally, plant-forward foods are a perfect fit for the increasingly popular bowl meal. Bowl meals in a variety of iterations are on the rise—according to MenuMonitor, bowls overall are up by 4.3% year-over-year, while more specifically, Mexican bowls are up nearly 5%, veggie bowls are up 11% and teriyaki bowls are up about 4%. Bowl meals offer the portability and convenience that consumers love for meals on-the-go, and they’re also customizable—perfect for catering to diners with specific dietary preferences. They’re also great for breakfast, lunch or dinner, providing operators with a versatile, all-day opportunity to appeal to health-conscious diners.
Add in chopped up plant-based patties to a veggie bowl as a protein source, or lean on comfort food bowl meals like macaroni and cheese or spaghetti. Then, offer consumers an array of toppings to choose from to ramp up the nutrition, including veggie chickenless tenders or strips with buffalo sauce and blue cheese, for a buffalo blue mac and cheese bowl, or veggie meatballs for a lightened-up version of this comfort food favorite.
For diners who want to add more vegetables to their diet, choosing plant-based options that are similar to meals they already eat is convenient and easy. And with more operators branching out from offering simple salads, there’s more opportunity than ever for diners to get what they want, all while giving operators what they want—more business.