As with any industry, the restaurant business is constantly evolving.  Those businesses that are willing to embrace change and capitalize on new trends are pulling ahead of the competition.  Trends come and go, and sometimes old trends make a comeback.  With the restaurant industry, healthy, clean products have become popular, however, there will always be room for indulgence when dining out. In competitive restaurant industry, it’s important to stay on top of the trends, but more importantly, carving out a niche market and launching your own fads will benefit company growth.

Pasta Is Out

Once an extremely popular menu item, pasta has gone from a featured all you can eat menu star to now nearly obsolete.  Carbohydrates have become the enemy of many health conscious consumers with pasta being the poster child for unhealthy high carb eating.  Fortunately, for restaurants that feature this item, there are ways around it.  There have been developments in gluten free and veggie pastas that have been able to satisfy American’s craving without sacrificing their health.

Clean Eating

Clean living is all the rage and has had a greater effect on restaurants than any other industry.  This trend has caused a change in menus and even supplier choices.  It’s not just calories that consumers are focusing on these days.  Many patrons have become more aware of chemicals and hormones that have been added to their food.  Organic and farm to table menu items have dramatically increased in popularity.  In order to stay competitive, restaurants have change their menus and even created separate supplemental menus that offer healthier options.  This is a trend that is sure to stay and needs to be capitalized on if your restaurant wants to flourish into the future.

Vegan and Vegetarian

With so many consumers opting for a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, the restaurant industry has begun to take notice.  Once nearly impossible to find, vegan restaurants are popping up all over the place.  Even though traditional restaurants have developed vegan menus, it’s simply not enough for some consumers.  Many vegan patrons have refused to eat in restaurants that serve animal products and this has opened up an entirely different style of restaurant fare.

Delivery

While delivery has always been an important aspect of the restaurant industry, technology has caused an evolution to this all important service.  With the advent of mobile apps that allow you to place orders and customize dishes, delivery has become much more customer friendly.  Gone are the days of choosing a number on a menu or having to choose from pre-made specials.  With mobile apps allowing for increased personalization, those restaurants that refuse to embrace this new technology are suffering.  The small price to have a mobile app created and supported outweighs the loss of business to this demographic.

Tipping

There are many restaurants that are incorporating a no tipping policy for their servers.  This is having a widespread impact on the industry.  With governments passing higher living wage laws and in some cases abolishing tips, it’s something that many restaurant owners are going to have to deal with.  This is going to impact labor costs, which in turn will impact operational costs.  This means it will be necessary to increase menu prices, which could drive down business.  While it’s still in its early stages, it’s something owners are going to need to prepare for.

New Old World Cuisine

Some of the most popular restaurant menu items are based on old world recipes that have been around for hundreds of years.  That trend is changing slightly with innovative chefs putting their own spin on traditional recipes.  While it’s always been common practice for chefs to make recipes their own, taking popular recipes and adding new world flavor has become one of the hottest trends in the restaurant industry today.

If you factor these trends into your business plan you can increase restaurant revenue.  Need help to grow with the times and protect your business against future hardships - consider a merchant cash advance from Quikstone Capital Solutions.