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‘[Generation Z doesn’t] want to compromise: they want quick, they want fresh, they want delicious. They expect everything on demand – fresh, local – and their opinion matters.’
— Sharon Olson, Y-Pulse
(Above left photo) Steve Hammel, Ciaran Duffy, Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak and Ra Taherian discuss Generation Z’s food desires, while Chandra Ram (above right) talks about innovative ways restaurants put produce on menus.
(Above) Kaitlin Strauss from the Culinary Institute of Michigan talks to attendees (left) about her table’s challenge at the interactive Ideation Fresh luncheon.
mid-1990s, Millennials are adventurous and trendsetting. “This is probably the generation that is going to change the way we all think the most,” says Jann Dickerson, a consultant with Think Food based in San Francisco, who sat on the second panel. “They are motivated and have the technology and the wherewithal to really make changes. They will make a healthy choice in favor of conve- nience, like to try and use exotic ingredients, and are more likely to buy single servings.”
Baby Boomers choose substance over style, says Olson. They love the familiar and are less likely to experiment with new foods. They are vegetable-forward but not vegetarian. Age 55 and up, their parents cooked, so they prefer to cook at home.
First In Fresh Award
This was the eighth year the New York Produce Show has held the Ideation Fresh program and the third year for the First in Fresh Award, presented by Produce Business editor-in-chief Jim Prevor to a restaurant company that exhibits menu innovation, exemplary collaboration, and creative promotion and marketing of fresh produce.
The 2018 winner of the award was The Cheesecake Factory for its innovative use of produce and an eye on seasonality. In presenting the award to Brandon Cook, The Cheesecake Factory’s executive chef of culinary research and development, Prevor mentioned produce-friendly dishes and cocktails that have become a hit with the chain’s customers, including avocado egg rolls, Korean fried cauli ower and pine- apple ginger martinis.
weeks before the New York Produce Show’s Foodservice Forum.
One of the standout dishes Ludwig and his team tasted was the Con t Parsnips at Tesse in Los Angeles. “It is very much a nose-to-tail restaurant with a wonderful offering of vegetables on the menu,” says Ludwig, showing a photo of the dish. “Chef Raphael Francois roasts parsnips in duck fat, so you can imagine what that does for the avor.” Francois then tosses the cooked parsnips in a bordelaise wine reduction, adding roasted pine nuts, house-dried grapes and soft herbs.
“Obviously, this dish is not vegetarian, but you can’t create vegetable dishes that have a avor bomb of this sort without incorporating small amounts of meat-based proteins,” says Ludwig.
Bob Karisny, vice president for menu strategy and innovation for fast food chain Taco Johns, demonstrated dishes he has developed that use produce, including a Tex-Mex-style dish that uses jackfruit (for its similarity to meat in its look and texture)
in a green molé sauce, and dark chocolate truf es made with avocado.
Different Strokes for Different Generations
Three different panels, each consisting of four to ve experts in the foodservice industry, compared three generations of produce consumers – Generation Z, Millen- nials and Baby Boomers. Before each panel was introduced, Sharon Olson, executive director of Y-Pulse, offered data and thought analysis about each generation.
The subject of the rst panel discussion was Gen Z (the generation born between 1995 and 2010). “They don’t want to compromise: they want quick, they want fresh, they want delicious,” says Olson. “They expect everything on demand – fresh, local – and their opinion matters.” Another trend: 86 percent make their choices based on the information they get from social media or recommendations from friends, she adds. “Tech is essential. It is an important part of their lifestyle.”
Born between the early 1980s and
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