Building Excitement Around Bowls

Bowls keep getting better and better! Consumers love bowls for their convenience, customizability, and craveability. Thanks to fast casual chains that allow consumers to customize their own meals via bowls, bowls have surged in popularity in recent years. In fact, according to Mintel, bowls have experienced 44% growth in the past three years, continuing to win over consumers. With bowls becoming staple items on restaurant menus and in the frozen section, it’s important to develop new bowl options in order to stand out and grab consumers’ attention. These days, consumers are growing increasingly restless, constantly seeking out something new and different to shake up their routines. This makes innovation all the more important to keep bowls from getting boring.

How do you build excitement around bowls? Keep reading to get our experts’ perspectives on building better bowl options.

Make Plant-Based a Priority

Plant-based foods are exploding in popularity with a wide range of consumers. The pandemic has driven consumers of all ages to rethink their diets, resulting in them gravitating towards plant-based options to up their vegetable and fruit intake. Given that bowls have long been deemed a healthy meal option, consumers will expect to see more plant-based components in bowls from their favorite brands. It’s time to consider strategically incorporating more vegetables and plant-based meat and carb replacements into bowls. This means more riced cauliflower and plant-based meat alternatives as bowl ingredients –  and more trending vegetables taking starring roles in bowls.

The key here is understanding trends in plant-based foods. Consumers have much higher expectations for plant-based alternatives to taste just like – or even better than – the real deal. They also expect plant-based foods to deliver incredible flavor. Pay close attention to what’s trending in plant-based to develop bowls that appeal to health-conscious consumers.

Lean into Health and Wellness

Whenever we get asked about what’s next in terms of health and wellness trends, we always have the same answer. It’s all about offering food products and menu items that aim to address very specific health concerns. Brands have long offered products that claim to support heart health, but going forward, consumers are going to be looking to their favorite brands to help them achieve a broader range of health goals. From boosting the immune system to supporting eye and brain health, consumers are going to be making dietary choices based on the health concerns they’d like to address. Rather than going to the pharmacy, they’re going to expect brands in both foodservice and retail to offer products and menu items that aid them in this endeavor.

What does this mean for bowls? This means innovating around specific health concerns. Think bowls that prominently feature several immunity boosting ingredients or bowls that are developed around ingredients that help lower cholesterol.

Get Inspired by Indulgence

Although bowls originally rose in popularity, in part, due to their perceived healthiness, the possibilities don’t need to stop there. It may seem counterintuitive to create indulgent options when bowls are often perceived as healthy, but the growing comfort food trend makes this an exciting option for innovation. The stress of recent years has driven consumers to seek out more indulgent options. While the majority of consumers are focusing more on health and wellness, they’re also interested in achieving balance and still allow themselves to indulge. Especially because bowls help with portion control, creating an indulgent bowl can allow consumers to treat themselves without the guilt. Innovate around popular comfort foods to make bowls that offer indulgence and nostalgia.

One exciting possibility for indulgent bowls? Sweet and dessert bowls. Think a brown sugar bacon sweet potato bowl for breakfast or a triple chocolate dessert bowl topped with sugar cookies and fruit. Get inspired by consumers’ latest cravings to create innovative bowls that satisfy the sweet tooth.

Ready to bring some excitement to your bowls? Contact us today to see how Fuchs can help you create something special.