new comfort foods

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The New Comfort Foods

Modern Twists On Classic Favorites

© 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014

Old Classics. New Formula.The new comfort foods occupy a niche where old favorites now meet gourmet, upscale foods. Today’s comfort food innovation follows a formula of sorts to provide a new take on an old classic.

WHAT’S THE FORMULA?Offer a classic food, upscale the ingredients, add variety with quality, and then change the recipe just enough to provide an interesting twist, notes QSR magazine’s “Comfort conversions for your menu.”

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Source: QSR magazine. “Comfort conversions for your menu”, (Page 1).


What’s Behind the Trend?An estimated 60% of Millennials are searching for new ways to enhance old recipe favorites.

TREND: GASTRONOSTALGIA“The trend of ‘gastronostalgia’ has driven the Millennial demographic to revamp their childhood favorites with a grown-up, gourmet twist,” according to Lapine, Millennials Report.

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Source: Lapine, Millennials Report (Page 13), November 2013.


Nearly 40% of Millennials are self-described “foodies.”

What are some favorites?

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Source: Lapine, Millennials Report (Page 3), November 2013.


Spiked Milkshakes


Spiked Milkshakes

• Now milkshake lovers have good reason to toast – the new trend on the menu is gourmet wine milkshakes, according to USA Today.

• In 2012, Red Robin® claimed to be the first restaurant to offer milkshakes spiked with beer, and the trend continues to grow due to their buzz-worthy combination with social media.

• High-end wine milkshakes are commanding a premium in casual dining restaurant chains such as Denny’s®. In fact, spiked milkshakes are now becoming more common at many restaurants across the country, according to Technomic research.

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Source: USA Today. “The latest boozy milkshake—Wine shakes.”, E-mail conversation with Mary Chapman, Technomic research firm.


Bakery Meatloaf


Bakery Meatloaf• How about some meat in that cupcake? For years, the Meatloaf

Bakery® in Chicago’s Lincoln Park has been selling meatloaf in cupcake form with mashed potatoes as the icing.

• Meatloaf lovers can also try Meatloaf Sliders off the appetizer menu at Weber Grill Restaurant or duck meatloaf at Buttermilk Channel.

• Downtown Kitchen & Cocktails offers a 1 Percenter’s Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf, with ground pork, beef, lamb, mushrooms and chunky tomato sauce, according to Technomic data.

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Source: About.com. “Tired of traditional comfort foods like meatloaf?, E-mail conversation with Mary Chapman, Technomic research firm.


Haute Mac & Cheese


Haute Mac & Cheese• Mac and cheese made with upscale ingredients, such as an

Italian style with sautéed salami, garlic, peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and onions, was named one of Forbes Hottest Food Trends for 2014.

• Technomic research noted a few examples of upscale macaroni and cheese dishes:• Brann’s Steakhouse™ now offers a five-cheese Buffalo chicken mac

and cheese.

• Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza® offers a crab mac and cheese.

• Not Your Average Joe’s Harvest Mac ‘n Cheese has roasted butternut squash, marinated chicken thigh, baby spinach and curly cavatappi noodles, baked in a creamy cheddar and smoked mozzarella sauce, topped with asiago bread crumbs.

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Source:Forbes.com. “12 Hottest Food Trends for 2014.” (Page 1), E-mail conversation with Mary Chapman, Technomic research firm.


Deluxe Burgers


Deluxe Burgers• Today, consumers are simply burger snobs. Noted in a

Technomic burger study:• 27 percent of restaurant goers prefer burgers made with Angus beef.• 19 percent prefer sirloin burgers.• Almost half want a variety of sizes, such as mini burgers to half-pound patties.

• A few examples of how burgers are breaking out from the norm are:• RM Seafood offers a Buffalo Burger with caramelized onions, truffle tremor

cheese and pepper mayo. • Spice Market has a Grilled Short Rib Burger with Asian Pear and Korean Chili

Sauce. • Landry’s® has the Inside Out Cheeseburger: brie-stuffed, balsamic caramelized

onions, mushrooms ragout, roasted tomato, reported by Technomic.

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Source: QSR magazine. “Death of the gourmet burger?” (Page 1), E-mail conversation with Mary Chapman, Technomic research firm.


Fancy Fried Chicken


Fancy Fried Chicken • According to Datassential, menus offering fried chicken with

waffles grew 400 percent, and fried chicken with biscuits grew 20 percent from 2011 to 2013.

• The surge in popularity for this comfort food staple is being driven by Southern, Asian and Caribbean cuisine in particular.

• Even food trucks are offering gourmet fried chicken, such as the gourmet LudoTruck in Los Angeles that is cited as one of “99 things to eat in L.A. before you die” by Pulitzer Prize winning food critic, Jonathan Gold.

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Source:FoodFanatics.com. “Gourmet fried chicken hits it big.” (Page 1)., LudoTruck.com.


Elevated Bread Pudding

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Elevated Bread Pudding• Most Americans probably don’t long for the good old days of

English comfort foods, but versatile bread pudding is becoming more mainstream, whether as an authentic English version or one with a modern day twist, noted Datassential’s January 2014 FoodBytes newsletter.

• This type of pudding can be made sweet or salty. For example, The Eiffel Tower Restaurant serves an appetizer of Sautéed Fois Gras described as “Aigre Doux with Rhubarb Bread Pudding.”

• Another example, Broken Egg Café has House Made Bananas Foster Bread Pudding. And Atwood Café has Coffee Bread Pudding: Chocolate espresso beans, hazelnut brittle, amaretto Chantilly cream, reports Technomic.

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Source: Datassential’s FoodBytes newsletter. “2014 Trends to watch.”, E-mail conversation with Mary Chapman, Technomic research firm.

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