Going Beyond the Sandwich. Guest Blog from Kara Foodservice.

As the UK enters the third phase on the governments road map to recovery, the hospitality sector is gearing up for a sizzling summer. With the pandemic shaping new marketing trends, Kara, the foodservice brand of the Finsbury Food Group, have devised a list of new menu musts that caterers should seek to adopt this season.

Grazing boards

A popular day time dining trend this year is graze boards. As your customers start to build up the confidence to dine out again, grazing boards are filling our social media feeds, they have become a great way to tempt those looking for an afternoon drink with a small bite to eat on the side- with some customers now referring to graze boards as ‘the fourth meal of the day.’

Using bread on menus is a great way to maximise your product offering, if you are looking to spice up your graze board with products you already have in the kitchen, use Kara baguettes and slice them into quarters for mini sample sandwiches or even dipping options partnering them with hummus or balsamic drizzles. If you really wanted to be adventurous, for homemade simple snacking options, turn Kara’s sliced breads and bloomers into crunchy crisp breads.

Afternoon Tea

In recent years’ afternoon tea has become trendy again, exhilarated by the pandemic, it has since become one of the fastest-growing occasion for lockdown deliveries. With the world reopening and warmer weather on the way, it’s looking like afternoon tea is here to stay, but, it is not just plain afternoon tea on the rise. Boozy afternoon teas are now a commonplace, with champagne and prosecco as prevalent as classic Earl Grey and bottles of fizz, wine and cocktails are being offered as a supporting role too.

Kara have a full range of afternoon tea must haves on offer, included fruity scones, doughnuts and a variety of breads for the assorted finger sandwiches.

Picnic Platters

This year Sandwich and bakery outlets are set to grow by 40% *1 , one of the ways the market is expected to grow is through the good ole British Picnic revival. Covid restrictions being lifted coincides with the warmer spring and summer menus, meaning we are expected to see folks heading out for alfresco meals in the local park. As the hospitality industry is now well established in providing takeaway and delivery options, there are now more choices to include in the wicker picnic hamper than ever before.

Even though customers can now opt to dine in, it is still as important to keep your takeaway options at the forefront for these revamp occasions. Include food to go options such as fresh salads served with feta and pomegranate, artisan pork pies, accompanied by deli platters and gourmet sandwiches, served on Kara bloomer breads, delis or baguettes.

With Menu consolidation high of operator’s agendas this year, many chefs are now opting for simplified menus- Kara’s aim this year is to go beyond the burger and simple sandwich solutions and instead showcase the many alternatives options that can be achieved with Kara bakery products. Make your menus go further with Kara.

*1- Lumina Intelligence, 2021