New Menu Items Are More Likely to Be Grilled

 Forty percent(40%) of all protein menu items added to menus in the last 18 months are grilled.  But yet, factor out these new items from items currently on the menu and grilling’s share drops to 28%.  This means foodservice operators are 43% more likely to add a Grilled item now than only a few years ago (calculated as 40/28*100).

  Grilling is not the primordial cooking method if we go way back in human history. That distinction belongs to Roasting. Grilling’s ascendancy began with the metal grate whether used with fire from below or heat from above (broiling).  Grilling imparts a unique taste to meats, fish and poultry as it soaks up the smoke and gases from the heat source.  Reasons forthe growth of Grilling are related to consumer demand for Flavor and to the Efficiency and increasing use of indoor grilling equipment.

 Proteins on the Menu are Usually Grilled

Counting old established menu items and new ones, grilling now accounts for one of every three items (with a protein) on the menu of America’s restaurants and on-site establishments. In second place, several lengths back, are Sauteeing and Deep Frying, which account for 14% and 12% respectively of all protein menu selections. (see table below)

 On the average foodservice menu, there are 10.6 protein menu items that are grilled, 7.1 that are sauteed and 6.1 that are deep fried. Unfortunately, thereis no valid way to manipulate the statistics below to arrive at a share of total meals by cooking method, however, grilling is estimated to have a possible share as high as 39% and as low as 29%, while sautéeing and deep frying might have a swing of four to five share points, mainly because of the popularity of fried foods such as french fries.

(Source: MenuMine from Foodservice Research Institute)
(Basis: 1350 audited restaurant menus / 52,102 current menu items)

Menu Practices

Available for purchase on MarketResearch.com is Menu Practices. Designed to advise menu developers at restaurant chains on the competitive strengths of their menu items, flavors and ingredients. Menu data from restaurant chains examines key menu characteristics affecting menu item positioning. Menu item name and price data are analyzed in aggregate and individually for all chains. Menu characteristics include menu part, cuisine of item, protein type, leading items, menu prices, platforms, liquid flavor enhancers by application, dry flavor enhancers by application, new items on the menu, cooking methods by protein. An appendix details menu items and prices for each restaurant chain.

To view a sample of the Menu Practices
Report for All Casual Independents, click the PDF icon.

Grilled Items Added to Menus in 2008

There are hundreds of Grilled items newly added to menus in 2008. These items feature all protein types but mainly Beef (29%), Chicken (24%) and Fish (14%). These new items pop up in all menu parts, but mainly Center of Plate (36%), Hot Sandwiches (17%), Burgers (14%) and Green Salads (9%).

• Hops Bar and Brewery added Grilled Peppercorn Meatloaf
• Taco Bell added Grilled Steak Soft Tacos
• Gordon Biersch Brewery added Grilled Chilean Sea Bass
• L and L Hawaiian Grill added Grilled Spam Musubi
• Outback Steakhouse added Chargrilled Tuscan Ribeye
• Slanted Door added Grilled Meyer Ranch Ribeye Steak
• Front Page News added Grilled Chicken Caesar Wrap
• Black Angus Steakhouse added Flame Grilled Chicken Breast
• Friday’s added Chipotle Grilled Steak Sandwich
• Left at Albuquerque added Sante Fe Nachos with Grilled Steak
• Pollo Tropical/Tropi Grill added Grilled Steak Fajitas
• Original Roadhouse Grill added Mesquite Grilled Steak Sandwich
• Elephant Bar Restaurants added Grilled Chicken Citrus Salad
• Libby Hill Seafood added Grilled Chicken Sandwich
• Weber Grill added Grilled New York Steak Salad
• Brio Tuscan Grille added Grilled Steak Panini
• Captain D’s added Grilled Wild Salmon Sandwich
• Bar Louie added Simply Grilled Salmon
• Rafferty’s Restaurant and Bar added Grilled Salmon Caesar Salad
• Farallon added Grilled Atlantic Cobia
• Roy's added Kids Teriyaki Grilled Salmon
• Sagebrush Steakhouse and Saloon added Grilled Mountain Trout

Grilling is Popular for All Proteins

Beef is listed on 94% of all foodservice menus, slightly more than Chicken (on 93% of menus) and Pork (91%). Among operations menuing Beef, Chicken or Pork, a very high 9 of 10 grill the protein on at least one menu item. Other items centered around the specific protein might be deep fried or sautéed or baked or cooked some other way. On average, there are 12.8 Grilled Beef Items on the average menu of restaurants menuing Beef. For operations menuing Chicken, there are 12.9 Grilled Chicken Items offered on the menu. And for those using pork (loins, shoulders, chops, ham, others) 11.2 Grilled Pork Items are menued.

Note: pork includes loins, chops, ribs, ham, bacon, sausage,
whether used as primary entrée or secondary topping or filling..

Uniqueness of MenuMine

Information in this newsletter has been extracted from MenuMine, an online menu information database developed and operated by Foodservice Research Institute. MenuMine is the premier menu information database in foodservice, an honor earned through innovation, cutting edge applications and insightful research reporting.

Menu Item Types Best Suited for Grilling

Beef items most frequently grilled (includes broiling and chargrilling) are Hamburgers, Sirloin Steak and New York Strip Steaks. Grilled Chicken Breast, Grilled Chicken Pieces and Grilled Caesar Salad are the leading grilled chicken items. Pork is menued as a Grilled Pork Chop, Pork Tenderloin, Ham Steak or Baby Back Ribs, however, frequently menu items such as burgers and cheeseburgers use Bacon, a pork product, as a meat topping. Fish that is grilled shows up mainly as Grilled Salmon, Tuna Salad Melts, Grilled Fish, Fish Tacos and Ahi Tuna.

Leading Grilled Items (ranked top to bottom)

Leading Sauces with Grilled Menu Items (rank order)

Au Jus, BBQ Sauce, Gravy, Teriyaki Sauce, Butter Sauce, Béarnaise Sauce, Cream Sauce, White Wine Sauce, Tomato Sauce, Garlic Sauce, Demi Glace, Mustard Sauce, Cheese Sauce, Hollandaise Sauce, Mushroom Sauce, Marinara Sauce, Red Wine Sauce, Chipotle Sauce, Lemon Butter Sauce

Leading Seasonings with Grilled Menu Items (rank order)

Garlic, Lemon, Herbs, BBQ, Cajun, Spicy, Mexican Spices, Lemon and Pepper, Ginger, Rosemary, Italian Herbs, Pepper, Peppercorns, Basil, Garlic Butter, Southwest Spices, Parsley, Cilantro, Curry, Mesquite, Sweet and Spicy

Product In Use Report

Product in Use Reports consist of all relevant data fields with menu item shares shown for leading items in each field. This newsletter, in fact, sourced the Product in Use Report on Sandwiches. However, the data was supplemented by MenuMine apps including Category Incidence, Price Trend and Market Size Projector plus the BEST Report.

To view a sample of the Product in Use
Report, click the PDF icon.