Food That Tells a Story

Consumers want to engage in a story about their dining experience. Find out why this means it’s not enough to talk about sustainable sourcing and social responsibility.

TREND 6: SUSTAINABILITY

Food That Tells a Story

In addition to information about ethical sourcing and social responsibility, today’s customers want to know the stories behind where their food comes from.

THE EXPERIENCE OF FOOD HAS BECOME A CONVERSATION

The sun has barely risen, and a young chef is gathering edible seaweed—destined for the night’s dinner menu—along a rocky coast, careful to harvest it in a way that it will grow back again and again. In the afternoon, a forager will bring him an unexpected trove of wild mushrooms, which will become the basis of an à la minute appetizer. For a whole generation of chefs, this is what it’s all about: making food is not just about buying it, it’s also about living it.

Humanely raised is at the top of the list of Inception Level descriptors Millennials want to see on menus.¹

Social responsibility is equally important to Gen Zers, Gen Xers, and Millennials, but Gen Zers and Millennials are most likely to cite sustainability as a purchase driver.²

The audience is appreciative. Qualities like local, organic, sustainable, free-range, and Fair Trade are all important to diners in varying degrees, but today that’s just the cost of entry. More than that, successful brands also need a differentiated story that consumers can relate to and retell to their friends and family. And increasingly, diners want to know the story of where their food comes from—how it’s sourced (cited by 44% of consumers, according to Datassential), who produces it (40%), how they treat their employees (36%), and more.³ In other words, that chef will be sure to showcase, on the menu and via the serving staff, where the seaweed comes from and who foraged the mushrooms.

All of which means that signifiers of ingredient sustainability and ethical sourcing such as seasonal and locally farmed produce, wild-caught seafood, grass-fed beef, and cage-free eggs are becoming more commonplace on menus and in mission statements on websites and point-of-sale, as well as in social media.

Technomic Take: A New, Multifaceted Transparency
Mention transparency in years past and consumers would likely connect it to a product story around sourcing, food origins, and growing and processing methods. But tomorrow’s foodservice consumer increasingly will demand a more well-rounded transparency message and, in response, manufacturers and operators will craft a multifaceted approach. This means brands being fully transparent on several fronts, including pricing, revealing true net costs, and unbundled costs; corporate performance, emphasizing Fair Trade, diversity, living wages, and executive compensation; and the planet, publicizing its real environmental impact, conservation initiatives, and progressive stance on animal welfare.

^{Source: Technomic, “7 Key Trends for 2019”}

But there’s another aspect to the message, emphasizing the quality of specialty products, such as artisan-made breads, hand-crafted and farmstead cheeses, small-batch jams and jellies, craft beer, and single-origin coffee. These suggest the story behind the food and how it’s made.

45% of students say it’s important that their school is transparent about how ingredients are sourced.⁴

How-To: The Language of Storytelling

Wild caught seafood is in the Proliferation Stage of Datassential's Menu Adoption Cycle, having arrived at chain restaurants and mainstream grocery stores⁵
Hand crafted is on 4.4% of U.S. menus, a 47.6% increase over the past four years,⁶ and craft is on 10.2%, with a 67.9% increase⁷
50% of consumers who often eat beef say it’s important they eat beef that came from animals treated humanely, and 44% of consumers who often eat pork say it’s important⁸
Artisan is on 8.9% of U.S. menus, representing four-year growth of 22.6%⁹
Local and seasonal, which are associated with both better quality and a lower carbon footprint than imported and out-of-season foods, appear on 16.4% and 44.1% of U.S. menus, respectively^{10, 11}

Chefs and foodservice operators are also sharing more information about themselves and their ideals.

The Kenwood, an all-day café in Minneapolis, bills itself as an egalitarian eatery “dedicated to serving the neighborhood everything from coffee and pastries, everyday brunch and lunch to delectable dinners with beer and wine”—a little something for everybody.

Indigo, a soul food restaurant in Houston, takes a more active approach, aiming to enlighten diners about African-American history and culture through its modern and ancient foodways. At Restaurant Indigo, says the menu, “we use history, culture, and social experiences to guide our cooking.”

And immi, a pop-up restaurant in San Francisco, is the passion project of married first-generation Asian-Americans (immi is short for “immigrant”) whose menu reflects the couple’s familial and geographic experiences, as well as their extensive travels through Asia.³

^{Sources: [1] Datassential Foodbytes: Millennials (February 2018). [2] Technomic Generational Consumer Trend Report (2016). [3] IFMA/Datassential, CPP 2015: Food with a Story. [4] Technomic 2019 College & University Consumer Trend Report. [5] Datassential Menu Adoption Cycle, Seafood Species (2019). [6] Datassential SNAP! Hand crafted (2019). [7] Datassential SNAP! Craft (2019). [8] Technomic 2019 Center of the Plate: Beef and Pork Consumer Trend Report. [9] Datassential SNAP! Artisan (2019). [10] Datassential SNAP! Local (2019). [11] Datassential SNAP! Seasonal (2019).}