Chicken Tinga Loaded Tot-chos
So, how do we stay ahead with the trends? Look at what the restaurants are doing. “ Easy.
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Based on market research conducted by Statista, the most popular ethnic cuisines in America are not so surprising. 64% of the category is owned by Asian cuisine and 59% of the category is owned by Latin cuisine. Surprisingly, the third most popular in that category is Italian. There are sixteen thousand more Italian restaurants in the United States than that of Asian and Latin. It was fun to do market research on what is trending and what we can expect for the next ethnic food craze. Of course, plant based,
plant forward and flexible protein options all came to the forefront of most articles. Sushi, bibimbap, pho and dim sum are category leaders in Asian cuisine. In school nutrition, we do see pho bars,dumplings and potstickers on menus. Latin foods are still a placeholder in the cafeteria as this category also has so much to offer. It would behoove any menu planner to take a deep dive at their ADP and analyze how to incorporate more Asian and Latin meals into low participation days. Most importantly, ask your students what ethnic flavors they want to see on the menu!
Della M. Collins, SNS Regional Account Manager, Asian Food Solutions & Comida Vida
Della’s passion for Culinary Arts and School Nutrition allow her to bring innovative solutions to the K-12 segment. Working eleven years with a large school system in Maryland allowed her to gain knowledge, vision and harness ability to create culinary training programs as well as write menus for all facets of child nutrition. Della prides herself on being organized; forward thinking while considering how food and products will be received by students who participate in the meal programs. She looks to modern food trends for intuitive menu placement and considerations. Additionally, she stays relevant with packaging and environmental trends; which work symbiotically with the K-12 population.
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