Savory desserts are no longer just about mixing bacon with chocolate or salt with caramel. Consumers are looking for a variety of bold flavors to end their meals, and operators are using herbs, spices and vegetables in their ice creams, cakes and other dessert items to satisfy this demand and boost their revenues.
The trend is hotter than ever, says Laura McGuire, senior manager of Technomic, Inc. in Chicago. “Consumers today are foodies,” she says. “They know more about food than consumers ever did in the past. They are more adventurous, millennials particularly.”
According to Technomic’s 2013 Dessert Consumer Trend report, 15 percent of consumers would be willing to order a dessert that features a vegetable ingredient. Among millennials, 21 percent would be willing to order such an item.
McGuire notes that flavor trends usually start with independent restaurants, where chefs use the nontraditional ingredients to showcase their creative abilities and devise innovative signature desserts. They use ingredients that are likely already available in their kitchens, so sourcing is not difficult. The key, McGuire says, is to use ingredients that restaurant-goers already like, such as basil, goat cheese and balsamic vinegar.
Certain flavors are indeed getting more mentions on dessert menus now, according to Chicago-based research firm Datassential. The firm’s MenuTrends indicates that two of the fastest-growing flavors and ingredients on dessert menus are sea salt and bacon, which each grew more than 100 percent from 2010 to 2014. Pretzel was up 92 percent, bourbon was up 39 percent, and cardamom was up 35 percent. Jana Mann, senior director of MenuTrends, says other terms such as chipotle and spicy are also on dessert menus more today than they were four years ago.
Operators say they are seeing success with these nontraditional desserts.
At Native Foods, a 24-unit vegan chain based in Chicago, corporate chef Jeff Basalik uses cayenne in his spicy chocolate cake. “So many chefs are playing around with sweet and savory, and bacon or lavender or peppercorn, so a spicy chocolate cake is a natural progression,” he says. Basalik is currently testing lemon peppercorns, lavender, and rosemary for a future dessert.
Frozen dessert concepts also are seeing opportunity. The seven-unit Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, based in Columbus, Ohio, offers flavors such as sweet corn and black raspberries, goat cheese with red cherries, Queen City cayenne, and sweet potato with torched marshmallow. Salt & Straw, which has three locations in Portland, Ore., and one in Los Angeles, offers ice cream flavors such as pear and blue cheese, honey balsamic strawberry with black pepper, and Arbequina olive oil. The four-location Bravo Gelato in Tennessee offers basil, peppercorn, and tarragon among its selection of savory flavors, and sweet potato bourbon, Irish cream, and bananas Foster among its liquor flavors.
Other chains offer bananas Foster not as a liquor flavor but to satisfy nostalgic and comfort food cravings. The 500-unit Captain D's introduced Bananas Foster Cheesecake Bites, which contain warm banana, vanilla ice cream, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a caramel drizzle. “The goal is really to offer our guests a variety of craveable desserts to choose from,” says chef Jason Henderson. “We have the chocolate category covered, and we find fruit and nut category desserts seem to do well with our seafood customers.”
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro offers Banana Spring Rolls, served with coconut-pineapple ice cream and caramel and vanilla sauces. “The element we are trying to achieve is to keep it kind of a comfort food and modernize it at the same time,” says creative culinary chef Yuji Iwasa. Over the summer the 213-unit P.F. Chang’s offered a strawberry and Thai basil dessert with ginger panna cotta as a limited time offer.
Consumers also are snacking more, and some order desserts as snacks. The 63-unit Toppers Pizza offers Chocolate Bacon Topperstix, which are cheese sticks covered with bacon and chocolate drizzle. “They have been an excellent addition to the menu, particularly with millennials and snacking dayparts,” says Scott Iversen, vice president of marketing for the Whitewater, Wis.-based Toppers Pizza. “The strategy behind it was to attempt to get additional incremental sales for people who don’t traditionally order dessert or a side item.”
He adds that 25 to 30 percent of Toppers sales come from TopperStix, which also are available in side order flavors such as Pepperonistix.
For others, dessert makes its way into the meal. At Wing Zone, Cinnamon Maple Chicken Wings are chicken and waffles in one bite, says Dan Corrigan, marketing manager for the Atlanta-based chain. “The response has been great,” he says. “It is a unique flavor profile when you combine sweet, savory and salty.”
Wing Zone also offers Banana Cheesecake Bites and Apple Pie Bites with Cinnamon Maple dipping flavor. “We want to provide additional value to our Flavorholics and provide a dessert that’s unique and delicious and helps us upsell just as much as it helps them satisfy a craving,” Corrigan says.
McGuire, from Technomic, points to another upselling opportunity. Savory desserts have a health halo, so they might appeal to health conscious consumers who usually skip dessert. For some, goat cheese might seem more healthful than chocolate. “You think it’s better for you even if it has the same calorie count,” she says. “It’s all about perception.”
