CFVG Menu Vision: Blending Tradition with Trend

19% seek “creative and trendy” options, and 33% fall in between, highlighting the need to balance innovation with familiarity. Turning to menuing, she explained that the desire for trend-forward items is not limited to younger generations. “We are actually seeing that especially Boomers are catching up. All of the social media, all of the food TV, all of that has meant that we are all actually on a much more even playing field when it comes to those food trends,” she said. Conaghan pointed out that both Gen Z and Boomers may be

drawn to the same items but for different reasons, particularly when traditional dishes feel new to younger consumers. In terms of innovation, she introduced the concept of “safe experimentation,” where dishes feel familiar but include an unexpected element. An example was the smoked brisket egg rolls from Famous Dave’s: “It’s got this Korean sweet heat sauce, which makes it a little bit outside of Famous Dave’s wheel- house and makes it a little bit more unique which lets us get that 56% of people saying it’s extremely

or very new and different.” She concluded that, “The takeaway here is that you can see that the combi- nation, offers strong appeal, but it’s not actually that rare of a concept in general…they pair okay, they’re not the most rare ingredients, but somehow that slight addition of the Korean barbecue sauce bumped it up to that high uniqueness.” Conaghan also emphasized that consumers are more open to trying new items later in the day, especially at lunch, and innovation should be tailored to those dayparts. Pizza and sandwiches offered opportunities for experimentation through flavor profiles or regional trends, while breakfast should remain mostly traditional. Pizza toppings like dill pickle ranch and Nashville hot were trending in some regions but absent from others. On bever- ages, she highlighted the rapid growth of cold brew coffee in convenience stores: “When we asked this question in 2019, 15% of consumers said they were purchasing it from a convenience store and now it’s up to 32%.” She concluded by recommending that c-store oper- ators focus on smart, data-driven menu innovation that appeals across demographics and leverages both generational preferences and regional trends without straying too far from the familiar.

With concept ideation, you find that core part of the sandwich and just make it more approachable and bury the weird word, the people who are excited for the weird word, Gen Z, who want their sabich Israeli street food sandwich…if we call it our eggplant parmesan pita sandwich, its core stays the same, but we might have broader appeal. Claire Conaghan , Trendologist and Associate Director for Publications, Datassential