Fall Flavor Trends: Pumpkin Evolves and Endures
The pumpkin flavor trend that becomes ubiquitous each fall still has legs and may have become a permanent feature of the autumn culinary scene.
“We might be tired of hearing about pumpkin … but it’s still a key, very important flavor,” said Renee Lee Wege, trendologist and senior publications manager at Datassential, during a webinar on fall food trends.
Pumpkin’s versatility as a flavor in both sweet and savory applications has helped food makers and foodservice operators find innovative ways to incorporate it into their seasonal offerings beyond pumpkin pie and pumpkin lattes, she said.
Wege described items such as a Pumpkin Lobster Ravioli offered last year at Kona Grill, which consumers gave high marks for its uniqueness. The dish came with sautéed asparagus, lobster cream sauce, and charred shiitake mushrooms.
Operators can also innovate with twists on traditional favorites, such as the Triple Layer Pumpkin Cream Pie from Shari’s, a family restaurant chain in the Pacific Northwest that is known for its pies. The dessert features layers of pumpkin cream and vanilla cream cheese fillings and is topped with whipped cream.
“It's a really good spin on a traditional pumpkin pie,” said Wege, noting that consumers gave the dish very high scores for both its uniqueness and purchase intent.
Overall, pumpkin appeared in 144 new limited-time offers on the menus of major restaurant chains last fall, according to Datassential’s newly published Fall Seasonality Trend Report.
Operators are also innovating with other fall flavors, such as caramel apple, to tie them into fall holidays and events. McAlister’s Deli, for example, last October offered a Witch’s Brew beverage, which was simply the chain’s traditional old-fashioned lemonade, made with cane sugar and lemon juice, with the addition of caramel-apple syrup to give it a fall flavor profile and a bright, neon-green color.
“It’s a really fun way to take that summery kind of beverage and turn it into something fun for Halloween,” said Wege.
The drink scored high with consumers for its uniqueness and leveraged the caramel-apple flavor trend, which was one of the highest-indexing flavors last fall, according to the Datassential report. In addition to caramel apple, other sweet flavors and items that indexed highly on fall menus included pecan pie, caramel apple pie, pumpkin pie, chestnut, streusel, cinnamon roll, and praline. On the savory side, the top indexing fall flavors and ingredients included clove, sautéed peppers, bratwurst, stuffing, both cranberry and cranberry sauce, and pumpkin spice.
The research found that Thanksgiving is the most celebrated fall holiday, cited by 83 percent of consumers, followed by Halloween at 65 percent.
A large majority of consumers (72 percent) reported that they prefer to celebrate Thanksgiving with traditional foods, but 21 percent said they are open to a mix of traditional and modern foods, and 7 percent said they prefer modern alternatives, such as quail, Cornish game hen, or plant-based turkey as a main course, and globally-inspired dishes as a side.
“I think that’s a great opportunity to have a lot of those classics and having one or two new fun ways to put a spin on it and not alienate anyone,” said Wege. “You don’t want any angry aunts and uncles for not having a casserole dish.”
Specialty Foods for Global Holidays
Other holidays that may offer opportunities for specialty food introductions include Día de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, celebrated mostly in Mexico on Nov. 1 and 2 but gaining popularity in the U.S. and sometimes extending beyond those days. Ten percent of consumers report celebrating this holiday, according to Datassential.
One example of a product aligned with this holiday was Pan de Muerto from United Supermarkets in Lubbock, Texas. United promoted the bread to be placed on customers’ altars as part of their Día de Los Muertos celebrations, according to the Datassential report. The Albertsons-owned retailer described the product as a sweet bread traditionally baked in Mexico during the week leading up to Nov. 1.
Other holidays to consider include Octoberfest, celebrated by 18 percent of consumers; the Mid-Autumn Festival (also known as the Moon Festival, recognizing the fall harvest in Chinese culture), celebrated by 6 percent; the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, each celebrated by 3 percent of consumers; and Diwali, a holiday recognized in multiple cultures and celebrated by 2 percent of consumers.
To help its customers celebrate the fall Jewish holidays, Yum! Kitchen and Bakery in Minneapolis last year created a special Rosh Hashana and Yum! Kippur Menu featuring chopped liver with crispy onions, several types of challah bread, matzah ball soup, and other fare.
Layla’s Delicacies, an online bakery based in New Jersey specializing in Tunisian sweets, meanwhile, offered a Diwali gift box with an assortment of special confections for that holiday, which represents the triumph of good over evil in Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions.