How to sell products to a restaurant using 2026 trends
Key Takeaways
Trends drive foodservice sales: CPG manufacturers must align product pitches to foodservice operators by leveraging market data and insights to secure new menu placements.
Consumer preferences info menu updates: In 2026, rising diner interest in fermented foods, chili oil and protein desserts creates direct opportunities for matching product features to current demand.
Automated sales data improves outreach: Replacing spreadsheet tracking with data-driven pipeline visibility places your field reps in front of the right customer with the right trend at the right time.
Executive summary
Navigating the Canadian restaurant landscape requires consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers to move beyond generic product pitches. According to Restaurants Canada, 71% of foodservice operators reported declining profitability, with 36% currently operating at a loss or just breaking even due to severe food and labor cost pressures.
To win menu space, manufacturers must prove how their items directly answer consumer demand. Learn how sales teams can use restaurant trends to target the right operators. By using TELUS Sales Enablement paired with Tastewise menu insights, your team can match product portfolios to real-world consumer behaviour.
See how a global snack manufacturer gained a 360-degree view of their foodservice data with Sales Enablement
Why are restaurant industry trends important when selling into foodservice operators?
Foodservice operators buy products based on clear utility: reducing kitchen labor, protecting squeezed margins and matching consumer demand. When sales reps lead with these data-driven market shifts, they transform from transactional vendors into critical business advisors.
According to Restaurants Canada, foodservice sales in Canada are projected to decline by 0.2% as affordability pressures force diners to pull back on discretionary spending. CPG manufactures that ignore these tightening budgets risk pitching irrelevant products. Highlighting restaurant consumer trends shows operators that your product line will actively pull in diners.
3 examples of 2026 restaurant trends
Diners are increasingly viewing food choices as investments in health, functional nutrition and bold flavors. Recent data from our partner Tastewise highlights three major restaurant trends shaping menus, driven by sharp increases in both consumer interest and menu adoption:
Chili oil
Menu movement
The spread of global hot sauces and textured condiments across casual dining.
Consumer driver
+22% YoY interest and appearing on 8% more menus; driven by demand for immediate flavour customization and brand-name sensory adventure.
Fermented foods
Menu movement
The increased inclusion of kimchi, kombucha and pickled elements across menus.
Consumer driver
+9% YoY interest in fermented foods and +12% in pickle flavor; driven by Gen Z engagement and a demand for complex, hard-to-recreate global umami profiles.
Protein desserts
Menu movement
The growth of macro-friendly treats like high-protein ice cream, mousses and baked goods.
Consumer driver
+27% spike in protein-forward desserts on menus and +20% YoY interest in protein; driven by a shift toward indulgent wellness and whole-food bases.
Foodservice menu trends: fermented foods
Growth in fermented foods
Backed by Tastewise data showing a 9% year-over-year increase in consumer interest for fermented foods and a 12% jump in pickle flavors, diners are leaning heavily into functional wellness. However, this shift has evolved beyond basic gut health.
“Manufacturers need to treat fermentation as a strategy, not just a garnish or the pickle on the side of the plate. Complex, global umami profiles drive stronger menu engagement with Gen Z and support higher price points.”
Nikki Sendlak
Sr. Product Manager, TELUS Sales Enablement
Global umami profiles like sourdough, fish sauce, black bean sauce and kimchi offer complex flavors that diners cannot easily replicate at home. For operators, utilizing fermentation, and treating brine as a foundational ingredient for everything from acid-forward cocktails to flash-pickled proteins, creates a highly differentiated, premium flavor identity that commands stronger menu engagement, particularly with Gen Z.
Foodservice menu trends: Chili oil
Rise of chili oil
According to Tastewise, chili oil is appearing on 8% more restaurant menus this year alone, while overall consumer interest in bold flavors has tripled year over year, with chili oil interest specifically up 22%. This rapid growth reflects a preference for authentic, globally inspired heat profiles.
“We are entering the era of 'Chili 2.0,' and it’s all about regionality and status. Operators are craving authentic, global profiles to build signature house oils.”
Nikki Sendlak
Sr. Product Manager, TELUS Sales Enablement
For manufacturers, this highlights a highly lucrative positioning opportunity: premium, textured condiments offer operators a cost-effective, low-labor way to deliver the brand-name flavor experiences consumers are willing to pay more for.
Foodservice menu trends:Protein
Popularity of protein desserts
The macro-focused protein trend is moving rapidly into the sweet category, with Tastewise capturing a 27% spike in protein-forward desserts on restaurant menus, alongside a general 20% year-over-year surge in protein interest. Diners increasingly view these choices as defensive investments in personal health, but they don't want the format to feel functional or medical.
“By leveraging whole-food protein bases, you create a guilt-free hook. It gives operators a premium item that supports a higher price point, keeping guests ordering dessert instead of just asking for the check."
Nikki Sendlak
Sr. Product Manager, TELUS Sales Enablement
Interest in Greek yogurt is up 10%, and cottage cheese as a dessert base has jumped nearly 20%. The massive opportunity for menu developers lies in indulgent wellness – reimagining classics into items like cottage cheese tiramisu or whipped Greek yogurt mousse. By leveraging whole-food protein bases, operators create a guilt-free hook that encourages guests to indulge, supporting a higher price point while successfully hitting wellness targets.
How do sales teams switch to insight-led restaurant sales?
Scaling foodservice sales requires shifting from historical tracking to predictive execution. To improve your team’s process for selling products to restaurant operators, sales leaders must replace outdated manual mapping with precise AI-driven execution.
Understanding restaurant needs
Every operator is currently navigating an environment marked by uneven foot traffic and high operating costs. Your team must demonstrate how your product helps control backend kitchen costs while driving front-of-house customer engagement.
Tailoring products to fit trends
Whether your sales force is visiting trending restaurants or pitching large quick service chains, generic product lists will fail. To be effective you need tailored solutions. For instance, instead of pitching a standard hot sauce or bulk oil line, show a casual dining operator how your product line supports the chili oil craze taking off on menus. You can lean on data from within TELUS Sales Enablement to build instant authority:
Building relationships with restaurant operators
Strong partnerships rest on data credibility. Providing operators with localized data regarding what dishes consumers actually buy helps establish your brand as an indispensable category advisor.
Driving success with TELUS Sales Enablement and Tastewise
Identify product placement voids
How it works
Pinpoint menu gaps where competitive products are missing or underperforming.
The outcome for CPG manufacturers
Allows the sales team to pitch hyper-targeted solutions that fill immediate operator needs.
Harmonize foodservice data points
How it works
Combine disparate market data, Tastewise trend data, and supply chain insights into a single source of truth.
The outcome for CPG manufacturers
Enables a data-driven pitch that builds instant authority with independent operators and chains.
Map trends to regional operators
How it works
Translate macro 2026 flavour movements into actionable menu items for independent local operators.
The outcome for CPG manufacturers
Empowers regional sales forces to deliver localized, high-margin product recommendations that drive operator ROI.
How do AI tools improve restaurant menu prediction and market research?
Outdated spreadsheet tracking forces field teams to rely on delayed market data, causing them to miss tight menu-buying windows before competitors secure the placement.
AI Tools for restaurant menu prediction
Modern commercial teams use advanced data systems to track real-time menu shifts. Incorporating AI tools for restaurant menu prediction removes guesswork from sales pipelines. Rather than waiting for a trend to oversaturate the market, sales teams can spot emerging flavor curves early and target operators before competitors react.
Assessing trends and consumer behaviour
Predictive intelligence captures what diners actually choose at the point of purchase, rather than what they say they want in static surveys. This granular visibility allows your sales team to build precise lists of high-potential accounts that possess an ideal product-to-menu fit.
Mapping 2026 flavour trends to operator strategies
Chili oil
YoY increase in consumer interest
+22%
Operator benefit
Low-labour, cost-effective item
Premium, customizable heat profile
How manufacturers can pitch the ingredient to operators
Move beyond basic hot sauce
Command a premium price
Fermented foods
YoY increase in consumer interest
+9%
Operator benefit
Complex flavour profiles
Hard for consumers to recreate at home
How manufacturers can pitch the ingredient to operators
Foundational ingredient for acid-forward cocktails
Flash-pickle proteins
Protein-forward desserts
YoY increase in consumer interest
+20%
Operator benefit
Captures indulgent wellness crowd
High-margin hook
Uses whole-food bases
How manufacturers can pitch the ingredient to operators
Re-engineer classics desserts
Use whole-food bases like Greek yogurt and cottage cheese
How TELUS Sales Enablement helps you sell to restaurants
With 42% of restaurant operators struggling to stay profitable, a generic sales pitch just won't work. TELUS Sales Enablement takes the guesswork out of the equation by connecting real-world restaurant data with predictive menu insights.
Spot menu gaps before your competitors do: Instead of pitching your entire product catalog, our platform uses real-time Tastewise data to show your reps exactly what is missing from a restaurant’s menu. Field reps can instantly see which local independent spots or regional chains have a gap that matches current trends, like chili oils or functional desserts.
Trading spreadsheets for live data: Manual Excel sheets show you what happened weeks ago, causing your team to miss fast-moving opportunities. By syncing live menu performance, regional flavor trends and supply chain data directly into your CRM, your commercial teams can skip the hours of spreadsheet prep and focus entirely on selling.
Removing the risk for the restaurant owner: Margin-conscious operators are afraid of taking a gamble on new menu items. By showing them local buying data, your sales reps can prove that customers are already buying these flavors nearby. This gives operators the confidence to say yes, speeding up your sales cycle while protecting your margins.
