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Restaurant SmartBrief readers: Taste trumps price

2 min read

Restaurant and Foodservice

SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Restaurant SmartBrief — tracks feedback from restaurant owners and managers about current trends and issues.

Last week’s poll question: What is your No. 1 priority when sourcing ingredients?

  • How far the ingredient has traveled — is it local? — 8.53%
  • If the ingredient is organic — 6.2%
  • How tasty the ingredient is — 51.16%
  • The price of the ingredient — 27.91%
  • None of the above — 6.2%

Taste is king for Restaurant SmartBrief readers selecting ingredients for their menus. More than 50% of respondents advocated tasty ingredients over organic or local ingredients, but most importantly, over price. Many chefs would argue that local ingredients are naturally tastier, but not every restaurant owner would argue that taste trumps price. SmartBlog on Restaurants rounded up a few articles on chefs, restaurants and ingredient sourcing:

  • Chef2Chef profiles Bagel Works founder Richard French II’s journey toward choosing the perfect ingredients for the chain’s menu, from sustainable meats (at a premium price) to liquid free-range eggs.
  • On OpenTable’s blog, Eleven Madison Park chef Daniel Humm describes how he learned the importance of local ingredients from his mother in Switzerland.
  • Forbes India delved into McDonald’s journey to find the perfect potato for its Indian locations.
  • A TV anchor writing in California’s Desert Sun newspaper examines how the flavor of jalepeños has changed to suit more widespread consumption.

What’s the one ingredient you will skimp on? Tell us in the comments!