A new San Diego restaurant is offering giant sushi rolls, designed to be eaten like a burrito. One menu highlight includes sake marinated short ribs, julienned carrots, roasted red peppers, jicama, corn salsa, seasoned cabbage, house made sauce, blue corn chips and sriracha aïoli, rolled into rice and wrapped with seaweed. In Los Angeles, a conceptual restaurant allows guests to walk the production line to choose their fillings to build-your own burrito, providing both traditionally Mexican style fillings as well as fusion ingredients, allowing for personalized flavor profiles. A food cart in Portland, Maine, is also serving up sushi burritos. As they learned from customer feedback, consumers feel that sushi-influenced offerings provide a healthier alternative to the classic burrito.

IDEAS FOR TRADITIONAL OPERATORS:

• Review your menu to search out possible fusion of popular ingredients. Can you marry two together in a way that will give your customers a two-for-one food experience featuring their favorite foods?

• Try offering Mash Up Bars, giving customers the opportunity to create their own fusion food combinations! For instance, a Burger Mash Up Bar could feature different bun options like fried Ramen noodles or donuts. Offerings might also include sushi, seaweed salad, eggs, taco meat, spaghetti noodles or even cookie dough to use as burger toppings.

Entegra Procurement Services regularly publishes blog posts on food trends and innovations in food services. Entegra is more than a group purchasing organization (GPO): Our team of procurement specialists implement strategic sourcing to bring the most value to your business. We help our clients, in many segments ranging from the healthcare supply chain to restaurant supply, to cut costs and consolidate their portfolios.