With a record low of $30 billion in April, the restaurant industry's revenue returned to $54.6 billion in August, according to Restaurant.org. This recovery, despite the rigors of the COVID-19 pandemic, is due to innovative trends developed by businesses that are determined to survive. Let's take a look at some of the most prominent food trends happening right now.
A Revolution In Restaurant Tech
In an age of inconveniences caused by health and safety precautions, restaurants are pressed to give their customers an efficient experience as much as possible. In fact, this is the current goal of restaurant tech companies across the globe. Once a rising trend, it is now considered essential to have a restaurant management platform that puts the entire operation at the manager's fingertips. Everything from analytics to point-of-sale reports is accounted for.
Similar applications have been released to give employees access to online ordering interfaces, remote inventory management, and other effortless functions. Some platforms even offer in-app loyalty programs to reward customers who were the most engaging during this transition to the cloud. Now that there is a limit to how much manpower you can employ in a single place, tech is stepping up to do most of the heavy lifting.
The Rise Of Online Ordering And Subscription Delivery Services
Restaurants have to keep up with the rising amount of people who are ordering food from home. Hence, food delivery services, specifically the "Platform-to-Consumer Delivery" segment, are seeing a sharp spike in market volume. Restaurants who cannot afford to provide a private delivery service are relying on platforms like UberEATS to bring their business to the consumers. In a similar notion, we're also seeing a resurgence in food subscription boxes for users to discover different cuisines right in the comfort of their homes.
They've attracted everyone from people who like to try new things to those who simply didn't have enough time to go to the market. Now, people are either busy working from home or unconfident about leaving the house unless necessary. This adds a substantial amount of motivation to order your food online and delivered straight to your doorstep.
A Wellness Takeover
Now that people are more health-conscious than ever, new horizons have just opened up for those who want to make wellness their business. There is a dramatic upturn in the demand for functional foods and ingredients, such as omega-3 acids in tuna and gastric probiotics present in kombucha. In fact, consumers everywhere are looking to learn how to improve their health and immunity from within.
One thing these trends have in common is that they've been slowly gaining momentum for quite a while. Our current circumstances have become the catalyst to open up their foray into mainstream dining and change the food industry as we know it.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of foodworldnews.com
