Fruit Beyond the Fruit Cup
Beverages are top-of-mind in this category, but fruit can also play a strong supporting role in otherwise savory items like salads, sandwiches, and pizzas/wraps.
— Jim Villemaire
Schlotzsky’s Deli
Incorporating fruit into seasonal salsas is becoming increasingly popular.
— Dan Barash
Moe’s Southwest Grill
Fruit can be used as a condiment on sandwiches and given a star role in salads. On the beverage side, fruit works just about everywhere.
— Stan Dorsey
FOCUS Brands
Fresh or dry apples, cranberry, orange, pears, pineapple, and cherries are available year-round and go well with savory elements like blue cheese or bacon. Superfruits like blueberry, pomegranate, and açai are moving beyond juices and smoothies to dipping sauces, glazes, and rubs, where they give distinct color, flavor, and perception of healthfulness. Fruits like fig, blackberry, and kumquat are also being featured in side dishes as an alternative or complement to starches such as rice or orzo.
— Nestle’ Professional Culinary Team
Fruit salsas are pretty popular. Bonehead’s uses a pineapple salsa as a topping for grilled fish. They will be using a spicy peach salsa during the summer, and we just ended our last LTO with a guava citrus glaze that we used as a topping for trout.
— Dave Fenner
Boneheads Grill Fish and Piri Piri Chicken
Try fruit-infused aioli on sandwiches including classic burgers or fruit to compliment comfort foods such as apples and pork or mangos and serranos on a fish dish.
— Delia Champion
The Flying Biscuit Café
It has already begun in beverages. This will trend toward the content of real, nutritious fruit with little tolerance for artificial flavors. Food is always paired with beverages, and if the beverage is produced with natural fruit, then the nutritional value for calories consumed is greater.
— Stephen A. Kalil
Frito Lay
We are seeing increased utilization of fruits in salsas, salads, desserts, and specialty drinks, all good opportunities to leverage fresh, flavorful, natural, and wholesome queues.
— Jon Miller
El Pollo Loco