News and Trends

  www.mintel.com ,  October 22nd, 2020 The impact of COVID-19 and the recession marks an important moment for restaurant brands to use their brand reputation to enter the grocery space and fill the gap left by a struggling start-up industry.   As COVID-19 restrictions increase across the UK,  restaurants need to adapt to new consumer needs . Below are different ways restaurants can make the most of this opportunity to reach their consumer and survive.  Now is the time for restaurants to enter retail  As a result of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, markets are in flux, and consumer behaviours have dramatically changed. In addition, a heavy economic downturn has already begun, with consumers needing to cut back on their spending. Consumers are more likely to return to the mainstream brands that are more familiar as they look for some semblance of security in this fast-changing scenario . This consumer move is bad news for food and drink s...

  www.bakeryandsnacks.com COVID-19 has transformed consumer habits and bakery and snack producers that stay ahead of that curve will come out winners. Pic: Innova Market Insights 1.            Transparency triumphs Transparency will dominate consumer demand in 2021. Brands that stay ahead of the curve in meeting evolving ethical, environmental and clean label consumer demands will come out top. Trendsetters, Nutella, Bakedin ​  Nutella Brioche Baking Kit Nutella and Bakedin have partnered to launch a baking kit to capitalise on the home-baking boom this year.  The Nutella Brioche Baking Kit includes the exact amount of dry ingredients needed to create a dozen brioche buns – including flour, sugar and yeast – along with a 200g jar of Nutella, which provides just the right amount (a 15g heaped teaspoon) of the good stuff per brioche bun. “The popularity of home baking exploded in recent months, with the term ‘baking’ me...

  qsrmedia.co.uk An artisan bakery specializing in pastries and sweets is looking to make a splash at The Yards in Covent Garden. Arôme announced the venue will be the location for its first permanent brick-and-mortar site after a “successful” pop-up in Soho earlier this year. Created by pâtissier Alix Andre and backed by restaurateur Ellen Chew’s ‘Chew on This’ group, Arôme has signed for a 2,000 sq ft store at 9 Mercer street and will bring its traditional French baking techniques to Covent Garden in November. “Being based in central London, The Yards Covent Garden is such a desirable area of the West End for foodies. We have tried and tested our brand meticulously and there is no doubt Arôme will be a huge hit in Covent Garden,” Chew said in a media release. Arôme describes its menu as celebrating “traditional methods whilst exploring multicultural flavours from Singapore, Japan and France, to create a fascinating array of dishes.” Items include dishes such as the Gula Mel...

  www.thecaterer.com Muse in London, Ocean restaurant at the Atlantic hotel in Jersey, the Ritz London and the Latymer at Pennyhill Park in Bagshot, Surrey, have all been awarded four AA rosettes, while a record 26 premises have received three rosettes. Restaurants awarded three AA rosettes include the Old Stamp House in Ambleside, Cumbria, housed in the former office of William Wordsworth; Frenchie Covent Garden in London, cousin of the original Parisian eatery; and Shaun Rankin's eponymous restaurant at Grantley Hall in Ripon, North Yorkshire. Simon Numphud, managing director at AA Media, said: "This has been an immensely difficult year for the hospitality industry, and yet restaurants across the country have continued to provide incredible dining experiences to the public, despite these considerable challenges. "The dedication and hard work of the teams behind these establishments is inspiring, particularly during this time, and we are pleased to be able to celebrate ...

Peter Backman's insight  Perhaps the last thing operators have on their minds right now is their 2021 menu. But there are still some potential issues that they, and especially their suppliers, can be thinking about this far ahead as they fill up their NPD pipeline.   Google Trends showed a huge spike in searches for “loss of taste” and “loss of smell” in March. In some cases, early indicators of a covid infection were loss of taste and smell, which caused people to begin searching for more information on these topics.   Roll forward to autumn and we find that, in addition to being an indicator, in many cases loss of these senses also outlasted the infection. There are already many instances of people who, having contracted covid, lost their sense of taste totally. Suddenly,  that gin and tonic tastes like tap water. Others recovered only a bit of the lost senses, perhaps only 10%, perhaps more. And in other instances, quoted in The Sunday Times, taste and s...

bakeryinfo.co.uk Few things are as disappointing as a cake that fails to rise. That’s exactly what happened to the cakes and baked sweet treats market after Covid-19 turned the world upside down in March.  Take home sales value has remained unchanged from last year over the latest 12-week period, with the number of packs sold down 3.8% [Kantar 12 w/e 9 August]. But cake-makers should be grateful for small mercies. “This is actually an improvement in performance,” says Kantar consumer insight director Charlotte Scott. “In the 12 weeks to March there was a spike as everyone was stocking up, but after lockdown sales began to decline. Over April, May and June, value sales fell 7.9%, which was the steepest decline.” Meanwhile, sales of essential groceries and indulgences such as booze and chocolate were booming, as Britain shut down and we were all confined to our homes. So why was cake unable to cash in? How hard were foodservice operators hit by the forced closure of Britain’s cafes,...