There’s nothing like world travel to inspire new menu ideas, but if hopping on a plane isn’t in the cards, take a look at the trends revealed in Technomic’s recent Global Menu Innovation report.
Here are nine of the more unique items restaurant chains are offering this summer, from Brazil to Saudi Arabia.
Nachos with a sweet twist
At Outback Steakhouse in Brazil, Sweet Choco Nachos are new to the dessert menu. The item features crunchy chocolate tortillas surrounding a scoop of creamy chocolate mousse dotted with brownie pieces; white chocolate sauce and fresh strawberries complete the presentation.
Photo courtesy of Outback
While sweet nachos are showing up on other dessert menus, the generous portion of mousse and berry pieces move the indulgence up a notch or two.
Fried chicken moves to the dark side
The Black Gold Crispy Chicken Series at Dicos in China takes chicken over to the (really!) dark side. Dicos, China’s third-largest fast-food chain, uses technology to innovates the preparation, creating a thinner and crisper black crispy skin that locks in juices. It is then sprinkled with golden chile powder for a shot of heat. The menu refers to it as “Crispy Fried Chicken 3.0.”
Photo courtesy of Dicos
Breakfast with a side of CBD
Hemp is derived from the cannabis plant, and the nutritious seeds have long been touted for their health halo. It also has low levels of CBD that largely are undetected when used in food products. But Le Pain Quotidien in France plays up the current interest in hemp by naming a new menu item the Hemp Egg Mimosa Tartine. It’s made with hemp bread and topped with chopped hard-cooked eggs, leek sprouts and furikake—the Japanese seasoning that’s a blend of sesame seeds and nori.
Floating on bubbles
Baskin-Robbins taps the bubble tea craze with the Magic Bubble Ice Cream Float, a summer LTO on the menu at locations in India. The blue and red treat is a mashup of a classic ice cream float and bubble tea, featuring blue Splish Splash ice cream, grenadine syrup and popping boba.
Photo courtesy of Baskin-Robbins
Carb loading
Potatoes pair with mac ‘n cheese at A&W locations in Japan, with the name of the item—Hello American Tasty—reflecting the popularity of this combination in “American home cooking,” according to the menu description. There are two versions: Mac & Cheese Mashed Potatoes and Loaded Potato Fries, potato fries topped with cheese, sauce and pasta. The carb-heavy LTO is promoted as a snack as well as a side.
Dipping into new flavors
Chicken McNuggets are a universal favorite, but in the U.S., McDonald’s doesn’t change up the dipping sauces very much. Not so at McD’s in Malaysia. Along with the classic BBQ and Sweet & Sour, guests can now opt for French Cheese, Sweet Chili, Japanese Curry and Cajun. The four new sauces are additions to the core menu.
Spam gets stylish
The “Caramelized Spam Collection” sounds like a fashion line, but it’s actually a trio of seasonal breakfast items at Seattle’s Best Coffee in the Philippines. There’s a Caramelized Spam Croissant, Caramelized Spam Panini and Caramelized Spam Plate, all featuring the canned meat cubed and dressed in a sweet coating. Candied bacon is on trend in the U.S., so why not caramelized Spam in the Philippines, where it’s a staple of the cuisine?
Photo courtesy of Seattle's Best Coffee
Wrapping up the heat
KFC in Saudi Arabia amplifies the spicy stuff with itsRed Hot Twister. This LTO wraps up crunchy fried chicken strips with fiery harissa sauce in a red Tabasco tortilla. The combination pairs the Middle Eastern condiment with a favorite American hot sauce to double the heat.
Sweet on corn
Fresh summer corn has a sweet flavor and Paris Baguette makes the most of that by blending it into whipped cream for a line of Cool Cream Corn pastries in its South Korean locations.
Photo courtesy of SPC Group
There’s a corn bun filled with sweet corn and whipped cream, a Cream Corn Sandwich spread with corn cream on light corn marble bread, and Crispy Cream Corn Cream filled with more cream and coated with fluffy castella cake crumbs. It’s a tasty way to eat vegetables for dessert.