Just as comfort food is used to bring joy, curb anxiety and feed the soul, could extravagance do the same? Here are some ways people are useing premium food as a reward in times of restraint.
Segment: Restaurants
Posts Archive
The Overseas Brands & Products Succeeding in the U.S.
While the U.S. once held a monopoly on innovative ideas, overseas chains are moving on missed opportunity in restaurants, grocery aisles, liquor stores, and even retail. Here, we highlight some noteworthy brands and suggest ways to position yourself for success.
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The Foods and Trends Behind the Year of the Horse (opens in a new tab)
February marks the start of the Year of the Fire Horse, defining 2026 as a year of action, energy and movement, where the overall spirit is about blazing a trail and taking bold risks. Let’s look at how food-oriented brands are participating in the festivities.
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Exploring the Possibilities within Small-Plate Culture
The demand for smaller portions is becoming a space for menu-makers to play in. To spark inspiration, we’re putting a spotlight on small-plate culture, highlighting the uniqueness of dishes along with possibilities for interpretation.
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Getting Inspired by Mainland Hawaiian Fare
This month, we’re offering an island escape, sharing buzz on the restaurant concepts, chefs, cookbooks and flavors of Hawaii, especially those found on the mainland. Learn about proteins, cocktails, snacks, sauces and spice blends that could inspire your product pipeline—or home kitchen.
A Look into Responsible Food Packaging
This month, we revisit responsible packaging, and the demand created by new legislation, as well as controversy surrounding recycling. Take inspiration from recent innovations in the U.S. and overseas and consider our four recommendations to focus efforts.
Focusing in on Today’s Food Photography Trends
With food photography powering content in every area from websites to packaging, sales materials, and media, we keep our finger on the pulse of trends in this space. Here are 5 of our current favorite trends.
The Powerful Growth of Asian Grocery in America
We discuss the rise, significance and wide appeal of Asian grocery, as well as key players and formats. And inspired by social media, we shop nearby locations and “share our haul.”
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Podcast Picks and Best Practices
Podcasts are no longer niche. Most adults are listening weekly. In our industry, brands from Trader Joe’s to Crumbl Cookie are getting in on it. This month, we’ll be sharing not only the food, beverage, and restaurant podcasts on our radar, but best practices from our experience in podcast development.
14 Examples of Retail Theater
The term “retail theater” has become synonymous with “in-store experience”. We subscribe to a more pure, undiluted definition – one that holds the term to a higher standard and should be reserved for engagements that meet more of the criteria for live theater. In our opinion, retail theater is rare, but we’ve located 14 examples across the globe that truly deliver.
2 Areas Where Tradition Is Being Upheld
What if resurrecting the past had less to do with novelty and more to do with preserving culture? What if the motivations were purer…say, saving something from extinction? That is precisely what we are seeing. The attempt to preserve “old world traditions” lest they be forgotten.
10 Pop-Up Experiences From 2023
Creating exclusive experiences is no easy task. Let’s explore a range of recent pop-up experiences, to see how they leverage everything from pop culture, to takeovers, and unconventional retail spaces to drive brand engagement and test new product ideas.
