Cutting-edge ingredients will drive sandwich innovation

CHICAGO, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Technomic has been tracking trending flavors for quite some time now, watching as they evolve from the introductory stage into a menu mainstay. As we look beyond flavor, we now wonder which ingredients are emerging on the innovation scale?  Chicken and bacon are, by far, the most popular proteins on sandwiches, but what's next?

"The Technomic Lifecycle is pushing the envelope by showing us real-time ingredient innovation," says Bernadette Noone, vice president at Technomic. We've noticed with the growth of consumers' desires to remain healthy, that tofu is the leading cutting-edge protein used in sandwiches. Other ingredients like Muenster cheese, truffle aioli and English muffins were also identified as innovators in the sandwich category.

On the other hand, Technomic often finds that ingredients can be mainstream in some meal categories, while being unique and competitive in others. A perfect example would be "chipotle mayo." When paired with chicken sandwiches, it is often found in the mainstream part of the lifecycle, while adding it to steak sandwiches places it on the introductory and growth scale.

The Technomic Lifecycle tracks flavor and ingredient penetration levels across concept categories with varying levels of innovation, from chef-driven restaurants to national chains. It dynamically projects trends for thousands of menu categories, and helps operators find the right ingredient type before they go mainstream.

Technomic's MenuMonitor analyzes more than 7,000 commercial and noncommercial menus tracked quarterly to identify menu opportunities, including seasonal promotions, new menus and LTOs. For over 5 years, Technomic's Lifecycle has been tracking flavors through their stages of adoption, and now proudly boasts an additional 30+ ingredient types to analyze. As a dynamic part of MenuMonitor, it can pull predictive insights on a limitless range of dishes in seconds.

To learn more, please visit Technomic.com or contact one of the individuals listed below. For Technomic updates, please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or our blog.

Contacts:
Press Inquiries: Bernadette Noone, 312-506-3853, or [email protected]
Report Details: Bri Borchardt, 312-506-4075, or [email protected]
Purchasing Details: Patrick Noone, 312-506-3852, or [email protected]

About Technomic

Only Technomic, a Winsight company, delivers a 360-degree view of the food industry. We impact growth and profitability for our clients by providing consumer-grounded vision and channel-relevant strategic insights. Our services range from major research studies and management consulting solutions to online databases and simple fact-finding assignments. Our clients include food manufacturers and distributors, restaurants and retailers, other foodservice organizations, and various institutions aligned with the food industry. Visit us at technomic.com.

About Winsight, LLC

Winsight, LLC is a business-to-business media and information services company specializing in the convenience-retailing, restaurant and noncommercial foodservice industries. Winsight has an extensive media portfolio including four publications, CSP, Restaurant Business, FoodService Director and Convenience Store Products, a suite of digital products including websites, e-newsletters (Restaurant Business Daily and CSP Daily News) and webinars, plus video products, mobile and tablet apps, custom marketing solutions and the convenience-retailer intelligence tool, CSPedia. The Winsight Events group produces six exclusive, large-scale executive-level conferences—Restaurant Leadership Conference, FARE Conference, Outlook Leadership, Convenience Retailing University, FSTEC and MenuDirections—in addition to more than 12 major EduNetworking conferences and advisory meetings. In Aug. 2015, Winsight acquired Technomic Inc., a food industry provider of primary and secondary market information and advisory services. Winsight is a recognized leader in the markets it serves.

For more information on Winsight and its brands, go to WinsightMedia.com.

SOURCE Technomic

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