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Surging Menu Items Reflect
International Influence
Ranch water, mangonada, ube, and a spicy Indian
chicken dish are among the restaurant menu items
that showed strong gains in the first half of 2022,
according to Datassential's Midyear Trends Report.
Several trends have also been adapted as CPG
products at retail.
Leading the pack was ranch water, an alcoholic
beverage that has increased 182 percent in restaurant
menu penetration in the past 12 months, according
to the Datassential report. It contains tequila, lime
and, typically, Topo Chico mineral water, and it has
already inspired a range of ready-to-drink retail
products, said Claire Conaghan, associate director of
content at Datassential.
"It's not that much different from a hard seltzer,"
she said, noting that hard seltzers had been setting
the pace for fast-growing menu items in recent years.
Another big gainer was birria, which has evolved
from its traditional Mexican formulation featuring
stewed goat or lamb to instead incorporate beef
or other proteins, giving it more appeal among U.S.
consumers. The meaning has also evolved, Conaghan
said, so that it now describes the flavor more than the
dish itself, much in the way the terms "carnitas" and
"barbacoa" have changed over time.
Birria, which is up 90 percent on restaurant
menus in the last 12 months, can be served as a bowl
of stew on its own, or with the juice from the stewed
meat on the side for dipping tacos.
Other flavors and dishes gaining traction include:
• Mangonada, a cold, smoothie-style beverage
made from a combination of sweet-and-spicy
flavors—often either mango or chamoy for the
sweetness and tajin for the spice, along with
lime and sometimes salt. It's up 80 percent on
menus, and is also increasingly appearing as a
flavor in CPG products.
• Ube, the purple yam with origins in the
Philippines has been appearing on more menus
for the past few years.
• Affogato has moved into the "adoption" stage
of menu penetration. "What's not to like about
pouring some espresso over gelato?" said
Conaghan.
• Chicken 65, a spicy, deep-fried chicken
dish that originated in Chennai, India. It
has increasingly appeared on the menus of
traditional Indian restaurants, Conaghan said,
and can be either an appetizer or an entrée. It
is traditionally served with a spicy, chili-garlic
sauce, and sometimes with yogurt "for a cooling
effect," she said.—Mark Hamstra
PHOTO: BASKIN-ROBBINS
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