Restaurants add savoury berries to menus to stand out from competitors

To distinguish themselves from competitors, more and more restaurant chains worldwide are experimenting with berry sauces, toppings and marinades incorporating strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and especially blueberries into savoury menu items throughout the year.

How to make entrée offerings stand out is a perennial question for pizzeria and restaurant operators around the globe, particularly quick-service chains specializing in broad menu categories.

The report highlights examples. In November, A&W rolled out the Blue-Beary Burger in Malaysia as a grilled chicken or double-beef handheld starring blueberry jam as a creative means of livening up the more familiar lettuce tomato-mayo trio of toppings.

Mugg & Bean, a South African operator, introduced a Back Bacon and Blueberry Bagel as part of its winter offerings in May before turning it into a permanent fixture on the menu. This all-day item
places frequent accompaniments including cream cheese, back bacon and honey alongside the more gourmet pairing of candied walnuts and blueberry-vanilla coulis for a particularly elevated take on a common cafe dish.

In December, German operator Hans Im Gluck released its Blue Wonder Burger, a strongly distinct and fully vegetarian handheld featuring a walnut patty, goat cheese and spicy blueberry-chile compote.

Other fruit-inspired dishes include Outback Steakhouse Brazil’s raspberry sauce-bathed Raspberry Ribs Duo, KFC Chile’s wild strawberry-infused Crispy Berry Chicken, Denny’s Japan Grilled Domestic Pork With Inca Berry Cream Sauce and Colombian operator Lenos & Carbon’s Roasted Cheese with blackberry sauce.

To access the full report, visit technomic.com.