The traditional sweet treat at the end of a meal can be a huge factor in boosting profits. Darren Tristano explains how consumers in the US view desserts and how far they are likely to go to enjoy them
Even as health consciousness has risen, consumers still look to desserts to satisfy cravings, reward themselves or indulge during a night out. Consumption of these sweet treats is high – 63% of consumers eat dessert at least once per week. Knowing how customers and trends are evolving will be imperative for restaurant operators who wish to drive traffic and increase dessert orders.
Technomic’s 2015 US Dessert Consumer Trend Report offers important insights into how consumers define dessert and when they most often opt for it; reasons diners decline dessert; what’s trending on menus; and what’s to come in the future.
Definitions of dessert
The majority of consumers (75%) still associate traditional items such as cookies, cake and ice cream with dessert, along with any sweet food eaten at the end of a meal. Fewer consumers consider items dessert simply because they’re sweet; more associate dessert as something eaten after a meal.
Discrepancies in the definition of dessert emerge among age groups, however. Older consumers are more likely to view sweet, healthy items (such as fruit) eaten after a meal as dessert: 41% of those 35 and older define these items as dessert, compared with 35% of consumers aged 18 to 34. Younger diners, who are more likely to indulge in dessert, often consider non-traditional items as dessert, such as adult beverages. Two fifths of consumers aged 18 to 34 consider sweet items following a meal as dessert, versus 27% of those 35 and older. Likely attributed to younger consumers’ broader definition of dessert, these diners eat dessert more often: 69% eat dessert at least weekly, compared with 60% of older consumers who say the same.
Also shifting is the time of day that consumers are reaching for treats. Consumption is decreasing the most before dinner – possibly due to health concerns because diners are more likely to indulge later in the day; this follows a year-over-year increase in pre-dinner desserts from 2010 to 2013. However, younger consumers embrace desserts at all day-parts, especially as a meal replacement or a late-night snack. Growing bakery concept Insomnia Cookies serves the latter, delivering warm cookies, brownies and cookie cakes along with cold milk and ice cream at most units. The chain was founded in a college dorm room and has since grown to 70 locations, satisfying cravings late into the night.
Encouraging orders
Commodity prices for eggs and milk have risen since 2013, leading top-ranked restaurant chains by sales to increase their dessert prices. Consumers have responded accordingly: in 2015, 30% of diners said they rarely or never eat dessert because they are too costly, an increase from 21% who said the same in 2013.
But an improving economy is creating more financial stability for consumers, who are growing less concerned about affordability when they enjoy a meal at a full-service restaurant. About 70% of customers identified an affordable price as important when ordering dessert at full-service restaurants (FSR), down from 76% in 2013. More important to FSR diners are deals on desserts, likely because price points are higher. Combo meals with dessert especially appeal to cost-conscious 18 to 34-year-olds. Consumers overall are more interested in meals that come with dessert at FSRs; patrons visit FSRs when they have more time to dine and may be more willing to indulge as a way to treat themselves.
When diners opt not to indulge in dessert, most (67%) do so simply because they’re too full. But patrons are increasingly declining to eat dessert for health reasons. Almost one quarter of consumers rarely or never order dessert because they think it’s unhealthy, up from 15% who said the same in 2013. Consumers’ growing concerns with additives could be fuelling the increased avoidance of desserts due to their perceived unhealthiness.
Consumers equate fewer additives in desserts with ‘better for you’. About one third of diners say that fewer sugars, fats and preservatives indicate healthiness. Health-halo terms ‘real’ and ‘scratch-made’ remain top of mind for consumers’ better-for-you dessert definitions. The use of ‘real’ and ‘no artificial sweeteners’ is growing in importance to customers (up 41% and 29%, respectively, since 2013), emphasis-ing that transparency on dessert menus will be essential in marketing sweets as better for you. Also incorporating alternative sweeteners like honey, fruit juice or maple syrup can help attract a wider variety of customers. Among traditional health claims, ‘low in sugar’ is most important to patrons with children, likely to minimise health risks or limit hyperactivity that results from eating sugar.
Adding healthy options that align with consumers’ perception of better-for-you desserts could encourage dessert orders among the most health-conscious, who are most often women and younger customers. Adding desserts to menus with these attributes could also increase average spend because consumers are willing to spend more on desserts described as real, made-from-scratch and house-made or homemade. Younger diners, more so than their older counterparts, also gravitate towards health-halo terms such as sustainable, local and organic.
Mash-up offerson a restaurant operator’s customer base, its dessert menu could be quite varied –accounting for these divergent consumer preferences. On-trend restaurants are fusing different items to create one unique product, upscaling their offerings and infusing alcohol into sweets to satisfy customer cravings for desserts.
The 2013 US Dessert Consumer Trend Report noted the emergence of combining two dessert items as a trend. Two years later, this idea has taken off and appears on the menus of many restaurants as permanent items and limited-time offers. Pastry mash-ups and dessert pizzas garner attention for a brand – sometimes thanks to large advertising campaigns – and drive more patrons through the door. These mash-ups satisfy consumers’ desire for new and unique flavours in a way that is still familiar. Most notable of these is the Cronut, a croissant-doughnut hybrid invented by chef Dominique Ansel and trademarked by his New York City bakery. But that hasn’t stopped others from putting similar items on their menus. Dunkin’ Donuts offers its own Croissant Donut, with limited-time flavour options such as Boston Kreme.
Other mash-up examples include the Strawberry Nachos at Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom, featuring cinnamon-sugar fried pasta strips with mascarpone, strawberries and blueberries, and the Fiery Mango Tango dessert pizza at CiCi’s Pizza that combines pineapple, mango, jalapeño and cream-cheese icing. These items are proliferating on menus now, but eventually their novelty will begin to wear off, forcing operators to get even more creative. In the future, look for flavour mash-ups like cupcake-flavoured ice cream and milk and cereal flavour combinations – such as Taco Bell’s Cap’n Crunch Donut Holes, available in the US, with crunchy cereal outside and a creamy, milk-flavoured filling.
Leading chains, particularly FSRs, are preparing desserts fresh in-house and ensuring their diners know it with menu call-outs like ‘freshly made’ (up 26% on leading dessert menus since 2013), ‘handcrafted’ (up 44%) and ‘gourmet’ (also up 44%). Many consumers say these descriptors make them more likely to purchase a dessert, and almost half say they would pay more for desserts with one or more of these call-outs. Restaurants are taking note: ‘freshly made’ is how Boston’s Restaurant & Sports Bar describes its Mini Cinnamon Pretzels – created from original, handcrafted dough – and Cheddar’s Casual Café promotes that its Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Minis are freshly prepared daily in the restaurant’s scratch kitchen.
As consumers pay closer attention to menu transparency and seek better-for-you alternatives, chains will begin to more closely examine ingredient sourcing as well as additive and genetically modified organisms (GMO) usage for their desserts. Expect more top-selling restaurant chain desserts to feature organic, additive-free, locally sourced and free-range claims, particularly for dairy and eggs.
Also trending at FSRs is the addition of alcohol in treats from puddings to cakes. LongHorn Steakhouse offers a Bourbon Pecan Tart, served warm with hot fudge and vanilla-bean ice cream and finished with a caramel drizzle, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar serves a Deconstructed Balvenie S’more infused with Balvenie DoubleWood Scotch whisky. These are just two examples of operators using liquor and liqueur to elevate their dessert menus; references to these beverages in baked goods increased 12.5% during the past year at US Top 500 restaurant chains by sales, according to Technomic’s MenuMonitor. Using alcohol can enhance the other flavours in the dish and appeals to Millennials: 43% of consumers aged 18 to 34 say they find alcohol-infused desserts appealing compared to only 16% of their counterparts.
With this trend well established in full-service restaurants, expect casual-dining chains to take a cue from the independent sector and begin to incorporate newly trending alcohols into their desserts. Look for treats to feature more complex alcohol profiles, including smoky mezcal and fruit-infused brandies.
Keep in step to boost bottom line
It will continue to be crucial for restaurants to know their customer base to better understand what motivates their decisions and what they’re looking for in a sweet ending to a meal. Consumers’ age, gender and whether or not they dine with children can affect their dessert purchases and preferences. Being in step with consumers will help steer offerings to drive traffic and dessert orders and satisfy customer cravings.
Darren Tristano is executive vice-president at Technomic Inc, a Chicago-based foodservice consultancy and research firm. Since 1993, he has led the development of Technomic’s information services division and directed multiple aspects of the firm’s operations. For more information, visit www.technomic.com.
