Local food moves down to fourth place on hot trend list
Thursday, February 11, 2016
by SUSAN MANN
Restaurant goers’ interest in local foods is still strong despite the category of ‘local food’ slipping to the number four spot on a list of Canadian chefs’ 10 hot trends this year from the number two spot last year.
The list is based on Restaurants Canada’s seventh annual survey of almost 500 professional chefs across Canada. The survey, done by independent market research firm BrandSpark International from Jan. 11 to Feb. 1, queried chefs about the most popular menu items and cooking methods along with trends that are gaining in popularity. The top trend on both lists of 10 items was craft beer. It was also number one last year on the list of top trends but not on the list of promising trends.
Phillip Groff, director of Sustain Ontario, says the local food category dropping to the number four spot on the list this year from the number two position last year isn’t the bottom falling out “or anything like that. When you see lists like that people’s priorities shift up and down a bit regularly. The fact that it’s still in the top five means local food continues to be an important consideration for people, but there could just have been other issues on their mind this year.”
Sustain Ontario is an independent, non-profit organization promoting healthy food and farming. Its goal is to support the development of food systems in Ontario that are healthy, equitable, ecological and financially viable. Sustain Ontario has close to 60 members, including organizations, such as the Ontario Culinary Tourism Association, farm groups and individual farmers.
Groff says local food is still firmly on people’s radar. “I’ve seen more local food options being offered at restaurants and more restaurants offering locavore-specific options or whole menus.”
The trend to source out locally-produced food isn’t going away and “it’s something that consumers are still very concerned about,” he notes.
As well, leafy greens, a top three hot trend last year, slipped to the number 10 spot this year and organic produce, not on the list last year, debuted at the number nine spot.
In its Feb. 10 news release, Restaurants Canada listed the 10 hot trends this year. They are:
- Craft beer/microbrews.
- Charcuterie/house-cured meats.
- Ethnic sauces.
- Locally sourced foods (locavore).
- Food smoking.
- House-made condiments/sauces.
- Gluten-free/food allergy conscious.
- Inexpensive/underused cuts of meat (beef cheek, brisket, pork shoulder, skirt steak).
- Organic produce.
- Leafy greens (kale, Swiss chard, mustard greens, collard greens, dandelion greens).
A total of 494 chefs participated in the survey and participants came from the Restaurants Canada membership, the Canadian Culinary Federation or from the industry at large, the release says. The survey was sponsored by Saputo. BF