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Five restaurant trends that will define
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Five restaurant trends that will define 2023!
Welcome to our Restaurant Industry Trends Report 2023. We’ve combined our many years of experience in the hospitality sector to shine a light on the trends you can expect to see in 2023.
We expect to see consumers being even more careful about the foods they choose to eat this year with an emphasis on more sustainable dishes and more plant-based options, with less meat on the menu. But also a focus on foods that affect our mood. Health now encompasses not just physical aspects, but also mental and emotional ones which will leave restaurateurs the challenge of ensuring their menus reflect this societal change.
From how to creatively navigate rising inflation and food costs to changing your menu in the smartest way possible, we provide some tips on how to respond to the challenges being thrown our way. Technology also continues to be a driving force for the restaurant industry and we will show you how you can use it to your advantage.
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Restaurant trend 1
Best ways to tackle inflation and higher food costs
Restaurateurs will have to think smarter and come up with innovative ways to weather the storm in 2023 from smaller portions, increasing prices to reaching new customers, menu engineering and more.
Restaurant trend 2
Menu engineering
Ultimately, a heavy hike in costs cannot be tackled with small tweaks to a menu, in fact, what’s being referred to as menu engineering will become much more commonplace in 2023.
Restaurant trend 3
Smart labour trends
The aftermath of the pandemic has been challenging for the restaurant sector, particularly re-recruiting staff to facilitate the labour requirement that comes with running a successful business. How can the industry counteract these labour shortages in 2023?
Restaurant trend 4
How technology will change the restaurant industry in 2023
For many years technology has enabled businesses in the restaurant sector to reach more customers quickly and efficiently and has helped us serve and improve the experience of paying customers. In 2023 we expect to see even more technology driven shifts in customer trends.
Restaurant trend 5
Food and drink trends
In 2023, we expect to see environmental issues become even more urgent on the political and daily agenda as consumers demand demonstrable change. Consumers are hungry for leadership on environmental issues, ethical business practices, public health and other important causes.
Best ways to tackle inflation and higher food costs
Global food prices have been rising quickly since 2020. The World Food Bank’s Food Commodity Price Index, reached a record high in 2022 and is more than 80% higher than two years previously. Multiple factors are to blame for this rise including economic recovery after the pandemic pushing up prices, higher freight costs, rising costs of fertilizers and increased export restrictions. The war in Ukraine has further exacerbated the problem and with the uncertainty surrounding the situation, food prices are expected to continue to rise this year.
Restaurateurs will have to think smarter
The impact on rising food prices on the restaurant industry is likely to be vast. In a poll by 66% of independent restaurants are seeing sales declines from inflationsmall business network Alignable, half of small businesses owners and nearly three quarters of restaurateurs fear inflation will drive them out of business. The study also found that over 66% of independent restaurants are seeing sales declines from inflation.
Restaurateurs will have to think smarter and come up with innovative ways to weather the storm in 2023 from smaller portions, increasing prices to reaching new customers, menu engineering and more. Cutting down on service and quality is not an option. When diners go out fewer times per week you need to make sure they come to you.
Menu engineering
Tackling rising food and labour costs, yet remaining competitive is something many creative thinkers and strategists will be working towards in 2023. Ultimately, a heavy hike in costs cannot be tackled with small tweaks to a menu, in fact, what’s being referred to as menu engineering will become much more commonplace in 2023. Menu engineering is a framework to evaluate and optimise your restaurant menu pricing and design to create a more profitable menu and business overall. It involves categorising all menu items into one of four menu engineering categories, based on the profitability and popularity of each item.
Some of the menu trends we expect to see in 2023 include:
High up the page for profit
Streamlined menus
Seasonal and local ingredients
Restaurant forecasting
Smart labour trends
Recruit smartly
The conventional model of recruiting staff via an agency or corporate marketing methods are only part of the recruitment process. In fact, social media and staff incentives are yielding better and quicker results with less cost associated for onboarding new staff.
Retain talent
Keeping those new recruits is the next challenge. Understanding what it looks like when your team is engaged and suitably rewarded will pay dividends.
How technology will change the restaurant industry in 2023
Delivery is more important than ever!
The global food delivery market is making up an increasingly larger part of the restaurant industry. According to a Statista report, online food delivery’s share of the global market will be over 20% by 2025, a rise from 13% market share in 2020, in fact the online food delivery market grew by an estimated 27% in 2020 alone.
Smart digital technology improves efficiency and margins
The introduction of waiting staff using handheld order and payment devices for faster processing of orders and payments. Or QR-codes for self services. Not to mention the fact that this creates an easy contactless payment option for diners.
Customers are becoming more used to and enjoy the ability to self-service, using tools like QR codes to view menus via smartphones and tablets for example. Customers can order and pay at their leisure and not rely on waiting staff in some cases.
Food and drink trends
In line with the environmental concerns of consumers, restaurants need to ensure that the environment, sustainability and health is a focus of their menus. Healthy food is certainly back in a big way in 2023.
Healthy juices and smoothies
According to the Global Fruit Juice Market trends report, The global fruit juice market reached a value of US$ 141 Billion in 2021 and the market is expected to reach US$ 182 Billion by 2027. The consumption of soft drinks, such as colas and flavoured sodas, is reducing globally as they have high sugar content, artificial colouring, phosphoric acid, artificial sweeteners, and caffeine which can cause negative effects on the human body. Owing to this, a large number of consumers are shifting from carbonated drinks towards natural fruit juices.
Food trends
Plant-based foods will continue to take the lead in 2023 driven by millennials. However, also big on the list of food trends for 2023 are mushrooms and faux fish. The New York Times declared mushrooms as the ”2022 ingredient of the Year”. They provide a range of health benefits and play the main role in people’s favorite foods – pasta, pizza and even desserts. Mushrooms are predicted to become even more popular in the coming years.
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