According to statistics from the National Turkey Federation, about 18 pounds of turkey are consumed per capita annually. Additionally, almost all of the turkey going through quick-serves is fully cooked deli meat.
“The majority of turkey products are probably going between two slices of bread,” Rosenblatt says. “I would say there’s a lot of things happening between two slices of bread that could easily be translated to a salad.”
Subway, for example, offers customers the opportunity to turn any sandwich on the menu into a customizable salad—including the turkey subs.
For new or existing salad recipes, Rosenblatt suggests substituting chicken with turkey to give customers a new flavor profile. She says many operators already incorporate turkey into a Southwestern or Asian salad.
“Turkey’s blank canvas will enable it to take on the flavors of whatever ethnic or cultural or regional cuisine that the operator’s trying to portray,” she says. Caranfa, on the other hand, suggests moving away from deli meats to get customers excited about turkey salad options.
“I think the trick to increase the turkey in salads is to offer fresher, more off-the-bone and rotisserie turkey,” she says, “something that has more of a fresh connotation to it, whereas turkey in the past has had more of a deli connotation.”
Saladworks, for example, offers its customers a Turkey Club salad that comes with oven-browned turkey breast atop crispy bacon, diced tomatoes, Radiatore pasta, and fresh lettuce.
Scardapane says customers appreciate the “consistent, moist-flavored poultry.” The chain is also exploring adding salads with organic poultry, smoked chicken, smoked turkey, and smoked duck to its menu.
As far as Salad Spinners’ Levy is concerned, all quick-serves could benefit from adding organic poultry to their menus.
“With the advent of the organic age and the whole free-range hype, there’s a big spotlight on poultry,” he says. “Your guests get excited about it and are willing to pay more for the luxury of having something that’s free-range or cage-free.”
While the rough economy put a chill on the growth of the organic-food industry, it looks like that won’t be the case in the long run.
According to predictions from the NDP Group, demand for organic food is expected to increase by as much as 41 percent in coming years.
“Better for you” foods that are light and lower-calorie are also expected to become increasingly popular. Caranfa suggests it would be wise to capitalize on the demand.
“Health and nutrition trends are growing every day,” she says. “Have your all-natural, real chicken, and promote chicken that way versus the type of protein they may have used in the past.” She also recommends all quick-serves have a grilled chicken option for salads.
“That’s going to be healthier,” she says. “It’s going to let them have a healthier menu option without bringing too much into the operator’s salad pantry.”
Caranfa cautions against the trap that quick-serves fell into in the early 2000s, though, when they promoted entrée salads as healthy when they actually had as many calories and fat grams as the burger and fries.
“It’s important that if salads are going to be promoted as healthier or seen as healthier that they are going to be adding nutritional benefits,” she says.