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Food is on a growth trend

High-quality food service is on trend right now. Integrating signature food & beverage offerings into your agritourism festivals, attractions, and events is critical and should be part of their earliest planning.

Consumers today are becoming very sophisticated about menu offerings. They have high expectations and are looking for elevated food and beverage experiences. The baseline today includes flavor forward and scratch cooking. People are looking for the familiar and expected, such as the cider donut, kettle popcorn, strawberry shortcake, or peach ice cream. But at the same time, they are also looking to discover foods with a new unique, approachable twist, such as introducing some global flavors in familiar foods, such as Korean BBQ tacos.

It's also becoming increasingly important to offer plant-based options, especially to attract Millennials, a significant agritourism target. 25% of Millennials are vegetarians, vegans, or pescatarians (no meat besides fish). You can learn more about the plant-based trend in last month's article in our Leisure eNewsletter, Millennials are leading the plant-based eating trend . A November 2022 survey by Wakefield Research also found that a third (31%) of Americans substitute meat, cheese, or dairy with a plant-based alternative an average of eight meals a week, suggesting that while they may not go fully vegetarian or vegan, there is a growing appetite to follow an occasional plant-based or flexitarian diet.

Today, food and beverage offerings have become as much a draw for agritourism as the activities and entertainment. The combination of both can create an attractive agritourism destination experience.

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