The frequency of out-of-home dining is increasing. Speciality foods are rarely prepared at home, and diners are looking to fine dining restaurants to offer them a total culinary experience.
The disposable incomes of consumers are increasing and, as a result, fine dining restaurants are seeing a year-on-year increase in sales. The market is experiencing a gastronomic revolution, and the UK has arguably seen more opportunities in this specific sector than our peers on the continent. Fine dining should be a unique experience, borne from only the freshest, finest products.
Ex-chef and media foodie, Martin Levy, is at the helm of the Gourmet arm of our business - procuring largely through the Parisian markets and through wild food gatherers, including those in Scotland who have a direct involvement with the wild mushroom harvest. Supplying fine dining establishments is a tactile, passion-driven vocation. When it comes to trends, it is suppliers such as Martin who influence and ultimately determine what will become ‘trendy’ and end up on a fine dining menu.
Over the last 20 years, we have experienced a variety of trends moving into the fine-dining arena. Current issues, such as provenance and healthy eating, have altered the way consumers look at fresh produce and are now creeping into fine dining.
Organic has, on numerous occasions, threatened to be big, but has never effectively taken off within fine dining. However, wild foods, such as mushrooms and garlic, which may be deemed purer than organics, have become popular. Baby vegetables have experienced massive and consistent growth, as have alternative products such as edible seaweed.
Demand for presentation fruits such as the dragon fruit is a rising trend, and an up-and-coming development set to hit fine dining restaurants is the micro cress. Shoots of vegetables, such as broccoli cress, celery cress and shisho cress, are cut during the early stages of growth, offering customers an extra-intense taste.
Of late, the market has experienced a u-turn and come full circle, regressing a century or more. We are seeing demand for heirloom and Victorian products - those which are now branded ‘heritage’ products, such as medlar, a hard and acidic fruit.
Diversifying a customer base and targeting specific fine dining customers is possible by working with specialist smallholder growers and larger growers who may have specialist products up their sleeve. Produce sourced from overseas can be grown here in the UK, providing the conditions are suitable. Suppliers will encourage UK growers to grow locally if it is a feasible option. For example, a specialist grower in Hampshire now grows Chinese vegetables such as pak choi.
Fine dining is undoubtedly an area of growing interest to the fresh produce sector - promoting new, novel and forgotten lines, supporting chefs in producing ever-creative menus and educating the consumer to the extent of ‘fresh’ choice available to them.
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