The company's new frozen lobster meat products and scallop products, which provide increased consistency of quality, versatility of use and labour savings, will be introduced at the world's largest seafood show, Seafood Expo Global (SEG), in Brussels, Belgium, on April 21-23.

Customers are seeking more flavorful, dynamic options in their dining selections, and operators have taken note, leveraging the small-plate trend as a way to showcase a range of flavors and cuisines in a small, approachable package. It's no surprise that small-plate menu items have risen 25 per cent on menus in a year-over-year comparison in the U.K., according to Technomic's MenuMonitor.

One surprising pattern: More than half of eating-out occasions are unplanned or decided on impulse. At 53 percent of all dining occasions, the frequency of "eating on the fly" accounts for more than twice as many routine occasions (25 percent); special occasions account for just 22 percent of dining occasions.

General Mills’ Convenience & Foodservice Division has created Pillsbury Mini Bagels for K-12 school foodservice operators.

For its annual What’s Hot Culinary Forecast, the NRA surveyed nearly 1,300 professional chefs – members of the American Culinary Federation (ACF) – to find which foods, cuisines, beverages and culinary themes will be hot trends on restaurant menus in 2015.

Technomic predicts a 2.3 percent unit growth rate over 2013 among the Top 500 largest U.S. restaurant chains. The increase is slightly higher than the 2.1 percent growth rate from 2012 to 2013 and much greater than the 0.5 growth rate in 2009.

When it comes to beverage purchases at restaurants, Technomic generally finds that an appealing taste and flavor is most important to consumers.

Product developers know the formula for success involves two different dimensions

The gap between high- and low-income groups is the widest it has been in 100 years, and the share of U.S. consumers who identify with the middle class has never been lower.