1. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014CONFIDENTIAL. This document contains trade secret information. Disclosure, use or reproduction outside Cargill or inside
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The New
Comfort Foods
Modern Twists On
Classic Favorites

2. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014
Old Classics. New Formula.
The new comfort foods occupy a niche where old favorites
now meet gourmet, upscale foods. Today’s comfort food
innovation follows a formula of sorts to provide a new take on
an old classic.
WHAT’S THE FORMULA?
Offer a classic food, upscale the
ingredients, add variety with
quality, and then change the
recipe just enough to provide an
interesting twist, notes QSR
magazine‘s ―Comfort
conversions for your menu.‖
2
Source: QSR magazine. ―Comfort conversions for your menu‖, (Page 1).

3. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014
What’s Behind the Trend?
An estimated 60% of Millennials are searching for
new ways to enhance old recipe favorites.
TREND: GASTRONOSTALGIA
―The trend of ‗gastronostalgia‘
has driven the Millennial
demographic to revamp their
childhood favorites with a
grown-up, gourmet twist,‖
according to Lapine, Millennials
Report.
3
Source: Lapine, Millennials Report (Page 13), November 2013.

4. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014
Nearly 40% of Millennials
are self-described
“foodies.”
What are some favorites?
4
Source: Lapine, Millennials Report (Page 3), November 2013.

5. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014

6. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014
Spiked Milkshakes
• Now milkshake lovers have good reason to toast – the new trend
on the menu is gourmet wine milkshakes, according to USA Today.
• In 2012, Red Robin® claimed to be the first restaurant to offer
milkshakes spiked with beer, and the trend continues to grow due
to their buzz-worthy combination with social media.
• High-end wine milkshakes are commanding a premium in casual
dining restaurant chains such as Denny‘s®. In fact, spiked
milkshakes are now becoming more common at many restaurants
across the country, according to Technomic research.
6
Source: USA Today. ―The latest boozy milkshake—Wine shakes.‖, E-mail conversation with Mary Chapman, Technomic research firm.

7. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014

8. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014
Bakery Meatloaf
• How about some meat in that cupcake? For years, the Meatloaf
Bakery® in Chicago‘s Lincoln Park has been selling meatloaf in
cupcake form with mashed potatoes as the icing.
• Meatloaf lovers can also try Meatloaf Sliders off the appetizer
menu at Weber Grill Restaurant or duck meatloaf at Buttermilk
Channel.
• Downtown Kitchen & Cocktails offers a 1 Percenter‘s Bacon
Wrapped Meatloaf, with ground pork, beef, lamb, mushrooms and
chunky tomato sauce, according to Technomic data.
8
Source: About.com. ―Tired of traditional comfort foods like meatloaf?, E-mail conversation with Mary Chapman, Technomic research firm.

9. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014

10. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014
Haute Mac & Cheese
• Mac and cheese made with upscale ingredients, such as an
Italian style with sautéed salami, garlic, peppers, sun-dried
tomatoes and onions, was named one of Forbes Hottest Food
Trends for 2014.
• Technomic research noted a few examples of upscale macaroni
and cheese dishes:
• Brann‘s Steakhouse™ now offers a five-cheese Buffalo chicken mac
and cheese.
• Farrelli‘s Wood Fire Pizza® offers a crab mac and cheese.
• Not Your Average Joe‘s Harvest Mac ‗n Cheese has roasted butternut
squash, marinated chicken thigh, baby spinach and curly cavatappi
noodles, baked in a creamy cheddar and smoked mozzarella
sauce, topped with asiago bread crumbs.
10
Source:Forbes.com. ―12 Hottest Food Trends for 2014.‖ (Page 1), E-mail conversation with Mary Chapman, Technomic research firm.

11. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014

12. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014
Deluxe Burgers
• Today, consumers are simply burger snobs. Noted in a
Technomic burger study:
• 27 percent of restaurant goers prefer burgers made with Angus beef.
• 19 percent prefer sirloin burgers.
• Almost half want a variety of sizes, such as mini burgers to half-pound patties.
• A few examples of how burgers are breaking out from the norm
are:
• RM Seafood offers a Buffalo Burger with caramelized onions, truffle tremor
cheese and pepper mayo.
• Spice Market has a Grilled Short Rib Burger with Asian Pear and Korean Chili
Sauce.
• Landry‘s® has the Inside Out Cheeseburger: brie-stuffed, balsamic caramelized
onions, mushrooms ragout, roasted tomato, reported by Technomic.
12
Source: QSR magazine. ―Death of the gourmet burger?‖ (Page 1), E-mail conversation with Mary Chapman, Technomic research firm.

13. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014

14. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014
Fancy Fried Chicken
• According to Datassential, menus offering fried chicken with
waffles grew 400 percent, and fried chicken with biscuits grew 20
percent from 2011 to 2013.
• The surge in popularity for this comfort food staple is being driven
by Southern, Asian and Caribbean cuisine in particular.
• Even food trucks are offering gourmet fried chicken, such as the
gourmet LudoTruck in Los Angeles that is cited as one of ―99
things to eat in L.A. before you die‖ by Pulitzer Prize winning food
critic, Jonathan Gold.
14
Source:FoodFanatics.com. ―Gourmet fried chicken hits it big.‖ (Page 1)., LudoTruck.com.

15. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 201415

16. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014
Elevated Bread Pudding
• Most Americans probably don‘t long for the good old days of
English comfort foods, but versatile bread pudding is becoming
more mainstream, whether as an authentic English version or
one with a modern day twist, noted Datassential‘s January 2014
FoodBytes newsletter.
• This type of pudding can be made sweet or salty. For
example, The Eiffel Tower Restaurant serves an appetizer of
Sautéed Fois Gras described as ―Aigre Doux with Rhubarb Bread
Pudding.‖
• Another example, Broken Egg Café has House Made Bananas
Foster Bread Pudding. And Atwood Café has Coffee Bread
Pudding: Chocolate espresso beans, hazelnut brittle, amaretto
Chantilly cream, reports Technomic.
16
Source: Datassential‘s FoodBytes newsletter. ―2014 Trends to watch.‖, E-mail conversation with Mary Chapman, Technomic research firm.

17. © 2013 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.New Comfort Foods-May 2014
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