Snacks and Minis Go Big

I just surfaced from a full-fledged look at the growing restaurant snack category—think just about mini anything ... just put anything you can possibly think of on a little bun and price it below $3, and you’re there.

All across the board, market analysts are showing continued growth of this sector, which strives to add three new dayparts to the menu: mid-morning snack, mid-afternoon snack and late-night snack. Of course, these lower-priced, downsized portions just as easily fit into our traditional meal dayparts—and save consumers a bit of cash, to boot. It’s no surprise that these foods are one of the few bright spots in the restaurant world these days.

Product and menu developers can do much to differentiate their miniature offerings with innovative takes on flavor accents via sauces, seasoning blends, bread selection, etc. Some folks are also stepping outside of the well-accepted sandwich scene to offer takes on what can logically be called “American tapas—small plates geared to sharing and more-sociable settings. The Cheesecake Factory just jumped into this territory, and it appears to be paying instant dividends, as noted yesterday by Morningstar. Should be interesting to see how it plays out—and who else gets in on the game.

Stay tuned for two upcoming features in the June issue of CULINOLOGY® magazine along these lines—one that digs deep into current snack and mini activity at the chain level and another one where I take a fanciful look at the history of the slider in America—and how far it has come, hitting menus from QSRs to the finest of fine dining and everything in between.