Opportunities abound for specialty brands in foodservice, said Mike Kostyo, who was recently named vice president at research and consulting firm Menu Matters.
Kostyo will be discussing these opportunities, and the consumer trends that are driving them, during a session called “Understanding Trends in Retail, Foodservice and Beyond: A Research Panel” at the Winter Fancy Food Show on Sunday, January 21 at 1:30 p.m. on the Big Idea Stage.
Before joining Menu Matters, Kostyo spent more than 10 years at food research firm Datassential, most recently as associate director and trendologist. He’s shared his foodservice expertise on several TV and radio shows, podcasts, and other media outlets, and was a judge on Food Network’s “Eating America.” He has a master’s degree in Gastronomy from Boston University, as well as certificates in the culinary arts, baking arts, wine fundamentals, and artisan cheese production.
Joining him on stage at the show will be Laurie Demeritt, CEO of The Hartman Group, and Sherry Frey, vice president of total wellness at NielsenIQ.
Kostyo recently spoke with SFA News Daily about the underlying trends driving foodservice in the year ahead and the role that specialty food brands can play.
What are some of the key trends you plan to discuss in your presentation at the Winter Fancy Food Show?
One of the things we are doing at Menu Matters is looking at some of the consumer need states that we see an opportunity for the industry to solve in the year ahead. Instead of, “This flavor is going to do this, and this flavor is going to do that,” we are trying to get to a more basic level of consumer needs. Then we can use some of those trends to solve for those needs that consumers have.
For us, it all ladders up to this idea that consumers just want to be taken care of in the year ahead. It’s going to be a stressful year. It is a presidential election year, and consumers still have a lot of anxiety post-COVID that hasn’t necessarily gone away. Prices are still really high. There are a lot of anxiety-inducing issues that are coming to a head with consumers. That’s the main need that has to be taken care of by the industry. People want to go to a restaurant and know that they are going to be taken care of, that the food is going to be great, and that they feel that they are getting a good value. That’s the main thing that restaurants are going to have to answer for in 2024.
Is that a shift away from the trend we’ve seen in the past year toward consumers seeking “experiences” in restaurants and elsewhere?
Experiences still are a part of it. If people are feeling a lot of anxiety, they probably want to get away. They probably want to have something that’s a little bit of an escape, and we saw that a lot in the past year. We saw consumers going back to concerts again—the Taylor Swift concert was one of the big events from the past year—so we definitely see consumers having experiences again.
I think there is going to be a place for premium in the year ahead. If people are feeling anxious, they tend to want foods that comfort them, or make them feel a little less anxious. Some of the premium trends we saw in the past year, like the rise of truffle, and the ubiquity of truffle, I think we’ll see more like that, and other options. We are seeing on Tik Tok consumers that are interested in trying caviar for the first time. It’s often in a way that’s pretty accessible to them–maybe they will try caviar on a potato chip or a tater tot—but speaking directly to the specialty food industry, I think there will still be an opportunity for premium foods and flavors in the year ahead.
Can you elaborate on where you see the opportunities for specialty food in foodservice?
Premium is one of them. Another thing we are seeing is that there is some level of distrust when it comes to food brands. We have seen on social media that consumers are going to some restaurants that they used to know and love, and they are not getting that great experience they used to have. They are saying, “I used to go to one of my favorite burrito places, and now the portions are really small, and the cost is really high.”
We see consumers who say they go to a restaurant, and they don’t get the same level of service they used to get. So there is a role for specialty food brands to play. These are brands where the quality is there, the story is often there, so the trust and belief in the brand already exists. That trust, and partnerships with those brands, would be supported and welcomed by foodservice.
A great example of that is Popeyes doing Spicy Truff Chicken Sandwiches. What a great example of a major brand across the country using a pre-existing specialty food brand that has that cachet, and has that premium connotation, that allowed consumers to try a premium brand and flavor that was maybe new to them. I think there are a lot of opportunities like that for specialty food brands in the year ahead.
What are you most looking forward to at the Winter Fancy Food Show?
I am really excited to see how things have evolved. During the past few years we have talked so much about plant-based foods, and I think last year was a real testing ground for that whole section of the industry, so seeing how that is playing out, and seeing which plant-based brands are there and which products they are launching is something I am excited to see.
Beverage continues to be such a big source of innovation—for the foodservice side of the industry, absolutely, but also on the CPG side. So I am also super excited to see the flavors that are being showcased, and the functional benefits that are being showcased in beverages.
Also, I am looking forward just to talk to people, and see what they are thinking, and where their heads are at. I work from home, and this will be my first major trade show of this size post-COVID, so I am really excited just to chat with people in the industry.
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