Juices, smoothies and shakes suffered restaurant sales declines throughout the pandemic, but specific indulgence and health characteristics are garnering consumer interest.

Aspire Bakeries announced the expansion of its Newark, Calif., bakery, with the addition of a new frozen cookie dough line for its popular Otis Spunkmeyer® cookies. As a brand in foodservice frozen cookie dough, Otis Spunkmeyer® continues to grow sales within the cookie category, and in foodservice, convenience and retail channels.

“Last September, an operator approached us to help alleviate some labor challenges they were experiencing,” notes Elise Carlson, CFS, King & Prince senior research and development manager. “They were taking frozen, cellophane-wrapped cod, thawing it and then cutting it into pieces. Kitchen staff then cut the cod by hand so not all pieces were exactly the same, which is a desirable attribute."

At retail, we have seen the sauce, spread, dip and marinade categories expand significantly during the past few years. Much of this expansion has been driven by the wide array of options entering our markets from other world cuisines.

Prepared Foods is pleased to announce and recognize winners of its 19th annual Spirit of Innovation Awards (SOI). Since 2003, these distinctive awards honor food and beverage product development teams for excellence in consumer insights, cross-functional execution and overall innovation. This year’s awards recognize items introduced from January 2020 through March 2021. 

The global, family-owned food company will use Dolly’s, its Buffalo, N.Y.-based world headquarters’ kitchen, as a ghost kitchen to bring three new virtual restaurants to Western New York: Grilled Cheese Society, Monster Mac and The Big Melt, with more slated to launch in the coming months.

Prepared Foods talks Chef Todd Ketterman, culinary manager at Reser’s Inc. Reser’s, Beaverton, Ore., is one the nation’s largest manufacturers of refrigerated salads, side dishes, sauces and more for supermarket in-store deli departments as well as commercial and non-commercial foodservice operators.

Diamond Crystal Brands, Idahoan Foods, Knouse Foods, and Mount Franklin Foods joined to launch the Foodservice Brands Alliance ("FBA" or the "Alliance"), the first dedicated network for manufacturers in the foodservice industry.

With summer nearly here, all things grilling and barbecue become top of mind. When it comes to burgers and hot dogs, restaurant operator trends pave the way for cookout-inspired innovations, and Datassential's MenuTrends database provides the trend data to help focus creativity.