Hamburgers are hot

I was at the Manitoba Food Processors Association conference yesterday, and heard Dana McCauley speak about food trends. One trend she noted is the rise in hamburgers, particularly gourmet hamburgers. With the economy down, people aren't eating steak and lobster as much, but they will splurge on a special hamburger. Well known TV chef Bobby Flay has a new hamburger joint called Bobby's Burger Palace with locations in New York and New Jersey. McCauley also says the founder of Quiznos has a new chain called Smashburger. I love hamburgers -- loaded hamburgers with toasted buns and lots of cheese -- so this new trend suits me fine.

Other trends from McCauley's talk:

—Local food is still hot. She talked about Ontario's Foodland Ontario logo that recognizes local food. Farmers' markets continue to get more popular.

—Provenance. Where is the food from and who grew it? Loblaws/Superstore is featuring faces of farmers on some chicken packages. McCauley showed a egg carton from Tesco's in the U.K. It contained six free-range eggs from three different chicken breeds. The package showed photos of each breed and an explanation of where they came from.

—Recipes are a good way to promote a product. This isn't a new idea. I know the canola, pulse, pork and beef producer groups are good at this. With the trend to more home cooking, McCauley suggests you keep this going.

—She listed nutrients and food content of concern, as rated by Canadians, starting with the most important: Whole grains, fibre, protein, total fat, calories, sugar, vitamins and on and on. Carbohydrates were a ways down the list, which shows the Atkins Diet craze has faded.

She had many more trends, but that's enough for now. I will touch on others in upcoming issues of Grainews or later on this blog.