The first day of the 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show kicked off June 23 briskly. While the first day often doesn’t draw the crowds that pack the Javits Convention Center nearly as much as they do on the Monday following, many exhibitors and attendees expressed surprise at how the aisles filled up by midday.

Nancy Kruse, founder of The Kruse Company, kicked off the show’s slate of talks Sunday with her presentation, “State of the Plate 2024: Outlook and Opportunity for Specialty Food” on the Main Stage. Kruse led the audience through the trends she identified as Comfort, Community, Curiosity, Proteins With Pedigrees, Vibrant Vegetables and Premium Finishes.

For comfort, one of the biggest trends is an American staple.

“It’s all about cheese,” Kruse said.

A prime example of this is the industry-shaking debut of Campbell’s Grilled Cheese & Tomato condensed soup, as well as the emergence of versions of the patty melt in restaurants.

Biscuits are on the uptick, she said, especially for the hot trend of daytime cafes that are open for breakfast, brunch and lunch.

Southern-style foods in general are on the rise, she said. Kruse also identified the trend of restaurants serving food on sheet pans, which she expects to expand to homes as well.

Americans are still consuming chicken at record levels, which Kruse expects to continue.

As an aside, Kruse said the use of lavender as an ingredient is something to keep an eye on because consumers are looking for soothing and relaxing flavors.

If there’s one thing that the industry needs to work on with comfort foods, she said, is texture.

Finding community is something that is primal for people, breaking bread together as well as sharing board games. This trend is all about countering the mad world of technology that we exist in.

“Food is analog, tactile and shareable.”

Charcuterie, chicken wings and fondue are three community trends that win for shareability that consumers crave, she said, adding that she hadn’t expected the fondue trend to resurface.

If you’ve paid attention to your friends and culture, you’ll know pickleball is more and more popular than ever, Kruse noted. Foodservice can capitalize on the trend by offering consumers pickle-themed menu items.

For the community trend, Kruse advised high concepts that are still familiar with consumers.

“The higher the technology, the higher the touch,” she said. “These foods are an offset to technology.”

Consumers’ curiosity about global tastes is thriving, Kruse said, including fusion foods.

“Fusion is alive and well,” she said, adding a cautionary note that earlier attempts at fusion led to “con-fusion,” mixing tastes that didn’t complement each other.

“Now it’s about compatible mixing,” she said, using Del Taco’s Shredded Beef Burria Ramen as an outstanding example – adding that burria in general is a hot trend. She also cited Velvet Taco’s WTF menu offerings – a revolving weekly offering of fusions such as the Pot sticker Taco.

The Latin pantry, such as First Watch’s Elote Mexican Street Taco Hashbrowns (noting the embedded definition of elote in the name as an example of appealing to Americans who may not be familiar or able to pronounce elote) the Italian pantry and Asian pantry as other global cuisines consumers are craving. In addition, she said that consumers are seeking global flavors at breakfast to start their days, too.

“Fusion is back,” she said, “although it never really went away. Mashups are huge.”

As far as proteins, Kruse said, Americans are bringing beef back into their diets, although they’re more selective about the beef they choose to eat. Restaurants are wise to exploit the brand and breed of the beef they offer to diners, as well as promoting premium cuts at popular prices.

Consumers also want to know how the cows were raised and sustainability efforts food manufacturers employ. Clean(er) food is important to consumers, she said, using McDonald’s surprising announcement to go from frozen meat to fresh without artificial ingredients in its menu items. Kruse also cited Chick-fil-A’s movement from offering NAE to NAIHM, which the industry took note of.

“The decision to go to NAE (no antibiotics ever) was monumental,” she said.

There was blowback from the industry (not in sales, she pointed out), so the company downgraded to no artificial ingredients important to human medicine.

Kruse advised the foodservice industry to keep an eye on regenerative agriculture, which consumers are watching, too.

“Promote the provenance,” she said, “and clean food claims.”

Mike Kurtz, the innovator of Mike’s Hot Honey who is credited with creating the hot honey craze, is focused on working with restaurants as well as CPGs to use Mike’s Hot Honey – as opposed to expanding the line, which remains as the original Mike’s Hot Honey and Extra Hot Honey.

“There’s so many places a brand can live,” he said.

From Utz potato chips to menus that feature his product, Kurtz said food manufacturers and restaurants are eager to feature Mike’s Hot Honey, letting consumers know the popular brand is included in ingredients.

From its creation as a pizza topper, shareability is in the DNA of Mike’s Hot Honey, he said, another example of how his brand fits with consumer and industry  trends.

“It’s something people are moved to share,” Kurtz said. “Honey is, in itself, an ancient gift. It’s something that’s baked into the human existence.”

While vegan and vegetarian diets are more popular these days, they’re still a fraction of overall diets, Kruse said. Flexitarian is a segment that’s growing, she added, which foodservice should keep in mind.

Chick-fil-A’s thoughtful creation of its Cauliflower Sandwich, which takes into consideration flavor and texture, is a good example of a menu item appealing to vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diners. Some restaurants are making more use of carrots – not just the carrot itself but the whole carrot with the greens – as well as collard greens.

“Try to think outside the crate,” she said.

Finally, she said, the trend toward using premium finishes on familiar foods is booming. French fry consumption is at a record high, she said. Foodservice is responded by topping them with such luxury touches as caviar, white truffles and Wagyu beef. Even Taco Bell has had limited time offers that have included truffles.

Americans are “loving lobster” and “craving caviar,” Kruse said. One Las Vegas restaurant has offered a gold-crusted burger, she said. Kruse stressed the importance of using food-grade gold to follow this trend, not anything from the local craft store.

Over at the Marky’s booth, one of the biggest U.S. purveyors of caviar and other luxe seafood offerings is seeing this resurgence of caviar on Americans’ plates. Once as common as ketchup, caviar moved into the luxury foods when someone realized the marketing value, eventually moving from an expensive food to exclusive due to the rising prices.

However, in recent years – thanks to the rising use of farm-raised sturgeon supplying the caviar – caviar’s popularity is rising. Consumers are more aware of the different kinds of caviar as well as the fact that sturgeon is the only source of caviar, with other fish eggs called roe.

In recent years, as another sign of how caviar is appealing to the masses, Marky’s installed a kiosk at New York City’s Grand Central Station, for commuters to grab a tin on their way to work or home.

Kruse said foodservice should serve its own “reality check” by not going too far into the luxurious touches. For instance, she cited TGI Friday’s steakhouse meatballs as a way of elevating a familiar menu item.

Americans emerging from the starkness of culinary offerings during the pandemic from FOMO (fear of missing out) to YOLO (you only live once), exercising what has been coined as “revenge spending.”

“While they eating out less often,” Kruse said, “they want their money’s worth.”

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