Press release - spice up your menu fnl

Operators advised to ‘spice up’ their menus
Santa Maria and Allegra Strategies announce new research encouraging operators to respond to consumer demand for spicier menu options At a recent event, Santa Maria has announced new research in association with Allegra Strategies that shows that consumers are looking to eat spicier foods when eating out of The research calls on operators to not only respond to this consumer demand but to investigate a fusion of different flavours entering the market to keep their menus fresh and exciting. Consumers are being more influenced than ever before by travels across the globe and with concepts such as ‘street food’ becoming ever more prevalent they’re being introduced to new flavours and cuisines on a regular basis. Comparing data from 2011 to 2012, industry’s expectations as to which cuisines are going to grow over the next three to five years has changed. Figures now show that twice the amount of people see cuisine from the Middle East expected to grow this year than last; and the influence of Spanish, Mediterranean and Vegetarian remaining strong prospects for the Ashley Pinder, country sales manager UK, Santa Maria comments on the trends that have come out of the research: “It’s great to see consumers and operators alike showing a tendency to experiment with different cuisine types, and alongside that foods that are fused together using different spices influenced from a host of regions across the globe. “At Santa Maria, we’re constantly looking for new avenues to grow and introduce new flavours and mixes to our customers. The more. by Santa Maria range has allowed us to really extend our profile and meet this increasing demand for something that’s perhaps outside the norm of spices, but which continues to give a great taste profile that meets the ever-changing demands of consumers, whilst challenging chefs to create great tasting “It’s great to understand the cuisines that are influencing operators including Asian, Middle Eastern, Lebanese, North African and South American amongst others. It’s not only consumers that are taking advantage of travelling the world, our chefs are constantly looking for new inspiration from around the world that will put their menu ahead of the game. We know it’s tough out there and being able to make your food offer stand out against the competition is key to delivering on the bottom line.” Simon Stenning from Allegra Strategies comments: “It’s great to see the influences impacting the menu decisions we’re seeing both out on the high street and within the workplace. From the research, we’ve seen more and more operators from event caterers to pub and restaurant chains introducing a growing usage of spices with them becoming an integral part of their regime. Ours is an industry that can’t afford to and never will stand still. There’s always something new that we’re seeing coming across from one continent or another that starts to put particular eating out venues on the map. The rise in the number of Mexican outlets over the last few years for example has been phenomenal. We’re now also seeing the rise of new styles of flavouring being used to premiumise chicken such as piri piri. It’s great to see this type of taste explosion hitting our shores and really giving consumers “We’ve seen that a key influence behind these changes is down to suppliers being more progressive and experimenting with new flavours. Santa Maria is a great example of looking at the way the market is changing and what’s influencing this behaviour and harnessing this and creating more flavoursome combinations that really appeal to not only the consumer, To round off the launch event, held on 29 November 2012, guests were treated to sample some mouth-watering dishes prepared by the renowned father of fusion cuisine, Peter Gordon, executive chef and co-owner of The Providores and Kopapa. Peter prepared an array of tantalising dishes incorporating the more. by Santa Maria range of spices including: • Banana, cacao & chili muffins
• Cheddar, smoked paprika and pasta basilico scones
• Seared salmon with wasabi & sesame, avocado chili & lime guacamole and pickled
• Salad of orange pepper dusted fried haloumi, rocket, water chestnuts and triple pepper
• Grilled chicken breast marinated in chili & lime on triple pepper broccoli couscous with
• Roast cod on smoked paprika mash with salsa verde
• Pumpkin orange pepper risotto with triple pepper chicken and smoked paprika,
About Santa Maria
Santa Maria and Discovery Foods are part of the World Foods and Flavourings Division of the Paulig Group. The more. by Santa Maria range of fusion spice blends include: chili and lime, orange pepper, cacao and chili, triple pepper, wasabi and sesame, smoked paprika, pasta basilico. The range has been awarded the ‘Approved Product’ status by the Craft Please visit www.santmariaworld.com for more information. For more information on the research and recipes please contact:

Source: http://www.discoveryfoods.co.uk/media/85570/press_release_-_spice_up_your_menu_fnl.pdf