Food Innovation in 2021: What trended and how it will shape 2022

As a global company with restaurant partners from Brazil to Beijing and everywhere in between, the team at Otter makes it a priority to keep up with food trends and innovation year round.

As we begin preparing for 2022, let’s take a look at the analytics, trends, and innovations that impacted the restaurant industry on a country by country level throughout the course of 2021.

Grocery, alcohol, comfort food and more reigned supreme in the United States in 2021

Since the pandemic, food delivery has become a staple in households across the United States. Despite restaurant re-openings, online delivery continues to increase to accommodate Americans’ busy & fast-paced lives. In fact, BusinessWire’s global food delivery market is even expected to hit the $154.34 billion mark in 2023. Let’s take a look back on the key trends of 2021 to help you strategize for your restaurant’s delivery business in 2022:

The demand for grocery, convenience & alcohol delivery has become a norm for Americans:

• According to Uber Eats Cravings Report, Groceries and alcohol have become some of the most popular delivery requests in 2021. Americans ordered everything from bananas (the top selling grocery item in the United States) to giant margaritas and White Claw variety packs. For practical purchases like Tylenol and toiletries, customers ordered from convenience stores like 7-Eleven.
• All three major delivery platforms boasted an increase in alcohol deliveries in 2021, with Grubhub reporting margarita as the top ordered alcohol, 240% more popular than last year.
• The top convenience orders for this year include: 2% milk (+190%), toilet paper (+190%), instant ramen (+143%), paper towels (+130%), and pepperoni Pizza Rolls (+103%).

Climate change is top-of-mind for your customers, and they’re pushing for sustainability and environmentally friendly food

• Customers are becoming more environmentally conscious every year: 83% say that they wish restaurants would use more environmentally friendly practices.
• Two-thirds of customers are now prepared to pay more for environmentally friendly products.
• Plant-based products are expected to grow in sales by 500% by 2030.
• According to Grubhub’s Taste of 2021 food report, the #1 most popular dish amongst Americans was the Impossible Burger.
• Gen Z’ers are turning to plant-based fixings and healthier ingredients, and restaurant chains will make it a priority to deliver on this evolution in 2021.  
• The most vegan-friendly American states include California, New York, Florida, Texas & Georgia.
  

With more delivery options and orders, your customers are becoming pickier

• Searches for "no egg," "no jalapeños," and "no cilantro" increased dramatically over the last year.
• Geographically, American customers in the northeast are pickier than other regions:
• Customers in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Georgia, added special instructions to their orders most often.

Comfort food isn’t going anywhere, but its meaning is expanding for younger generations

• Millennials and Gen Zers have broader palettes than the average Boomer or Gen Xer, which means they’re looking beyond pizza and burgers for a comfort fix to items like tacos & ramen.
• The top-ordered item of 2021 was French fries on both DoorDash & Uber Eats.
• According to Grubhub’s Taste of 2021 food report, the top dishes for 2021 includes quite a few traditional & less-traditional comforting indulgences:

Top Dishes

• Impossible cheeseburger (+442%)
• Shredded pork taco (+310%)
• Apple pecan chicken salad (+287%)
• Detroit-style pizza (+263%)
• Margarita (+240%)
• Pub mac and cheese (+174%)
• Pork dumplings (+173%)
• Chicken burrito (+166%)
• Poke nacho (+158%)
• Lettuce wrap (+155%)

Is your restaurant ready to succeed in 2022?

Keeping up with food trends is one way to ensure that you'll remain connected to your customer year after year. If you're looking for other ways to improve your restaurant, reach out to the team at Otter to learn how you can boost your bottomline in 2022!