Cooper Farms: - Urner Barry Publications, Inc.

Mexican food is hot!...
Fast casual boom spices up menu items
Market researcher
Technomic found limited
service Mexican restaurant
chains were able to increase
sales by 2.7% and unit
counts by 1.8% in 2009,
despite an overall industrywide
contraction of 3.2%
during the same time period.
Several Mexican chains
within the Top 500 were able
to achieve double-digit sales
increases, and the number
of Mexican menu items on
restaurant menus is up from
2009 to 2010.
“The rise in popularity
of Mexican foods is the
culmination of a number of
factors all converging in food
service at the moment,” said
Mary Chapman, director
of product innovation at
Technomic. “The fast casual
boom is certainly part of
the equation—Mexican concepts fit well
into the fast casual model. Consumers are
also calling for authentic ethnic dining
experiences and spicier, more flavorful
foods, so Mexican concepts and menu
items are on trend in a number of ways
right now.”
Technomic’s 2010 Market Intelligence Report:
Mexican explores the reasons why Mexican
food is more popular than ever. It offers
restaurant operators and others aligned
with the foodservice industry insights
into growth opportunities and consumer
preferences with regard to Mexican food.
Interesting report findings include:
•The number of Mexican entrees
on U.S. restaurant menus was up
3.3 percent from the first half of
2009 to the first half of 2010, with
5.4 percent more restaurant chains
offering Mexican menu items over
that time period.
•While chicken and beef are still the
most prevalent ingredients in tacos,
the number of fish tacos on restaurant
menus was up an impressive 22.5
percent from the first half of 2009 to
the first half of 2010.
•Consumers have begun to respond
to regional preparations of Mexican
items, much like Tuscan or Sicilian
within the Italian category or
Cantonese and Sichuan varieties of
Chinese food.
The 2010 Market Intelligence Report: Mexican
includes data from Technomic’s exclusive
MenuMonitor online trend-tracking
resource, which analyzes the menus of
more than 1,200 top chains, emerging
concepts and leading independent
restaurants. It features data culled from
Technomic’s Consumer Trend Reports.
The report also profiles 92 leading and
emerging Mexican restaurant concepts,
chosen for their size, growth, potential
and/or interesting position.UB
Adapted from a Foodmarket.com story which
originally appeared on December 7, 2010
“The rise in
popularity of
Mexican foods is the
culmination of a number
of factors all converging in
food service at the moment,”
©iStockphoto.com/Nicolas McComber
Producers & Packers of
Quality Farm Fresh Eggs
Telephone
(706) 693-4336
Fax
(706) 693-4589
1236 Wayne Poultry Road,
Pendergrass, Georgia 30567
USDA Plant # 1698
For sales information
contact David Lathem
VOL. 6, NO. 1 / WINTER 2011 / URNER BARRY’S REPORTER • 67