INSIGHTS - Scotland Food and Drink

Trends continuedFun and InformalityIs all about fun and informality playing a bigger part in how weinteract with our food. This is being driven by social relaxation,a need for more diners, higher / faster turnover of covers, needfor new routes to market.Fine dining to fun diningSharing foods and formatsKitchen & dining room blurSocial / communal eating & seatingStripped out serviceTable finishing and interactionVisible chefs in kitchen and at tablesInnovationForget posh, Michelin-star restaurants. Some of the best foodaround is now being served at affordable prices from pop-upcafes and restored trailers. From the porridge bar outsideEdinburgh castle to the coffee cart on the north coast ofIreland to the banh mi stall in London’s East End, these vendorsserve up delicious meals that are prepared and cooked rightin front of you.Elephant Juice is a food truck in Edinburgh selling porridge,soup and casserole. Big pot, healthy hearty stuff that alsoappeals to the altruist; their simple motto is ‘One Feeds Two’,so that for every meal purchased, they provide another for atruly hungry, malnourished person.The Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh is offering a gluten freeversion of their famous afternoon tea. Executive head chef,Paul Hart has teamed up with Genius foods to offer thisotherwise no-go area for those with wheat intolerances.FlavoursWhat is the saying – to look to the future you have to look tothe past? This is certainly the case for the most part as far asflavours go. Ancient grains, traditional smoking methods andtraditional street foods have all played a part in the flavoursthat are emerging as trends of now.Grains are being seen on restaurant menus in different guises,smoking has turned its attention to alcohol and cocktails andthe flavours of south east Asia are the ones to note when itcomes to picking a winner. The odd one out of course hasto be lab grown meat – most definitely a product with its feetfirmly in the future. Born out of necessity to feed the growingpopulation, it’s getting closer to our plates.CuisinesScandinavia is influencing gastronomy on a global level andis the lead trend influencer but it is its modern food scene,techniques and approach and not its indigenous cuisine thatare the biggest influence on trends.Thanks to Alex Atala and Superfoods, Brazilian foods arestarting to influence the global gastronomic stage as it exportsits cuisine in a modern context. In addition due to the factthat Brazilian food challenges points of familiar food reference(like Japan) many chefs are visiting Brazil for inspiration.Still one of the top countries that chefs say that they want tovisit for inspiration. Yes, Japanese as a cuisine is on the risebut perhaps its biggest trend setting influence comes from itsingredients, techniques and of course Umami.0809

2013 and BeyondThe Digital DinerAngelsmith, a digital marketing agency, recently produced its InfluentialDining Survey and has developed its Dining Decision Ecosystem, aframework that provides insight into how and what most influences dinerswhen selecting restaurants. The survey revealed that consumers rely on aseries of crucial steps before making a dining decision. In approximately8 out of 10 times (80.1%), a personal word of mouth recommendationis supplemented with additional research.Respondents were asked to rank the most important places they usefor additional restaurant research after receiving a recommendationfrom a friend. User generated review sites (27.7%) and the restaurant’swebsite (27%) were in a near statistical tie as the most important placesconsumers turn. Other friends (25.2%) and food blogs (16.4%) wereranked as the second most important places for additional restaurantresearch. All of these pieces work together to move the consumer fromthe consideration phase to their ultimate dining decision.There are over 1,500 dining apps for iPhone and Android, aiding UKconsumers in establishment choice, location and menu information.There are over 2,000 food blogs across the UK, where individuals sharetheir love of food, cooking and eating out.Although UK adults are prolific on social network sites and lead in termsof usage across Europe, the number of people who follow an eating outbrand is modest at just 18%.The discount culture is prolific in social media networks. 42% ofconsumers state that they only follow or like specific eating out brandsin order to benefit from promotional activity.3rd Wave BurgerFast food burgers came to the UK in the late 1960s and introducedthe consumer to the first wave of burgers. Forty years later and thesecond wave of burger hit the UK, providing consumers with a highquality and higher priced product. The new wave in burgers takes thequality levels even higher yet maintains an affordable average price.Emerging concepts already leading the 3rd wave include Meatliquorand the US chain Smashburger.FreshFresh produce, fresh ingredients and freshly cooked food will beincreasingly important as consumers look to improve the qualityof food they consume as well as embrace healthier lifestyles. Freshis one of the key indicators of healthy to the UK consumer. Theonus will be on operators to avoid pre-packed produce and for theinnovative chains to venture into own-grown and foraging ingredients.Vegetarian/FlexitarianThe emerging trend encouraging Britons to reduce their meat intakeby embracing one meat-free day per week will develop into a significantinterest in searching out interesting and appealing vegetable-baseddishes, especially when eating out. Allegra expects a wave of smallvegetarian or vegetable-focused chains to emerge in the next five yearsto answer this increasing trend.1011

Andrew Niven INSIGHTS Managerandrew.niven@scotlandfoodanddrink.orgKenny Martin INSIGHTS Analystkenny.martin@scotlandfoodanddrink.orgwww.scotlandfoodanddrink.org/insightsScotland Food and DrinkNo.3 The Royal Highland CentreIngliston, Edinburgh EH28 8NBDesign: www.eighthdaydesign.com