Menu Drivers

Did you know that 97% of people traveling regularly say they are willing to try a new restaurant when they're out-of-town?

I just found out myself, for it's the top finding in a new survey by something called "iDine Rewards Network," which surveys people who happen to be members of frequent flyer dining programs (thus the qualifier "people traveling").

Moreover, of that very clear majority, nearly three-quarters say they "love"…no, "LOVE" trying new restaurants. And what of the remaining 3%? They're still big fans of eating out, iDine researchers say, only they feel more comfortable dining in familiar surroundings. (Oh, to be a chain with a national footprint!)

When they're not jetting around the country, staying a day or two here and maybe another there, all the while scouring the local landscape for that "new restaurant experience" they crave so much, where do you think these adventurous, trend-setting, insatiable gourmets and gourmands are taking their away-from-home, daytime (and occasional night-time carryout) meals?

Your cafeteria, of course, or dining facility, staff restaurant, etc. Wouldn't you agree, then, that the standard for cutting-edginess in noncommercial meal planning is set fairly high?

And at the very least, wouldn't you want to make every effort to enhance your customers' dining experience, given that they obviously—the 13 million members of iDine, anyway—are looking for something new and different?

Name game: No one in noncommercial foodservice needs to be told that differentiation is the name of the game when it comes to keeping customers satisfied and coming back for more. This, though, suggests a self-defeating prophecy for any operator who introduces a hot new concept which shatters all sales and volume records in the first two weeks of being offered, only to see it flicker and eventually blow out sooner than the season can change.

The need for foodservice operations to evolve is kind of like Isaac Newton's first law of motion, the law of inertia: A servery in motion tends (needs?) to stay in motion. It is an active, dynamic force, one that needs to continually change and adapt despite whatever formats are imposed upon it: foodcourt, branded concept, marketplace, etc.

This explains why so many contract management firms are offering their general managers a suite of short-run, on-trend menu programs to choose from. They know that customer loyalty is an unpredictable thing; that what's hot today can easily be cool (meaning cold, not hip) tomorrow; and that servery formats can only go so far in giving customers the "something new and different."

Survey says: Speaking of that certain something, you might be interested to know that a recent FoodService Director survey indicates that the ethnic foods trend will only continue to grow in the coming years. In preparation for our first annual FoodService MenuDirections Conference in Houston, which took place earlier this month, we surveyed operators in B&I, healthcare and education about their use of cycle menus, what ethnic foods are "hot" today and which ones will be "hot" a year from now, and how popular fusion foods are, among other points.

Next month, we'll have more to report on these findings and the conference. For now, though, consider these highlights:

A year ago, 22% of their menu could be categorized as ethnic; today, it's 25%. And more than one-quarter of those operators plan on adding more ethnic dishes this year.

Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Thai are the top "new ethnic" cuisines operators are serving today—as many as 71% of colleges, in fact, are serving Mediterranean foods.

There's more that the survey reveals about how operators are adapting to customer needs via menu changes, but these few points indicate that many of them are already ahead of the game.