Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/654717
Looking Forward Foodservice and restaurant brands will continue to be a major influ- ence that will help drive category sales and lead innovation. "Consumers typically are looking to bring the restaurant expe- rience home. The success of Olive Garden Italian Salad Dressing as a retail product has really reinforced this trend," says Stevens. According to Mintel's "Condiments and Dressings—U.S." December 2015 report, the foodservice impact is strong with more than one in five consumers indicating that restaurant brands would inf luence them to buy, or buy more, condiments and dressings. Also driving category growth is the addition of innovative por- table products. "With the increase of snacks on-the-go and smaller meals away from home, the consumer is looking for portable items," says Stevens. "Hidden Valley Ranch Cups and new Salad Shots in convenient cup and self-stable pouch packaging with trendy f lavors can fit the bill." dressings. "The refrigerated salad dressing category is focused on healthier dressings, zestier Italians, and organic varieties," she adds. Clean labels, including those with an organic and/or gluten- free profile, are definitely on customers' radar. Food IQ is also noticing more yogurt-based salad dressings in the grocery aisles, as well as dressings with nutritionally purposeful ingredients such as chia and hemp seeds, and natural sweeteners such as agave and honey. "Organic Girl's Salad Love line of salad dressings contains exciting f lavors such as Fresh Tomato Italian, Kale Parmesan, Lemon Agave, Pomegranate Balsamic, and White Cheddar," says Shipley. Uses Beyond Salad "Suppliers are starting to recognize the fact that usage for more than one particular meal solution is where the growth is coming from," notes KeHe's Rafferty. "A salad dressing does not have to be just a salad dressing, but it can also double as a marinade or a dip." At Lone Star Taste, Brown says customers often reach for salad dressings to use as a marinade. "It goes both ways; they use and like salad dressings for marinades and marinades for salad dressings," she adds. "Retailers and foodservice will continue to try to expand usage occasions beyond just salad, such as using salad dressing as a top- ping, dip, or spread, and by developing innovative f lavor profiles and incorporating international f lavors," adds Stevens. She notes f lavors like salsa verde, sweet chili, tamari, mango, chipotle, and Asian sesame will come into play. Nicole Potenza Denis is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine. The foodservice impact is strong, with more than one in fve consumers indicating that restaurant brands would infuence them to buy, or buy more, condiments and dressings. category spotlight Salad dressings are also being used as marinades, dips, and sauces, such as Momo Dressing in ginger 58 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com