With so much attention focused on the better-for-you foodservice trend, it can be easy to think satisfying, flavorful snack options have fallen by the wayside. Hungry for a taste of success in a wellness-oriented competitive environment, foodservice operators are on a quest to unwrap a winning formula for snacking satisfaction.

Chicken sales have wings to fly, as demonstrated by the phenomenal success of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen’s chicken sandwich, which sold out in less than a month.¹ Launched on Aug. 12, with inventory forecasted through the end of September, the quick service chain’s first nationwide chicken sandwich flew the coop far faster than expected.¹ Now Popeyes is scrambling to bring it back as soon as possible.

Americans are a snack-happy bunch—and as the market research firm NPD Group reports, they’re growing appetite for grazing on snacks is eating into the traditional pattern of three large meals a day.¹ And the sheer volume of snacks consumed in the U.S. is surging. Consumers munched on an estimated 386 billion ready-to-eat foods last year, up from 356.billion in 2011.¹

As the local sourcing and farm-to-table frenzy shows, consumers have fallen head over heels for fresh ingredients. “Freshness is a top snack attribute,”¹ according to survey results from the research firm Technomic. In fact, 63% of consumers surveyed demand freshness first and foremost.² Women in particular favor freshness (67%), compared to 59% of men.²

As their influence grows, chefs are not only cooking the dishes—they’re calling the shots. According to the National Restaurant Association’s What’s Hot2019 Culinary Forecast, chef-driven fast casual restaurant concepts rank among the year’s Top Ten Trends.¹ And when the report drills down to the top restaurant concepts, chef-driven fast casuals are ranked highest.²