Food presentation is calculated by many factors that don’t actually correlate with taste…or do they?

Assuming your customers aren’t eating their meal blindfolded and the fact that most patrons carry Instagram-ready phones at all times, the look of a meal is important. In this visual, information sharing age, we have to take into account the display of tasty treats just as much as the mastering of the ingredients.

A study published in Flavour, demonstrates that food presentation gives the meal a perception of being tastier! When participants were given 3 different salads, most said the artistically presented salad tasted the best even though all salads had the same ingredients.  Weighing the pros of food presentation with actual ingredients will prove advantageous for your business. Participants in this monumental study reported they would pay double for the artistically presented salad. A little rearranging could support sales.

We know consumers look before they taste, so let’s talk about the unicorn obsession. Restaurants remain stuck in a challenging economic environment, so the push for creative competition is high. The eye-popping trends such as rainbow donuts and glitter lattes are a products of a restaurant’s adventurous developments in such a challenging time. A simple hashtag search for #unicornfoodspeaks for itself.

Of course, this trend may switch from unicorns to monsters or anything in between, but the desire for creativity and “postable” food items is here to stay. Your consumers no longer just eat and leave; they eat, post, then leave. The more enticing your food the more your consumers will post and that is your free advertising at work. Start by offering one or two easy items like photogenic pastries or mini pastel popsicles. Assess the sales and based on consumer trends, your business should be pleasantly surprised.