Why More Limited Service Restaurants Are Adding Seafood To Their Menus

Limited-service restaurants (LSR) are serving up a new kind of protein to consumers: fish. Typically, seafood is something that’s been left off the menu at LSRs. But over the past year, Mintel Menu Insights shows that fish as an ingredient on LSR menus has grown four percent.

According to an article in Fast Casual, more chains are offering fish-centric dishes in order to meet consumer demands. Right now, customers are concerned with nutrition when dining out, and fish gives restaurants the opportunity to hop on the ever-growing health food trend.

Kazia Jankowski, culinary and brand strategist for Kazia Jankowski Consulting, told Fast Casual, “Fish and seafood represent relatively unexplored flavors in the fast casual world, yet for guests, they offer perfect healthy and flavorful options.”

Mintel Menu Insights reports that the majority of LSRs serve their fish fried. But as more brands start to incorporate fish into their recipes, they’re getting more creative with how they prepare it. For example, concepts like Sweetgreen and Larkburger use fish as the base for both burgers and salads.

The fish trend isn’t just hitting already established franchises—seafood creates an opportunity for new brands to enter the LSR market. Slapfish and Coconut’s Fish Café are all brands that are positioning themselves to emerge as innovators in the LSR seafood segment. That competition to own the seafood segment is expected to continue.

In an interview with Fast Casual, Branden Bentley, corporate chef at Food IQ, said, “The health halo associated with fish provides operators the opportunity to not only market a new protein option, but a better-for-you option. Limited serves, which sometimes receive flack for not having many healthy menu items, can use fish to their advantage for this reason. Fish is also an option for those vegetarians that allow fish in their diets.”

To read the original Fast Casual article, click here.