In light of today’s cronut craze, donut mania and pie palooza, capitalizing on America’s sweet tooth is a no-brainer. In fact, the Technomic Dessert Consumer Trend Report found that 70 percent of surveyed consumers eat dessert at least once per week away from home. There are a variety of ways that you can get in on this sweet action, whether you are looking to update your offerings or you are considering adding dessert to your menu.
Something to keep in mind is that differentiation is a purchasing driver: 38 percent of dessert fans are interested in ordering items they can’t make themselves or purchase everywhere, according to the Technomic report.
One way to differentiate your dessert menu is to incorporate interesting or unexpected flavor pairings. With the influence of global flavor trends, consumers are opening their minds and mouths to new flavor combinations when dining out, and even crave them, and your dessert offering is not excluded. According to Technomic’s Menu Positioning and Occasion Driver Consumer Trend Report, chocolate is the most craveable flavor, and fruity flavors like lemon, cherry, blueberry, orange, banana and coconut are also popular.
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