Canadian Food Trends
The Canadian Restaurant & Foodservice Association (CRFA) recently put out their “Foodservice Facts 2012″, a market review and forecast. From its pages the results of a couple of intertersting surveys caught my eye.
Firstly from a survey of more than 300 chefs:
Top 10 Hot Trends on Canadian Menus
1. Locally produced food and locally inspired dishes (no surprise)
2. Sustainability
3. Gluten-free/food allergy conscious
4. Farm-/estate-branded ingredients
5. Simplicity/back-to-basics
6. Nutrition / health (eg. low-fat, reduced sodium, antioxidents, high fibre)
7. Ethnic / street food inspired appetizers (eg. tempura, taquitos)
8.Food trucks/street food
9. Artisanal cheeses
10. Bite-size/mini desserts
And secondly, again from more than 300 Canadian chefs (i’m assunming these are the same chefs as above):
Top 10 Up-and-Coming Canadian Menu Trends
1.African cuisine
2. Black garlic
3. Gluten-free beer
4. Red rice
5. Peruvian cuisine
6. Vegetable ceviche
7. Micro-distilled/artisan liquor
8. Goat
9. Game bird appetizers (eg. duck, quail)
10. Savoury ice creams
They are both intersting lists for sure. Nothing overly surprising if you follow food trends or are involved with food service. Any thoughts about items left off the list? What about restaurant/food service grown produce?

Landwaterfork Food Inc. is a Ottawa, Ont. based catering, private chef service and sustainability consulting company, created by Justin Faubert, whose goal is to provide high quality, professional, personalized service for every client.