Ideation: Bright Sports on the Menu
Restaurant kitchens get creative with winter produce, adding bursts of color and flavor to the plate.
Consumer Trends
2012 trend book: Sustainability
Sometimes big changes come in small packages. It might not seem like a big deal when Sterno cleans up the fuel that has warmed a million buffet pans. Or when a diner can consult their smartphone to find the source of the fish on their plate.
The 50-foot salad bar at Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes is a big draw for guests who come to create customized salads. But the 125-unit chain also offers four varying “recipe” salads tossed fresh every 20 minutes in exhibition kitchens at each location. The most recent of these is the Grilled Steakhouse Salad.
More than half of the restaurant industry’s $491 billion in sales come from the Top 500 chains. And these giants grew at a modestly stronger rate, both in terms of sales and store counts, than the industry overall. Restaurant Business focused on the leading 250 performers to identify trends for our first-ever special report delivering lessons from Technomic’s annual Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. This special package includes lessons for all operators from the largest chains by segment, menu category and more.