Shifts in ordering behaviour over the last three years have re-shaped both customers’ and operators’ relationship with sweet treats.
Looking at data for the 12 months ending June 2022, Vince Sgabellone, foodservice industry analyst at The NPD Group says, “It seems like when people are dining off premises, they’re more likely to order a dessert item — particularly from full service.”
In fact, according to the DoorDash and Restaurants Canada report 2022 Restaurant Online Ordering Trends, baked goods were Canada’s most widely ordered delivery and pickup category in 2021.
On the operational side, Steve Cohn, senior director, Foodservice Marketing at Sara Lee Frozen Bakery, notes the increase in off-premise dining has made the portability of dessert offerings an important consideration.
Going forward, Cohn also expects to see operator demand for solutions that “require as little labour as possible,” as well as those that “drive as many usages of one product as possible.” And, he notes, Sara Lee has already seen a renaissance in demand for its pre-sliced offerings, which require limited labour investment while being takeout friendly.
As highlighted in Technomic’s 2022 Canadian Foodservice Trends: Midyear Update, the current operating environment has also led operators to favour “creative menus that embrace flexibility.” The firm predicted continued supply-chain challenges would inspire “quirky preparations of familiar ingredients” in order to create new menu items using existing supply items.
This style of menu innovation is intended to create buzz and drive interest while limiting the operational strain of introducing new offerings and has been seen filtering into dessert offerings. A prime example is Swiss Chalet’s Nashville Hot Crispy Chicken Ice Cream Sandwich. This recent dine-in-only LTO featured Nashville Hot glazed chicken on a toasted bun, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with honey.
“They already serve ice cream, why not put them together?” Sgabellone says of the offering. “It costs them nothing to develop that menu item.”
Similarly, Cohn notes a key trend he’s observed “is [operators] leveraging our classic products as a launching pad to create more-sophisticated recipes.” As examples he notes, “People are using our pumpkin pies to create namesake milkshakes. We’ve also seen great growth [for] our French Cream Cheesecake because [it offers the possibility] to add toppings, cut it into different shapes or scoop to create signature desserts.”
In particular, ice cream and what Sgabellone refers to as the “frozen-sweets” category represents an ideal platform to build out unique offerings. “Frozen sweets remain one of the biggest dessert categories in both quick-service and full-service [restaurants], so that provides a huge template for innovation, new flavours and variations on a theme,” he explains.
To that point, high-end restaurants across the country have added ice-cream creations that are anything but pedestrian. Four Seasons Toronto’s d|bar featured the Rhubarb & Watermelon Sundae on its summer menu, featuring rhubarb and yogurt ice cream, yogurt foam, lime-infused watermelon and crunchy meringue ($14). The recently opened Alder at Ace Hotel Toronto offers an ice-cream sandwich made with miso and sesame cookie and sour-cherry jam ($12); B.C.’s Naramata Inn offers Liz’s Ice Cream Sundae with spelt-flour shortbread and seasonal flavours ($12); and Halifax-based Freehand Hospitality’s Peacock Wine Bar features the Tiramisu Affogato with fresh-pulled espresso, whipped sabayon and mascarpone ice cream ($10).
However, other simple and familiar bases can also be leveraged to similar effect. “We’re seeing some dessert mashups show up on menus, including JOEY Restaurants’ Créme Brûlée Cheesecake and Red Robins’ Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Milkshake,” Katie Belflower, associate editor, Technomic, believes “These indulgent desserts could be [seen as] an extension of the comfort-food trend we’ve been seeing over the last two years, or they could be a way for operators to cross-utilize ingredients, helping to save on costs.”
Offering another example, Sgabellone notes, “In full service we see doughnuts trending, which is interesting.” This, he elaborates, is because it highlights “how an FSR can take a seemingly simple dessert like a piece of fried dough and turn it into an elevated, FSR-worthy experience.”
Both Montana’s and Swiss Chalet currently feature doughnut-based desserts on their menus, with Swiss Chalet offering Mini Cinnamon Sugar Donuts on its takeout menu and the indulgent Donut Funnel Cake on its dine-in menu. The latter features eight warm mini doughnuts topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped topping and strawberries in syrup. JOEY Restaurants also serves up doughnuts, in the form of its Warm Italian Donuts, which are served with vanilla and mascarpone cream and lemon curd.
Other deep-fried desserts have also been cropping up, with offerings such as the Funnel Cake Fries at Kelseys (topped with cinnamon sugar, French vanilla ice cream and choice of chocolate or caramel sauce) and Churro Tot Poutine at the Holy Shakes chain, which features churros dusted in cinnamon sugar, topped with chocolate, smoked marshmallows and ice cream. Freehand Hospitality’s Latin-inspired concept Bar Sophia also feature churros on its menu, serving up three pieces of the deep-fried treat with a spiced dark-chocolate dip ($10).
Menu Making
As Belflower shares, “Overall, desserts are on the rise on Canadian menus, up 3.4 per cent in the last year. The fastest-growing desserts in the last year include lemon cake (up 175 per cent), macaron (up 50 per cent), profiteroles (up 30.4 per cent), carrot cake (up 23.8 per cent) and flavoured cheesecake (up 15.4 per cent).”
Notably, each of these desserts on the rise can translate well into an off-premise experience.
However, while off-premise occasions and transportability can’t be ignored, Freehand Hospitality’s executive pastry chef, Cori Osborne, believes there’s value in offering an experience that can only be achieved in a restaurant.
“We haven’t tailored all of our dessert menus to be 100-per-cent takeaway,” Osborne says of Freehand’s concepts, which include Muir Hotel’s Drift, Café Lunette, Bar Sofia and Peacock Wine Bar. “Some of the desserts that are meant to be warm, or have frozen elements do not work so well for this.” And, she adds, “It’s still nice for guests in the restaurants to have the options of a plated dessert when they come to dine in.”
There are also a number of other considerations when designing dessert menus. As Cohn points out, “Consumers think first in terms of flavour (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla) before they think in terms of format (cookie, cake, ice cream). Therefore, it’s important to not just think about variety, but consider dessert flavour profiles that today’s consumers are craving.”
“We have quite a few different concepts going on with Freehand so it keeps things interesting,” Osborne says of designing dishes. “On each menu, I try to always have one for the chocolate lovers, one for the fruit lovers and [we] always have a vegan and gluten-free option on hand. I find most people are looking for something light to finish off their meal, and most tables like to share a dessert, [so] I try not to make my desserts too sweet or too heavy, which a lot of guests appreciate,” she adds.
Looking ahead, it’s expected global flavours and recipes will likely gain a stronger presence on dessert menus. Technomic’s Ignite Menu data already shows year-over-year growth in French (up 15 per cent), Latin-American (up 12.8 per cent) and Indian flavours (up 9.3 per cent) on Canadian dessert menus between Q2 2021 and Q2 2022.
“There’s growth in ethnic-oriented global flavours, like Indian and Asian and Middle-Eastern cuisines,” agrees Sgabellone. “I expect we will see more things like baklava in non-Middle Eastern restaurants as more and more of these global desserts become more mainstream.”
This could also see more global flavours presented in familiar forms, such as Wall’s Bubble Tea, Ube and Malai Kulfi ice creams, which were introduced in Canada this spring. In May, Baskin-Robbins Canada also launched an Ube Coconut Swirl flavour.
Finally, in the face of economic pressures, we could see consumer behaviours change once again. “During an economic slowdown or downturn…people do rationalize their spending. And one of the things they do is they pull back on things like beverages, desserts and appetizers,” says Sgabellone.“Operators will have to respond to that and figure out a way to get consumers to continue ordering desserts,” he notes.
And, with dessert incidences already down slightly from the small gains made during the pandemic — when consumers were breaking the monotony of restricted living with sweet indulgences — Sgabellone suggests that bundling deals and combo meals may be leveraged more if Canadians pull back spending on desserts and other meal add-ons.
By Danielle Schalk
