The top 2019 restaurant trends include local food sourcing and healthy eating.

By Romon Caldwell

Over the last few years hungry diners visiting restaurants have become more discerning in their choices. These choices include new cuts of meat, dishes inspired by street food around the world and, most importantly, healthy meal options for children.

Now a research by Deliverr.ca, the food delivery platform, reveals the trends that we can expect in the food business as we move into the next decade.

The food service business can be a lucrative one, but involving a fair bit of overheads. This means that restaurants would do themselves a great deal of good if they understand how the consumer preferences emerge with time. After all, the annual turnover of the sector is a mind boggling $799 billion.

According to Deliverr.ca the following would be the major trends to expect by 2020:

Local Sourcing
Fresh Produce
Healthy Eating
Authenticity

Restaurant Food Trends for 2019

Increasingly, local sourcing is playing a primary role in the selection of restaurants. 66% of American consumers today say they are most likely to visit a restaurant that offers locally sourced food items. And this figure is only showing an uptrend, which means that by 2020 more and more consumers are likely to give this fact prominence.

If local sourcing takes precedence, then can fresh produce be far behind? Unlikely. This is evident from the fact that 70% of diners today are choosing healthy eating. And one of the top indicators of healthiness of most foods is freshness. Who pays to eat stale food anyway?

Last but not the least more and more people are experimenting with new cuisine. And research suggests that it will only be a matter of time before guests increasingly focus on the authenticity of the food they are consuming. So going forward, restaurants serving multiple cuisines (for eg - Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese) will have to prove their expertise in each cuisine; otherwise they run the risk of “authenticity failure,” as one guest puts it.

Restaurant Technology Trends for 2019

Another interesting trend being discussed in the restaurant business is the use of technology to bring the restaurant to the consumer.

With higher online payment usage and food delivery platforms, it has become easier for the restaurants to attract consumers who, increasingly, do not need to walk in to the establishments for their favorite dishes.

And the numbers speak for themselves. Consumers surveyed say that one of the most important technological features for them is online ordering. 69% of Millennials prefer to use their credit card or online payment for even the smallest items. In 2017, 30% more adults were like to use restaurant technology than there were two years back. This number increasing only augurs well for the business.