What lies (and flies) ahead for restaurant technology, menus and consumers
May 19, 2017
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The future is here. Sure, it’s a little different than we might have expected watching The Jetsons. There are no flying cars, and at-home food vending machines haven’t arrived just yet. But technology has been moving fast and these advances have positioned the restaurant industry for a bright future.
The robots may be coming, but they are here to help take orders. We’ve seen drones drop bombs, but now they can also deliver pizzas.
In this special report, the Nation’s Restaurant News editors look at both the new tools the foodservice industry can expect and capitalize on, as well as consumer and food trends that could become mainstream in coming years.
The evolution of science, too, plays a role in this report as more sophisticated methods emerge to prevent and handle food-safety outbreaks. Food science has a new meaning with meat being made in a lab with no animals involved in the process.
Some of the future of food items we identify don’t have anything to do with technology or science. Food waste and customization could both become less abundant, for instance. And the use of insects in dishes reflects a more global perspective about what qualifies as food.
At the end of the day, restaurants will always have the same goal of making customers happy and selling food.
It’ll just be the way they go about it that changes. Explore our Future of Food report and then drop us a line on Twitter at @nrnonline to let us know what you think about our picks.
