The Caterer: Casual Dining

The Premium Americana Trend

“The last year has seen further rise in the popularity of the casual dining scene, in particular in the case of premium burger and hot dog outlets that have popped up as part of the premium Americana and street food trends.

“Despite the European origins of the frankfurter, the recent resurgence in premium hot dogs has arisen as part of the American trends across foodservice, which has seen an increase in American style foods such as gourmet burgers, mac ‘n’ cheese and pulled pork on menus nationwide.

“Menus across the casual dining sector are becoming more and more innovative, taking inspiration from US dishes and street food favourites to reinvent menus and tap into consumer demand for up scaled, gourmet classics.

“Following on from the proliferation of gourmet burgers using brioche buns and speciality cheeses, 2014 saw numerous dedicated hot dog outlets open across London. In addition, there has been an increase in the number of menus that include the gourmet hot dog option. Horizons 2014 Menurama report suggested hot dogs appeared on 86% more menus than in the previous year.”

Rise of the Gourmet Hot Dog

“Traditionally hot dogs were associated with football stadiums and leisure outlets, however the casual dining scene in the UK has embraced the humble hot dog and reinvented it as a premium, aspirational frankfurter, to meet consumer demand for a quality, authentic dining experience.

“Outlets are increasingly adding frankfurters to their menus, albeit combined with a wide variety of toppings, garnishes and sides to add value and broaden their appeal.

“The frankfurter has moved on from its humble base of being presented in a bun with ketchup and mustard – for casual dining, consumers expectations are higher. As a result, operators have introduced a wide range of gourmet toppings and sides, for example mac ‘n’ cheese, barbecue pulled pork and Mexican guacamole.”

Convenient Gourmet

“The benefits to the casual dining outlet is clear: outlets can tap into the American trend easily by using good quality frankfurters as a basis for innovative dishes that appeal to diners looking for something new and exciting.

“Westlers’ new European style premium frankfurters can offer the casual dining outlet a simple to serve and flexible solution to take advantage of the growing trend. The Westlers all new frankfurter recipe uses a natural beechwood smoke and draws on the vast experience of Westlers’ parent company, Zwanenberg Food Group – one of Europe’s leading hot dog manufacturers.

“Many people have traditionally associated hot dogs with their early childhood experiences of lesser quality products on offer at seaside cafés and fun fairs. However, times have changed and Westlers’ new recipe frankfurters are a different proposition. They offer one of the meatiest frankfurters on the market, made with 90% pork – which is nearly twice as much protein than your average sausage. Produced to an authentic European recipe, each frankfurter is naturally smoked over beechwood to achieve the authentic taste that the casual dining customer demands.

“In addition, Westlers premium frankfurters are vacuum packed for freshness and can be stored at ambient temperatures.  Westlers frankfurters can be heated in a bain marie, steamer or on a roller grill and held at temperature ready to serve. This means that they are ideal for busy casual dining outlets where space and preparation time comes at a premium.

 

“The Westlers frankfurter range is available to caterers with a wide range of support packages to enable caterers to easily access to this growing trend. Packages include equipment including roller grills, steamers and ban maries; POS materials including posters and flags; and sundries such as branded frankfurter boxes.

“A Gourmet frankfurter concept offers a siple way to allow casual dining outlets to take advantage of changing trends and demands in a convenient and cost effective way. The simplicity, speed of preparation and quality provided by Westlers premium frankfurter leaves kitchen staff and chefs plenty of room to innovate and add value.