Of the 36 NRA Food and Beverage Awards (FABI) issued this year, eight winners were new sauces, spreads and dressings and nearly all those of featured an ethnic twist—particularly with Indian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences.

They say good things come in threes. That certainly fits some of latest findings from Mintel Menu Insights, which finds some of the top restaurant beverage trends involve cold coffee drinks, floral flavors and mocktails.

Despite the rise in interest in plant-based or lab-grown protein, market researcher Packaged Facts finds that actual consumption is very low compared to demand for beef, pork, chicken and turkey.

From coffee to "crafted" and floral to functional, this year's National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show featured a wide variety of foodservice beverage trends.

When it comes to foodservice menus, it's clear that milks, cheeses, cultured products and frozen desserts carry function, flavor, texture and on-trend tastes.

Prepared Foods reaches and serves all those food and beverage manufacturing professionals involved in the new product development cycle. These functional leaders are those in marketing, sales and consumer insights, R&D, innovation, culinary, purchasing and packaging.

Here's an example of flour power. When the National Restaurant Association (NRA) announced its 2018 annual Food and Beverage (FABI) award honorees, nine of the 36 winners were bakery products and/or baking companies.

Although they often take second billing on menus, it's clear that appetizers, soups and side dishes represent a main course of new product development in foodservice.

If only a minority of consumers are following meatless diets, then why is there continuous growth of plant-based food at restaurants?

When it comes to improving foodservice new product success—it truly does help to solicit input from all sides. That's exactly what’s happening this year with a Collaborative Innovation Best Practices board .