Bidfood's Celebrate Summer campaign reveals trends and advice for operators

Bidfood has launched the Celebrate Summer campaign to help operators entice customers back to hospitality with this summer's trends.

The campaign provides inspiration, hints and tips to keep operators ahead of the curve by tapping into the trends set to shape consumer behaviour for the remainder of 2021.

Laura Mason, senior campaign and brand manager at Bidfood, said: “When planning our Celebrate Summer campaign, 2021 food and drink trends, along with the current landscape and consumer behaviour due to the pandemic, were top of mind. Over the last year, consumer dining out habits have changed dramatically, as well as their wants and needs, therefore we wanted to create a guide that really helped our customers tap into these new demands.

“Tapping into these talked about trends will be key for boosting operators’ businesses this summer. There will be a lot of competition on the market, which is why we have pulled together an in-depth range of products, recipes, tools, insights and ideas to help support our customers in tailoring their menus to entice more customers."

Trends and advice

• Invest in your outdoor space: 76% of consumers are more likely to visit a venue with outside seating as lockdowns are easing, and 75% saying they would even be happy to eat outside in winter.
• Refine your menu: consumers are looking for new flavours, cuisines and techniques. Over two-thirds said they would pay more for dishes that are more difficult and can’t be made at home.
• Embrace occasions to celebrate, from themed days or sporting events.
• Up your low- or no-alcohol game: almost a third of UK consumers plan on drinking less or no alcohol when they return to the out-of-home market, compared to what they drank pre-Covid.
• Offer more vegan: over a third of UK consumers have limited their meat consumption in the last six months.
• Be more sustainable: 25% of UK consumers state that the environment was a higher priority since the Covid-19 outbreak.

For more information on the trends and topics click here