Food Focus

  • Concepts to Watch: La Cubana, Goodfellas, Dineen Coffee

    June 10, 2022
    By Katie Belflower A bold and decisive restaurant branding and concept are important for success. Every month, with Technomic’s Concepts to Watch, we highlight three restaurants that demonstrate this across the country. This month, the focus is on Ontario, with Toronto Cuban restaurant La Cubana, southern Ontario pizzeria Goodfellas, and Toronto coffee company Dineen spotlighted. Source: La Cubana ...
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  • Finding your “vanilla” is key to success

    June 10, 2022
    By Scott Moore There are hundreds of ice cream flavours, yet one of the most popular is and may well always be vanilla. One would also wager that the most popular pizza is pepperoni, regular potato chips are still the rage, and chicken noodle soup remains a top seller. There are many other examples of top-selling flavours ...
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  • 5 food holidays to celebrate in June, from cheese to smoothies

    May 27, 2022
    By Megan Prevost June has arrived and with it alluring thoughts of summer, long nights, and more outdoor dining in the sun. With the summer territory (no matter where you’re located) comes an increased popularity of frozen treats and refreshing snacks. While there are over 30 national food holidays to choose from this month (and every ...
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  • Technomic experts highlight the 5 Ps of menu innovation

    May 24, 2022
    At the US National Restaurant Association Show last week, experts from Technomic offered advice on how to best tailor a menu to encompass trending flavours and combinations and appeal to consumers’ desire to try new things when dining out. Ultimately, the conclusion was that menu innovation doesn’t require a huge menu overhaul if new options ...
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  • Plant-based meals are now a menu must-have

    May 17, 2022
    By Riana Topan The skyrocketing interest in plant-based meals has moved the industry from a “trend” to a global movement, and the growing market shows no signs of slowing down. Canadian consumers have demonstrated a consistent appetite for plant-based options, especially plant-based proteins, in recent years, with over 6.4 million people reducing or eliminating their meat consumption. Moreover, ...
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  • Climate change is now on the menu at seafood restaurants

    May 17, 2022
    By William W. L. Cheung Restaurant menus across the West Coast of Canada will soon see an influx of squid and sardine dishes, while the popular sockeye salmon makes a slow exit. As it turns out, climate change may have something to do with this. Restaurants update their menus all the time and this often goes unnoticed ...
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  • Assessing the public’s trust in Canada’s food supply

    May 16, 2022
    Over the past two decades, Canadian consumers have shown an increasing interest in the country’s food supply, including where their food comes from, how it is produced, the environmental impacts of that production, nutritional composition and health benefits, and more. This has only intensified during the pandemic, and a new report from Nourish Food Marketing has ...
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  • Bowl value meals & spicy sauces trending; take-home meals, cheese declining: Technomic

    May 6, 2022
    Technomic’s latest Ignite Canadian menu data report found that while the like of bowl value meals, spicy sauces, and lighter alcoholic beverages are trending strongly year over year, cheese and straight spirits have notably declined. The Ignite data noted declining overall year-over-year counts in entrees (-4 per cent), appetizers (-2 per cent), and sides (-5 per ...
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  • Plant-based proteins still more expensive amid soaring cost of meat

    May 2, 2022
    Plant-based proteins have many benefits, not least an often comparatively reduced toll on the planet and the environment, but does their pricing limit their accessibility? A new report has found that plant-based proteins are still generally more expensive than meat products despite the soaring cost of much meat in recent months. The Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University ...
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  • Trend Watch: Sake kasu, amba, devil’s club

    April 28, 2022
    By Katie Belflower Our latest edition of Trend Watch with Technomic highlights three menu trends that are being seen across Canada right now, and how Canadian restaurants are utilizing them to unique and great effect on their menus. Sake kasu Japanese paste-like condiment sake kasu is derived from the sake brewing process. Since it is a by-product of ...
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  • 5 food holidays to celebrate in May, from Mexican cuisine to seafood

    April 25, 2022
    By Megan Prevost May brings welcome thoughts of summer menus and warmer patio dining. For restaurant operators, it’s time to start thinking about all the different ways you can market and advertise your restaurant for the month. May is a month packed full of food holidays, with Mother’s Day, Victoria Day, Cinco de Mayo, and Memorial ...
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  • Diners willing to pay premium for sustainable takeout

    April 21, 2022
    Sustainable food is increasingly a focus of discussion for the food industry and the general public, and it seems it is top of mind for diners when it comes to ordering takeout, too. According to Deliverect data cited by Restaurant Dive, more than four in 10 (43 per cent of) diners would be willing to pay ...
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  • A palate for fusion: What globalizing our pantry has done for cuisine

    April 18, 2022
    By Sylvia Tomczak For many chefs, garam masala, harissa, saffron, and gochujang are ingredients that have become as interchangeable as salt, oil, or flour. The “global pantry,” one that is more rapidly stocking itself with international flavours, is reshaping what we eat. Especially in cultural melting pots like Canada, the shift to embrace ingredients and cooking ...
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  • Food waste equals wasted opportunity for Canada’s food sector

    April 13, 2022
    A new report from food rescue organization Second Harvest has illustrated the severity of Canada’s food waste problem and suggested some core solutions that the food industry can implement to resolve the issue. Second Harvest’s findings show that Canada’s food system wastes almost all of the surplus edible food it produces, when it could instead be ...
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  • Concepts to Watch: Burgoo, Uniburger, Sidewalk Citizen

    March 31, 2022
    By Katie Belflower Technomic is constantly keeping abreast of the latest and greatest in Canadian restaurants, and its latest Concepts to Watch highlights three more standout restaurant concepts on show right now. This month, the focus is on Burgoo, Uniburger, and Sidewalk Citizen. Source: Burgoo website Burgoo Facebook: 1,890 likes | Instagram: 6,748 followers | Twitter: 3,142 followers Locations: 4 (Vancouver, B.C.) Concept ...
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