The pandemic has changed our lives in the long term and it continues to shape the consumer behavior post crisis. The landscape in the foodservice industry has taken a leap and businesses have modified their formats, tweaked menus, and accelerated the concepts that were slowly on the rise over the last decade. However, producers in the food industry are set to draw conclusions from the lockdown experiences to be better prepared for the future.

As businesses move ahead and step into 2022, some of the previous year’s trends will continue to grow and witness budding new innovations. From delivery to loyalty programs, there are some of the fast food trends you can expect to take off next year. Given the amount of disruptions taking place in almost every industry, it can get overwhelming to keep a track of new updates, existing trends, and other logistical changes. One way for businesses, marketers, and other professionals to keep themselves informed is to attend international food summits, such as the Food 2.0 Conference. It is a unique investment that offers a platform for much more than just prevailing trends.

Food trends that will continue in 2022 at a glance:

In-House Delivery

In-house deliveries are not a new trend but it gained tremendous motion during the pandemic. Many restaurants, casual and fine-dining establishments, took note of the situation and implemented deliveries to meet the growing demand from customers. However, third party services, such as Uber Eats, became the typical go-to solution with an increasing exposure while eliminating a few tasks like managing drivers and POS system changes.

While third-party apps remove many steps from the business, an in-house delivery service not only takes away the high commission fees but also allows you to boost the company’s reputation by keeping the brand name over the drivers and vehicles.

Ghost Kitchens

Ghost kitchens are also known as off-premise kitchens that allow multiple restaurants to have delivery orders prepared and cooked away from individual locations. The rise of ghost kitchens will continue to be one of the major fast food trends in 2022. It facilitates these locations in reducing costs on utilities or reformatting space. For instance, a restaurant group that has multiple fast food concepts in the same area would benefit from the ghost kitchen model as it consolidates the delivery operation in one area without having to spend more money reconfiguring individual locations.

New Normal

The experiences in the past couple of years have changed everyday life and hence the consumer behavior in the pandemic. As a result, new markets are opening up for the food industries, which makes it important now to observe and assess the trends that will stay and the ones that will fade. With the pandemic, many companies have realized the criticality of being far-sighted and well prepared for new rules, values, ​​and structures according to the uncertainties.

Drive-Thru Pickup

The trend of curbsides and drive thrus had been on the rise since forever and it will continue to grow in 2022. The bright side of this trend is that it doesn’t require a lot of change. The modification to digital platforms is the major change that will likely require the big portion of time and budget. These steps would ensure the customer of a seamless experience from order to pickup.

Enhancing Loyalty Programs

All types of restaurants could benefit by enhancing or employing loyalty programs for 2022. Over the last decade or more, fast food businesses have witnessed an improvement in revenue generation with this concept by creating loyalty apps and special membership programs.

Accepting Multiple Payment Apps

Payment Apps have witnessed a dramatic increase in usage and the benefits and have become one of the best food trends that will continue to grow in upcoming years. Although the trend is not something new, this concept combined with delivery and curbside pickups have overtaken the traditional walk-in models. If your fast food restaurant lacks mobile payment then you may face the downfalls of it. Make sure to provide all the options available that cater to the customer behaviours in these times.

Another benefit of incorporating these solutions is that restaurants won’t require additional hardware. Any smart device can be transformed into a register by downloading new POS software and voila! Your restaurant is ready to take orders and serve.