Culinary Trends

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CULN101: Food Trends

Lecturer: Chef Michael Kitts

Georgios Bonamy

ID Number: 2173

Saad Ibrahim

ID Number: 2246

Due Date: January 27, 2015

Word Count: 1441

The activity of cooking and service started long ago when travellers used to stop at inns and taverns. Throughout the years, this act has developed into what we know as the restaurant and service industry today. As any other industry the food and beverage industry is always up to date in terms of today’s current trends. These trends typically exist all around the world; however vary depending on the countries and regions themselves. The U.A.E consists of trends that one would find on another side of the world. An example of this could be how food trucks are starting to make an appearance. The U.A.E also consists of trends that one would not find anywhere else. An example of this could be the demand of local foods and ingredients. Trends can be unpredictable thus making them an area of the industry that needs to be understood in order to keep up with the competition and strive in the industry.

A trend that seems to be grabbing the world’s attention is food trucks. Food trucks combine the simplicity of on the go cuisine with what customer’s see as traditional or rustic cuisines. As people’s workload gets bigger their timeframe to eat gets smaller. The time restraint is what food trucks rely on today. The classic hot dog stands in New York City have developed into a variety of cuisines in order to satisfy customer needs and wants. Location is a key to succeeding using this style of food preparation and service. Food trucks will typically place themselves in very busy areas such as college campuses or even corporate areas, for the reason of securing as many customers as possible in a short period of time. The U.A.E however, chooses different locations such as beaches and events. Food trucks are the type of trend that customers love and in places such as the U.A.E a place that a customer has to try out. An example of this would be Salt’s Burger Truck. Salt Burger was on the move around Dubai and was a “must have” food that people would have to look all around Dubai for. Now it is located on Kite Beach and is constantly packed with lines of people waiting to get a taste of the burger. Dubai and the U.A.E are starting to develop a liking to food trucks and it will only grow to be a larger form of food and beverage over the next couple of years.

In terms of quick service, there is nothing quicker than fast food. Fast food is a trend that has been dominating the food and beverage industry across the world. The United States of America is known for it’s fast food service with over fourteen thousand McDonald’s restaurants around the country in 2013. This just shows the rate at which fast food chains are growing due to the fact that McDonald’s opened around only seventy-five years ago. Just like food trucks, fast food restaurants strive on small time frames and key locations. Typically one would find a fast food chain on the corner of streets and in highly occupied areas such as malls. The development of the delivery has only accelerated the rate of which fast food has become in demand. The U.A.E has grown a liking towards fast food and it’s convenience. Dubai alone contains numerous fast food options and has become a great location for large fast food brands when looking to expand. The leisure of having food delivered to one’s door with a fairly consistent product provides customers another reason to choose fast food over other food options. Fast food is also relatively cheaper than other food options, which helps bring in their own market when trying to appeal to customers. Fast food is known to be an unhealthy option when choosing one’s meal, however this doesn’t seem to affect the amount of customers being brought in every day.