Leading fast-casual restaurant chains not only weathered the economic storm, they prospered, reports NPD.

Visits to the leading fast-casual restaurant chains grew 17% over the last three years while the rest of the industry experienced its steepest traffic declines in decades, and consumer demand for fast-casual offerings exceeded the unit growth of leading fast-casual chains, according to foodservice market research by Port Washington, N.Y.-based The NPD Group, a leading market-research company.

By Brent T. Frei

The fifth-annual Student Culinology® Competition at RCA’s 2011 conference exemplified the blending of culinary art and food science.

The student team from Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) took first-place honors, along with a $5,000 cash award and industry-wide recognition as rising stars in food-product development, at the fifth-annual Student Culinology® Competition, March 3 during the Research Chefs Association’s (RCA) Annual Conference & Culinology® Expo at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The award was presented at the 2011 RCA Annual Luncheon on March 5.

Each of the finalist teams representing six universities throughout North America shipped in advance a frozen Southern dessert concept featuring peaches, suitable for a family-style chain restaurant. On the day of competition, teams prepared their fresh, “gold standard” item, and in a Culinology® match test, competition judges compared each team’s plated, commercialized dessert to its corresponding freshly prepared dessert against such criteria as ingredient composition/authenticity, flavor/aroma, texture, presentation, professionalism, technical skills, safety and sanitation and overall similarity to the gold standard.

Technomic finds customization, complexity and portions driving frozen-dessert restaurant purchases.

A love affair with ice cream is perhaps just as American as that most iconic of desserts, apple pie—or even more so given the frequency with which we indulge in the creamy treat. More than half of consumers in a recent survey by trend-tracker Technomic said they eat vanilla ice cream at least once a month, and 46% said the same of chocolate.

While vanilla and chocolate dominate the ice -cream category, there are a multitude of milkshakes, sundaes, frozen yogurts, sorbets, gelatos and even tofu-based non-dairy dessert flavors that each has a special place in the hearts of consumers.

According to Mary Chapman, director at Technomic, there are several key factors when it comes to frozen desserts on restaurant menus. “Complexity, customization and portions are all very important. Operators need to differentiate their items from those offered by retailers, and they need to make the offerings available in various sizes to attract diners who are concerned with health, value, or who are simply too full to eat a large dessert.”

Healthier breakfast items are the order of the day as breakfast sales at restaurants rebound.

The most important meal of the day has been a challenge for restaurants over the past few years, faced with economic uncertainty and reduced consumer spend. In order to lure back customers to an already over-crowded breakfast marketplace, restaurant operators will need to give consumers what they want—and according to latest research from Mintel, that’s a healthy breakfast, as 66% of restaurant-goers say they are interested in healthier breakfast options.

Promisingly, Mintel’s research shows breakfast sales are expected to rebound in 2011, resulting in 4.1% growth, and the healthy-eating message is echoed by the 39% of restaurant diners who say breakfast options at their local eateries are too unhealthy. Regardless of the day of the week, two-fifths of consumers who eat breakfast out (39% on weekdays and 40% on weekends) say healthy breakfast options are the most important factor when selecting a breakfast spot.

Older Americans consume less sodium than Millennials, but all generations consume more than recommended, particularly according to the new USDA guidelines.

The updated dietary guidelines, recently released by the United States Department of Agriculture, suggest a daily sodium intake of 2,300 milligrams for the average person, and 1,500 milligrams for ages 50+, but according to a new report from The NPD Group, a leading market-research company, all generations consume above those recommendations.

Seniors, born before 1946, and older Boomers, born 1946-1955, are on average consuming 2,912 mg. and 3,199 mg. of sodium daily, respectively, according to the report entitled “Sodium Concerns and Opportunities.” While still above the guidelines, these are the lowest levels seen among the generations. These age groups, which have a higher incidence of high blood pressure and other heart-health-related issues, also commonly check nutrition labels for sodium levels in the products they buy.