Trends

Consumption of Spirits On the Rise, 70 Years After the Repeal of Prohibition; The Year of the Martini

A nationwide martini revival is driving vodka sales up, even in Arizona, where regional favorite tequila ranks just fifth.

And overall, the consumption of spirits is on the rise, 70 years after the repeal of Prohibition 

“It’s been the year of martini,” said Joey Valenzuela, who works at Table Talk, 2936 E. Broadway, where martini sets and decorative glasses flew off the shelves this holiday season. Margarita glasses and champagne flutes were also popular. National retailers have reported similar success 

Nationwide, the consumption of spirits such as vodka and rum increased 2 percent in 2002 over the previous year 

[Read more…] about Consumption of Spirits On the Rise,

December 31, 2003

1. Employment Market Turbulence. More secure employees will stimulate
unprecedented churning in the labor marketplace. This turbulence will
threaten corporate stability and capacity to serve customers, particularly
for employers who took employees for granted in recent years. [Read more…] about Herman Trend Alert: 2004 Workforce and Workplace Forecasts

I was at the airport, checking in at the gate, when the airport employee asked,
“Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?”

I said, “If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?”

He smiled and nodded knowingly, “That’s why we ask.”

https://www.restaurant.org/research/forecast.cfm

Where’s the restaurant industry headed for 2004? Take a look through the executive summary (PDF) of the National Restaurant Association’s 2004 Restaurant Industry Forecast, and then order your copy of the full publication.

Companies such as Kraft and Nabisco are repackaging staple foods to be eaten in cars — and minivans and pickups. They’re betting that even the most safety-conscious soccer parents and overscheduled entrepreneurs will gladly snap up mobile meals: yogurt in a tube. Or chips in stacks, not bags. Or portable soup, snuggled into a cup holder.

“People want foods they can eat with one hand,” says Mike Diegel of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. “For some people, the time saved is more important than the process of preparing a meal. We’re looking for convenience in everything we do.”

[Read more…] about Drivers shift to eating on the go

High quality meals that you can order from your home or office and that are delivered to you ON the plane.

One of the most interesting first movers in this space is Alpha D’lish. Passengers flying on a number of Virgin Express flights from London, Brussels or Amsterdam can now choose and order from a menu on the Alpha D’lish website (up to 48 hours before their flight), which includes delectables like the ‘Fresh Start Breakfast’ (Bircher muesli with fresh berries, a Waldcorn roll with smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives, followed by a salad of exotic fruits, a Danish pastry and fresh orange juice) and the ‘Oriental Feast’ (handmade smoked salmon and tiger prawn nigiri sushi, a fillet of char-grilled salmon with cucumber, caperberry and wasabi. On the side a sesame noodle salad topped with lemongrass-skewered tiger prawns marinated in Thai herbs and mixed peppers).
[Read more…] about Order a meal for seat 24B

Pasha’s, a new Mediterranean restaurant chain, opened its first two Miami-Dade locations last month.

There are Italian, Chinese and Mexican quick-service restaurant chains, so why not Mediterranean?

That’s the goal behind Pasha’s, which in the last month opened its first two Miami-Dade locations with plans for another before the end of the year.

Ellek has dreamed for years of finding a way to bring healthy and flavorful Mediterranean food to the United States in the form of a quick-service restaurant.

Pasha’s menu offers a collection of Eastern Mediterranean dishes that run the gamut from spinach pie and hummus to kebab platters and wraps with falafel or grilled veggies. The majority of the items are under $5, and everything is less than $10.

”The food from that part of the world has a lot of healthy components that fit well with today’s trends,” said Ellek, who is part Turkish and grew up in the Mediterranean. “We’re trying to do something that has not been done before.”

[Read more…] about In a hurry? How about falafel and kebabs to go?

These days, consumers don’t want online access anywhere/anytime, they absolutely CRAVE it! From airports to living rooms to roof gardens to classrooms to city parks, people go to great lengths to get a dose of what TRENDWATCHING.COM has dubbed ONLINE OXYGEN. Seven years after the first web sites started popping up, and email made its way from science labs to office desks and living rooms, 600 million consumers worldwide are beginning to see online access as an absolute necessity, and there are no signs that the pace of integrating online access into daily life is slowing down.

Some global figures: [Read more…] about Are you providing ONLINE OXYGEN?