Caribbean Cuisine
Caribbean Crossroads of Cuisine
Caribbean Menu Items
Approximately 10% of the leading 300 restaurant chains list one or more Caribbean items on their menu. Most items are concentrated in casual chains. The list below also provides selections from leading independents.
Menu Item |
Restaurant |
| Jamaican Black Pepper Shrimp | Cheesecake Factory |
| Jerk Chicken Pizza | Mellow Mushroom |
| Jamaican Top Sirloin | Hops Bar & Brewery |
| Coconut Crusted Shrimp | Cozymel's Costal Cantina |
| Caribbean Chicken & Shrimp | Houlihan's |
| Conch Fritters | Shell's Seafood Restaurant |
| Bahamian Beef Kabobs | Bahama Breeze |
| Mamita's Black Bean Soup | Cha Cha Cha's |
| Jerk Painted Salmon | Bahama Breeze |
| Cuban Pork Roast | El Liborio |
| Grilled Shrimp with Bucatini | Caribbean Room |
| Island Pork Tropichops | Pollo Tropical |
| Caribe Coconut Chicken | Rainforest Cafe |
| Hot Panini Cuban Pork Sandwich | Panera Bread |
| Grilled Caribbean Salad | Chili's Grill & Bar |
| Parrot Bay Coconut Shrimp | Red Lobster |
| Jerk Spice Swordfish | Mesa Grill |
| Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza | California Pizza Kitch |
Caribbean Flavors
The MenuMine!™ database of Foodservice Research Institute has identified several flavor enhancers that may be classified as Caribbean.
Fruits: mangos, coconut, pineapple, bananas, plantain, lime, guava
Seasonings: jerk seasonings, chili sauce/paste, curry, cilantro, garlic, ginger, mint, peppercorns, sesame seeds, parsley, tarragon
Marinades: jerk seasoning marinade, citrus marinade, tamarind & garlic sauce marinade, pineapple/soy/ginger marinade, sesame-ginger oil, brown sugar/pineapple/soy
Dressings: honey lime, creamy mango, banana dressing, citrus fruit dressing
Dipping Sauces: marmalade sauce, coconut curry, cilantro sauce, mango salsa, coconut ginger sauce, peppercorn sauce
Sauces: jerk sauce, pineapple orange sauce, tamarind pickapeppa sauce, tomato sauce, raisin caper sauce, honey rum spiced, sauce, pina colada sauce, apple mango salsa, cucumber sauce, cheese sauce, black bean relish, vegetable relish, pineapple/soy/ginger marinade, sesame-ginger oil, brown sugar/pineapple/soy
Leading Proteins for Caribbean Menu Items
Most menu items with a protein feature chicken (26% of items) or Shrimp (18%) or Pork (17%). Broadly defined, seafood including fish shrimp and shellfish accounts for 44% of menu items.
Protein Type/Cut |
Menu Share % |
| Chicken |
26% |
| Shrimp | 18% |
| Fish | 13% |
| Beef | 13% |
| Shelfish | 13% |
Cool Beverages For Summer
Cool signature beverages on chain menus are increasingly popular. Several chains use multiple platforms, with bases such as teas, chai teas, fruit, coffee, mocha and other flavors. Chai or spiced teas seem to be popping up everywhere, either hot or cold.
Chain |
Cool Beverage |
| Panera Bread | Iced Chai Tea Latte |
| Champagne Bakery | Cool Mocha Mint |
| Orange Julius | Cool Mocha Julius Smoothie |
| Cosi | Iced Chai Tea Latte |
| Seattle's Best Coffee | Iced Toddy Cooler |
| Starbucks | Tazo Tea Frappachino |
| Einstein Bros. Bagels | Spiced Chai Tea |
| Dunkin Doughnuts | Vanilla Chai |
| Barnes & Noble Cafe | Writers Chai |
| Carl's Jr. | Raspberry Iced Tea |
| Manhattan Bagel | Cool Cafe |
| Seattle's Best Coffee | Chai Tea Latte |
| Caribou Coffee | Mocha Fruit Smoothie |
| Baskin Robbins | Fruit Coolata |
| Ruby Tuesday | Raspberry Iced Tea |
| Freshens Frozen Treats | Coffee Smoothie Blend |
| Una Mas | Fresh Strawberry Lemonade |
| Daily Grill | Ice Tea Lemonade Juice |
| Au Bon Pain | Mocha Blast |
| Gloria Jeans | Mint Chocolate Bomb Chiller |
Menu Prices for Cool Summer Beverages
Cool summer beverages including iced tea, iced coffee, lemonade, blasts, chills, floats, freezes and smoothies (but not juices) have menu prices that average $2.95 in casual chains, $1.55 in midscale chains and $1.75 in QSR chains. Customer demand must be heavy for these items since they are showing price advances ranging from 4% to 10% per year.
Market Sector |
1998 |
2002 |
Average Annual Change |
| QSR | $1.25 | $1.75 | +10% |
| Midscale | $1.35 | $1.55 | +4% |
| Casual | $2.09 | $2.95 | +10% |
Worldwide
Differences In Calories by Food Source
American
and the European diets currently draw a greater share of daily calories from
meat (16% and 14% respectively) than elsewhere. The percentage share in the U.
S. also is high for fats & oils (18%), sugar (18%) and milk & dairy
products (10%). The rest of the
world (other than Europe) relies greatly on cereals and starchy roots and
pulses for its caloric intake. These observations come to us from Stacey Rosen,
Economic Research Service, USDA.
Data is from the years 1995 to 1997.
A more extensive presentation of the data below in pie chart format is available at: http://www.fas.usda.gov/info/agexporter/2000/Apr/diets.htm
Percent of Daily Calories Per Capita
|
|
Cereals |
Poultry |
Vegetables |
Roots and Pulses* |
Other** |
| U.S. |
23% | 16% | 5% | 4% | 52% |
| Europe | 25% | 14% | 6% |
5% | 50% |
| Latin America | 37% | 11% | 6% | 8% | 38% |
| Sub Saharan Africa |
46% | 3% | 5% | 24% | 22% |
| Developing Asia |
60% | 7% | 4% | 6% | 23% |
| N. Africa |
62% | 4% | 6% | 4% | 24% |
* pulses includes peas, beans and lentils ** Other includes vegetable oils & animal fats, milk & dairy, sugar & sweeteners
Cuisine Diversity
by Chain Sector
According to MenuMine!™, the menu of the average restaurant chain lists menu items from 8 different cuisines. QSR chains offer menu items from an average of 5 various cuisines; Midscale 9 cuisines and Casual 11 cuisines. Nine of ten QSR chains (88%) list one or more menu items that may be classified as American-Traditional. 66% of QSR chains list at least one Italian item, while 47% list Mexican, 44% American-Spicy/Hot and 43% one or more menu items of Southern cuisine.
Menu Listing of at Least One Item in a Cuisine
Cuisine |
QSR Chains |
Midscale Chains |
Casual Chains |
| American-Traditional | 88% | 98% | 89% |
| Italian | 66% | 86% | 89% |
| Mexican | 47% | 52% | 61% |
| American-Spicy/Hot | 44% | 54% | 61% |
| Southern | 43% | 80% | 66% |
| California/Pacific | 39% | 67% | 55% |
| Southwestern | 33% | 63% | 75% |
| American-BBQ | 31% | 55% | 64% |
| American-Seaboard | 27% | 63% | 75% |
| American-Healthy/Light | 20% | 29% | 21% |
| Cajun/Creole | 13% | 33% | 63% |
| Chinese | 5% | 19% | 36% |
| Caribbean | 4% | 8% | 20% |
| Average # Cuisines | 5 | 9 | 11 |
Other MenuMine Trend Articles
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