The Impact of Consumer Curiosity on Restaurant Food

I am a hoarder of research, always searching for, collecting, examining and tucking away the latest market reports, consumer survey data, peer-reviewed research studies, long-form articles from respected sources, and government reports. My inspiration for this column came from the 2024 Consumer Curiosity Report recently released by Curious Plot, a marketing firm.

The survey was fielded in April 2024 to 850 consumers who are early adopters, people who are interested in food experiences, interact with food content online at least once a week, and who consider trying new things to be important. Curious Plot did the research to “track and prioritize food topics that consumers are most curious about in order to identify, understand and nurture trends-in-the-making.”

Nearly all respondents (99%) fell into four demographic groups: Baby Boomers (25%), Gen X (27%), Millennials (33%), and Gen Z (14%), with slightly more females (53%) than males completing the study.
The study looked at three categories of consumer curiosity: culinary, nutrition and sustainability. Easy, under-30-minute meals was the overall top curiosity for early food adopters in 2024. Topics that directly or indirectly relate to produce were common in all three categories, including interest in learning new ways to prepare vegetables, information on how to eat more fruits and vegetables, and a desire to learn how to reduce food waste.

While social media was a top influencer for nearly 30% of all respondents, friends and family (20%) and restaurants (15%) rounded out the top three most influential sources of food curiosity.

The older three demographics all reported being influenced by restaurants, which is not surprising since restaurants have been driving many food trends for many years. What was surprising is that Gen Z didn’t include restaurants as a top influencer. Their curiosity is most motivated by TikTok, friends and family, and individual influencers.

Easy + Exploration is how Curious Plot’s defines the top culinary curiosities, and easy exploration is exactly what restaurants do best. Discovering a new way to prepare vegetables and trying new global flavors and cuisines at restaurants can be wonderful and inspiring.

The discovery and inspiration are especially powerful when a chef, server, or other restaurant team member is an enthusiastic supporter of a menu item that can be replicated at home or enjoyed repeatedly at the restaurant. An example of this are servers who can quickly explain how to sear shishito peppers over high heat in extra virgin olive oil until they start to shrivel and brown, then top with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a dash of sea salt, and enjoy as a thrilling appetizer, the “thrill” coming from the one in 10 odds of getting a really hot pepper.

Restaurants need to work to recapture consumers’ interest in new food experiences away from home, especially ones that focus on fresh produce.

However, the fact that more than half of respondents say they prefer to try new foods at home rather than in restaurants is troubling. Yes, there has been some consumer belt-tightening due to food inflation, but restaurants need to work to recapture consumers’ interest in new food experiences away from home, especially ones that focus on fresh produce.

Restaurant industry marketers need to consider promotional pricing to reduce the financial risk of trying something new, limited-time offers to create a sense of urgency, or suggestive selling from counter and table service staff. Marketers do not have to motivate every diner to share great experiences on social media; talking to family and friends about great restaurant food experiences is powerful.

Easy meals is the highest-ranked curiosity followed by eating on a budget. Easy meals are easy, but finding easy meals that are also budget-friendly has become more difficult as consumers are raising concerns about the cost of restaurant meals.

Quick-service restaurants have been competing to offer special meal pricing this summer, eager to retain loyal customers who like the convenience of fast food. Unfortunately, fresh produce, beyond the lettuce-tomato-onion on burgers, is rarely seen in these lower-priced meals.

However, 80% of respondents are trying to eat healthier and are curious about fresh, whole foods. Restaurants that use fresh produce as a subtle cue for better-for-you meals are poised to capture more consumer attention, especially when using new forms of produce that capture the attention of early adopters.

The final area of curiosity concerns gut health, immunity-boosting foods, and foods with cognitive health benefits. All produce plays a role in supporting gut health, working as fiber-containing prebiotics that feed the good bacteria.

Speaking of berries, I was delighted to dine at a new-to-me restaurant in Sacramento in mid-July, one that offered the “pastry flip.” For years, I have been advocating for the portion of fruit in a dessert to be greater than the pastry.

The pastry chef at Camden Spit & Larder in downtown Sacramento created gorgeous raspberry tarts loaded with fresh, sweet raspberries on top of a light lemon custard and delightfully crispy pastry shell. I couldn’t have been happier as I contemplated the future of produce on restaurant menus.

Amy Myrdal Miller, MS, RDN, FAND is a farmer’s daughter from North Dakota, award-winning dietitian, culinary nutrition expert, and founder and president of Farmer’s Daughter Consulting, Inc. She is the retail nutrition marketing and foodservice partnership specialist for the Buy California Marketing Agreement/CA GROWN, a member of the Texas A&M Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture AgriLife External Advisory Board, a member of the Bayer Vegetable Seeds Horticultural Advisory Council, and co-author of Cooking á la Heart, a 500-recipe cookbook based on plant-forward eating cultures from around the world. You can learn more about her business at farmersdaughterconsulting.com and follow her insights on food and flavor on social media @alaheartamy.