A Fresh Approach: Farmer’s Market Cuisine on the Menu

From fabulous breads to local, seasonal vegetables, restaurant patrons are savoring the bounty of America’s harvest. They’re seeking “the best from the earth and the hands of our artisans,” says Restaurant Hospitality. In addition, consumers increasingly want to know where their food comes from and how it is produced. It’s all part of the farmer’s market cuisine influence, identified by the magazine as a top FSR trend for 2003. The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board would likely concur: It reports ripening demand for farmstead and specialty cheeses as consumer interest grows in the craft of cheesemaking.

Restaurants can capitalize on the farmer’s market cuisine trend by featuring fresh, high-quality ingredients in their menu concepts. To get the most leverage, they should also promote the quality and freshness of ingredients like pure, natural LAND O LAKES® Cheese and Butter, in their menu descriptions. Land O’Lakes helps, by offering operators $100 per unit (up to $5000) for featuring the LAND O LAKES logo on their menus, or the LAND O LAKES name in menu text. Click here for more information on our Menu Allowance Program. With a little thought, you can come up with a cornucopia of ideas for marketing nature’s bounty to your patrons.

Sources:

12 Trends That Will Impact Full Service Restaurants, Restaurant Hospitality, 2003.

The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, press release, January 15, 2003.