Current Cravings: How to Get Ahead of the Next Big Menu Trends

There’s no big secret to delivering the menu items and experiences that today’s diners are looking for—it all comes down to staying informed and seeing what works best. To make the “informed” part a little easier, we’re offering an inside look at consumer & menu trends and business strategies, along with a few quick tips and tasty bits of info.

What’s Your Drink of Choice?

Project Beverage is an exciting new Show experience that allows you to explore the latest in the ever-evolving world of adult beverage. Want to get in on the action? Join us on social media in March as we dive into today’s hottest beverage trends during our month-long cocktail tournament, where YOUR vote decides what comes out on top. Then, come to Industry Night Out to sample the tournament's top drinks with artfully selected food pairings, watch master mixologists shake up the winning beverages and place your vote onsite to crown the Project Beverage champion. Look for #ProjectBeverage on Instagram starting March 9th to join the fun!

Up Your F&B IQ

For more opportunities to enhance your knowledge of food and beverage that consumers are looking for, check out the Culinary Insights education track at the Show. These sessions explore food and beverage trends with massive profit potential, menu insights and optimizations, and products that are disrupting the F&B landscape, along with inspiring demonstrations from big names in the culinary scene. And, of course, The Beverage Room is where you can drink in the latest and greatest in beverage programs, with demonstrations from celebrated mixologists, up close looks at in-demand ingredients, first-hand insights on game-changing business strategies and more.

Dig into Tasty Trends

Prepare your ears for a trend-focused auditory feast! Menu Feed, a bi-weekly podcast from two leading industry publications, Restaurant Business and Foodservice Director, serves up delicious explorations of the flavors, cuisines, and consumer demands that operators and industry leaders are seeing as top-performers in the restaurant world. Join host and Restaurant Business Senior Editor Patricia Cobe for firsthand accounts from a variety of special guests, and the latest research and analysis from data partner Technomic.

Get Scientific

Did you know that you have up to 4,000 taste buds in your mouth and—yes, it’s true! —your throat? Or that texture and temperature influence perceptions of flavor? Take a spin through Food Insight’s “The Science of Taste” article and prepare to be amazed—while also enhancing your understanding of how, and why, taste matters so much.