TRENDWATCH: Top Sandwich Proteins
Top Sandwich Proteins
What’s the most popular protein on entree sandwiches on Canadian menus? It’s chicken, according to Technomic’s MenuMonitor database. This versatile protein can easily adapt to a wide variety of flavours, including ethnic preparations. Chicken can also be prepared many ways, including grilled, fried, smoked and roasted.
Coming in at No. 2 on the list, bacon is listed 671 times on Canadian menus. Often bacon is added to a sandwich in addition to other proteins, such as beef, chicken or turkey. Recently, operators have been spotlighting a variety of bacon preparations beyond smoked on menus, such as peppered, candied and flavoured. Interesting bacon applications can help differentiate a menu.
Turkey is another popular meat option on sandwiches. This lean protein is frequently featured in traditional club sandwiches. However, we are also observing a growing interest in nontraditional turkey preparations, such as turkey tacos, Asian-inspired turkey and specialty turkey burgers. In fact, turkey mentions are up 7.8% in sandwiches in the latest year-over-year period.
