This year brings new trendy items on summer menus, from local ingredients to fruity flavours, and more! As summer slowly arrives, menus are getting fresh to reflect diner demand, many of them incorporating strawberries on their own and in combination with other seasonal flavours.
Fruit and seasonality get centre stage through the warmer months in Canada, as operators take advantage of our short growing season and highlight local ingredients.
Wendy’s Canada recently launched a new summer menu featuring a fresh Strawberry Salad, Watermelon Lemonade, and Peach or Tropical Strawberry Refreshers. These features highlight fresh summer flavours with bright, seasonal ingredients.
Perkins Restaurant and Bakery recently announced the return of the Strawberry Days menu, featuring fresh Strawberry Pie, Strawberry Muffins and Strawberry Crispers, as well as Strawberry Pancakes, and to sip, Strawberry Lemonade, and Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cold Brew. The seasonal menu is a fan favourite, returning annually for almost 20 years.
McDonald’s’ recent summer beverage release included a wide range of Refreshers, Dirty Sodas, and Cloud Coffees, and some strawberry drinks were also featured. The lineup included a Creamy Strawberry Coke (combining Coca-Cola with a strawberries-and-cream flavoured syrup and topped with cold foam), along with a Strawberry Watermelon Refresher (Strawberry, watermelon, and lemonade over ice with freeze dried strawberries). On the sweeter side, they are now offering a Strawberry Sundae and a Strawberry Cheesecake McFlurry on the summer menu.
Tim Hortons’ spring and summer menu also got the berry treatment with the addition of a Strawberry Cheesecake Filled Muffin and a Strawberry Watermelon Protein Quencher. These items launched earlier this season but will be available through the summer.
As a go-to treat for 53 per cent of consumers on a weekly basis, berries lend themselves to a variety of menu applications, from beverages to desserts to salads, and more. Strawberries are also getting attention on social media, seeing an increase in mentions of 37 per cent, which translates into about 2.4 per cent menu growth quarter-over-quarter.
The seasonality, health benefits, and vibrant (Instagrammable) colour of fresh summer strawberries are a desirable addition to restaurant menus, appearing on about 31 per cent of this season’s restaurant menus.
