National Chains Embrace Local Food Movement

CHICAGONational restaurant chains are sprucing up their menus to include fresh, locally grown ingredients to meet customers cravings for innovative indigenous offerings, according to data from the new Mintel Menu Insights report.

The local foods movement began in 2007 and has continued to flourish as more than 58 percent of restaurant-goers seeking more locally grown and sustainable products on menus. In fact, the number of U.S. restaurants adding the local" claim on their menus increased 13 percent in the past year.

Mintel predicts the local trend will extend beyond geography to include other important attributes such as seasonal," traditional" and authentic" especially as it relates to global cuisines.

Serving the best of the season communicates freshness and a get-it-now urgency. Perhaps most importantly, indigenous ingredients help the migration away from overly processed food toward more recognizable and simpler ingredients sourced closer to home," said Mintel foodservice analyst Kathy Hayden.

She noted regional pride is where national chains have made the most of indigenous ingredients and local foodways. For instance, Burgerville, a Vancouver, Wash.-based quick service restaurant prides itself on serving Oregon and Washington berries, meats, cheeses and vegetables. In the Southern U.S., Popeyes fried chicken chain has aligned its brand more closely to its New Orleans roots with a menu that emphasizes Louisiana spices, sweet cane tea and Cajun and Creole-inspired dishes.