Trends

Eating raw food is nothing new – it’s basically humanity’s oldest cuisine. But interest in raw food diets has been sprouting recently beyond the usual fad cradles like Manhattan and southern California.

A number of (un)cookbooks have been published recently offering recipes for “raw pot pie” and “lemony tofu pate?? High-profile adherents like actor Woody Harrelson and model Carol Alt have added to the buzz. Author and raw food evangelist David “Avocado” Wolfe said he now speaks to packed houses in places like Coldwater, Mich., and Wichita, Kan.

https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5868567/

“With the rise of ?flexi-eating, food consumption is increasingly fitting around people’s needs and lifestyles, rather than people fitting their lives around structured mealtimes,” commented Daniel Bone, consumer analyst at Datamonitor.

?The growing number of out-of-home occasions does not mean British dislike eating at home. It is a lifestyle driven trend with time-poor consumers increasingly embracing innovative meal and snack solutions that facilitate on-the-go consumption,? Bone said
https://foodanddrinkeurope.com/news/ng.asp?id=54492&n=dh247&c=nicyrpmcbktrgxu

“An aging labor force is beginning show itself in Pittsburgh, which could provide a glimpse of a nationwide problem on the horizon. One economist says companies can continue to dip into the unemployed population for younger workers, but there is concern about a labor shortage in the restaurant and other industries. ”

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/29/business/yourmoney/29old.html

Many European countries are facing similar demographics 

Garlic candy, bacon and egg ice-cream, chilli chocolate, consumers are getting more daring, and challenging flavour combinations are gaining ground.

Pushing the envelope on exotic flavours can mean big profits for innovative producers.

https://just-food.com/features_detail.asp?art=881&lk=rss

French tradition and American convenience culture have been united in the concept of a drive-in boulangerie, reports the Times. Baguettes, sandwiches, croissants and pain au chocolat are all passed through open car windows at the drive-in, located on the site of a disused petrol station in Le Port Marly to the west of Paris – the first of its kind in the country.

The slunch, a contraction of the two words Supper and Lunch, has crossed the Atlantic and become chick in Paris. For those busy families who go away to the country for the weekend the way to meet up with city friends is to join them for slunch late Sunday afternoon in town.

On the menu – often set up buffet style – will be cold soups ( avocado/basil, artichoke/lemon, squash/vanila), salads, mixed greens or often with cold fish or meat, Smoked fish in any variety, a pot stew ? (duck with pineapple, veal with turnips and olive, ) and possible one or two classic gratins served lukewarm such as gratin dauphinois. Tres chick is of course if guests bring local farm produce and add that to the buffet. Sweet desserts are not normally part of the slunch but healthy herbal tea?s are much appreciated to finish off.

The slunch trend is predominantly seen in private homes, but as happed with the brunch savy restaurateurs are bound to catch on to this soon.

OpenTable.com, a San Francisco-based Web site offers free reservations at more than 1,800 restaurants in roughly 50 American cities.

The service is one of many online destinations for those who want to find good food while on the road or at home. And like restaurants themselves, the Web sites with the greatest ambitions frequently fall short, while those content to serve a niche succeed nicely. [Read more…] about Click and Eat On the Road

https://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,63732,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2
From fancy hotels to fast-food joints, the number of venues offering high-speed wireless Internet access is expected to grow at a heady clip this year. But industry analysts aren’t expecting laptop users and their credit cards to follow.

In the wake of the demise of several large builders of Wi-Fi networks, including last month’s closure of Intel-backed Cometa Networks, analysts say one lesson the industry has learned the hard way is that laptop owners remain reluctant to pay by the hour for online access.