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How Restaurants Can Play Legal Music for Guests

Music is one of the strongest ways to add ambiance to your restaurant. The right song can calm patrons down, keep them in their seats and add to your bottom line. And if you want guest turnover to increase so that you can get more people in their seats, try upbeat music.

If you meld the right music and lighting together, you’ll be shocked at how many people will begin recommending your restaurant.

But before any music has the chance to be heard, you need to consider the legal requirements and copyright laws that you need to follow. For a small business owner, the last thing you want is to pay fines for not adhering to the law.

Live Music is Always an Option

Bands and musicians can play at your restaurant, but you must have the space for it. Live music is a great way to get the word out about your space. If you live in an area where there are a lot of local bands, consider mentioning that you’re looking to have live music fill your space.

And there are a few additional perks to live music:

25% average increase in revenue for the night

Guests tend to stay for longer

Streaming Services

You might want to consider streaming services for your restaurant, but you must have a business account. Why? Any time you stream music to your patrons, it’s considered a public event, which is against copyright laws.

Business accounts give you permission to stream music inside your restaurant without worrying about potential legal ramifications.

And if you want to have even more control over the music you play and the experience you offer, curated lists also work well. You can better control the quality of the music when you curate it. Just be sure that you have all of your licensing in place.

How Restaurant Recipe Costing Helps Businesses Remain Profitable

Restaurant profitability must be a top priority if you hope to remain in operation over the long-term. Nearly half of all eateries fail because of poor leadership and management, insufficient capital and financial management.

You can and should spend time on leadership training and vetting your leaders properly.

But you must also take financial measures to ensure you can financially stay afloat. Recipe costing is one of the most valuable steps restaurant owners can take and includes:

Calculate Your Menu Item’s Ingredients and Pricing

Menu items are where you make your profits. For example, choose your main menu item. Let’s assume that you sell ½-pound hamburgers with cheese on a bun with pickles, tomatoes and your own special sauce.

You will then create an ingredient list of the following:

Bun

Cheese

Beef

Tomatoes

Pickles

Special sauce

And while you make your list, be sure to put the purchasing quantity, pricing and serving size next to them.

You’ll use this information to determine the cost of each ingredient for the serving sizes you serve. For example, every hamburger has a bun, and if you buy 100 for $50, you then know that you’re spending $0.50 per hamburger on buns.

Pickles are another great example of ingredients that you can calculate. If you use one pickle per hamburger but buy them in quantities of 100 for $20, then you would do the following: (20/100) = $0.20 per hamburger goes to pickles.

Once you list the cost for each ingredient on your menu item, you can then see the cost percentage by doing the following equation: (price/sale price), so for the sake of this post, let’s assume (4/12) = 0.33%.

Lower your cost percentage to increase your overall profit margins.

Restaurant recipe costing helps you determine if you’ve priced your menu for profitability. Every quarter, or earlier if vendor pricing changes, revisit this article to cost your menu items properly.

The Best Restaurant Appetizers to Serve in 2026

Most guests order appetizers when they dine out. That benefits restaurants by boosting their margins and average ticket values.

But to really maximize the benefits of offering appetizers, you need to serve the right dishes.

Let’s look at the most popular dishes to add to your menu this year.

Popular Restaurant Appetizers in 2026

From classics to reimagined favorites and new, global flavors, there are so many appetizers that are trending this year.

Sliders

A crowd favorite and a popular finger food that you can customize however you want. To boost ticket values, try offering a flight of sliders or a “pick three” option. This will encourage guests to order more.

Modern Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are quick and inexpensive to prepare. While you can offer traditional deviled eggs, putting a modern twist on the classic recipe may draw more interest.

Consider offering unique toppings like truffle or crispy bacon.

Dumpling Flights

Dumplings are easily prepared in batches, and they make great appetizers that are easy to share with friends.

Try offering a flight of 3 different styles, along with unique dipping sauces for each.

Cauliflower Buffalo Bites

Modern consumers are more health-conscious. The plant-based movement is growing, but many still crave the flavors of classic appetizers like Buffalo wings.

Cauliflower Buffalo bites offer the same texture and flavors of wings, but in a vegetarian-friendly dish.

Focus on perfecting your batter and frying method to nail the flavor. Then, offer different dipping sauces or varieties (some at an upsell) to boost profits.

Meat and Cheese Boards

Charcuterie is all the rage, so offering meat and cheese boards is a no-brainer. You can have a standard offering, or you can rotate your board’s contents based on whatever ingredients you need to get rid of.

Offer a variety of meats, aged and fresh cheeses, nuts, fruits and pickled accompaniments.

Why Smaller Portions are Better for Restaurants

It’s long been the standard for restaurants to offer big portions. For many consumers, that’s half the reason they dine out. Large servings equates to perceived value.

But here’s the thing: smaller servings actually have many advantages. And it may even give you an advantage over the competition.

The Advantages of Smaller Restaurant Portions

Smaller servings actually offer many benefits for restaurants and customers.

Less food waste: Reduced portions mean that customers won’t leave as much uneaten food on their plates. Less food waste means a lower environmental impact and lower costs for restaurant owners.

Higher profitability: Smaller servings use fewer ingredients and take less time to prepare. And if you focus on high-quality ingredients, you can charge a premium for your dishes.

Competitive edge: Contrary to popular belief, reduced portions can give you a competitive advantage. It shows customers that you’re committed to reducing your environmental impact and value quality over quantity.

Higher customer satisfaction: When you’re focused on using quality ingredients, customers enjoy a better dining experience. It also shows consumers that you value sustainability and the environment.

3 Effective Portion Control Strategies for Restaurants

1. Adjust Your Menu

Offering smaller portions doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to ditch your entire menu. Instead, give customers the option to choose their serving sizes.

Offer the option to choose smaller portions or traditional sizes. Make sure each option is labeled clearly for customers (for example, “half portion”).

2. Try Offering Side Dishes

Side dishes are a great way to introduce reduced servings without shocking your customers. Your main course may be a smaller portion, but customers can choose side dishes to bulk up their plates and find a serving size that matches their appetite.

3. Use Smaller Plates

Create the illusion of larger portions by simply switching to smaller plates. When plates appear fuller, it improves the perceived value of your dish.

If you want to reduce your portion sizes, these three strategies are a great place to start. From here, you can start introducing new menu items that naturally have smaller portions and grow this philosophy over time.

Here’s What to Do if a Recall Affects Your Restaurant

Dozens of recalls happen every year, affecting millions of pounds of products in the United States. As a restaurant owner, you know that the risk of having to deal with a recall is high.

How you manage the situation and your communication is critical.

Be Prompt and Transparent in Your Communication

Food safety matters should never be put on the back burner. If a recall affects your restaurant and its customers, communicate the issue immediately.

Inform affected parties of what happened and the steps you’re taking to resolve the situation. Additionally, make sure that you’re providing updates whenever they become available.

Honesty and transparency go a long way in helping preserve the trust you’ve worked hard to build.

Tailor Your Message to Your Audience

When you communicate the recall, you may need to reach several different audiences: stakeholders, consumers, etc.

Tailor your messaging to your audience. For example, tell customers how to dispose of the product and what to do if they’ve consumed it.

Stakeholders want to know what you’re doing to resolve the issue and reassurance that you’re committed to food safety.

Leverage Multiple Communication Channels

When communicating the recall, leverage every available communication channel:

Social media

Your website

The more channels you use, the greater the chance of your message being received and acted on.

Act Swiftly and Document Everything

If you have a recalled ingredient in your kitchen, take swift action.

Dispose of the product right away to protect your customers. You should receive specific disposal instructions from the manufacturer.

Regulatory agencies may also have their own requirements, such as segregating recalled products to prevent further contamination.

One last thing: When you dispose of the product, make sure that you have evidence of your disposal. Photos or a disposal receipt are ideal.

4 Benefits of Self-Cleaning Restaurants

Self-cleaning restaurants offer many benefits, including:

Reduced Cleaning Time

Your staff spends hours doing routine tasks, such as cleaning surface areas or scrubbing dishes. Automating your cleaning frees up valuable employee time that is better spent focused on other areas of your operations.

Increase in Hygiene

Contamination in your space is bound to happen. Bacteria have a way of finding their way into everything from your dishes to appliances and equipment. Self-cleaning solutions eradicate bacteria using UV-C, steam or other solutions.

Lower Environmental Impact

Self-cleaning solutions also negate the need for harsh chemicals. Instead, high heat and steam come together to remove tough food particles and kill bacteria.

Surface Protection

Coatings on many of the self-cleaning surfaces also protect them over the long-term. Due to these coatings, the underlying material is protected from corrosion, degradation and staining.

If you want to transition your establishment from a traditional kitchen to one that uses self-cleaning technology to level up, a good place to start is:

Combination Ovens: A good combination oven will use high heat and steam technology to clean the interior of the unit. Your system will kill bacteria and do it without the need for harsh chemicals or scrubbing.

Dishware: You can invest in dishware that makes cleaning easier. Commercial dishwashers also allow for automated rinsing. If you don’t mind investing even more into your automation, consider smart racking systems or robotic sorting systems.

UV Light Sanitizing Systems: UV lighting is designed to break down both DNA and RNA. Your dishware will move through these systems, which damage the bacteria and mold so that they break down completely.

Small, intentional changes will allow you to design a restaurant that is more efficient and better meets the needs of customers.

Once you add one or two of these recommendations, you’ll notice an increase in efficiency and productivity.

Here’s How to Hire a Sommelier for Your Hospitality Business

Are you in the fine wine or hospitality business? If so, hiring a sommelier can enhance the customer experience.

These professionals do more than just pour wine. They are true experts in the field, with extensive certifications. As a member of your staff, they can offer:

Wine pairing recommendations

Cellar management

Training to existing staff on pairings

But to leverage all of these benefits, you need to hire the right candidate.

Here’s what to do:

Know What Sommelier Level You Want & Your Needs

Before you start writing job descriptions and advertising your opening, consider your needs and goals.

Are you looking for someone to:

Evaluate your current menu and wine program?

Provide training and development to your staff?

Collaborate with other staff members?

Manage your inventory?

Your answers to these questions will dictate what level of sommelier you need:

Introductory. These are beginners who have been practicing for at least three years in the beverage industry.

Certified. A certified sommelier has vast knowledge of wine production, grape varieties and regions.

Advanced. Ideal for fine dining restaurants. These pros can manage your wine list, train your staff on the best pairings and even run the restaurant.

Master. Top-level sommeliers have years of study and practice in the field and can also educate your staff.

Hire the Right Candidate

Once you have a clear idea of your needs and goals, you can start looking for candidates.

Here are some tips:

Write a description that attracts the right applicants. Be detailed and specific, and also be upfront about compensation.

Advertise your opening on job platforms, social media and industry-specific platforms to maximize your reach.

Interview candidates thoroughly. Try performing practical tests to really gauge their expertise and how they would react in certain scenarios.

Review references and run background checks. Verify their credentials and speak with former employers to get a clear picture of their expertise.

Once you’ve found the right candidate, you can make an offer and start the onboarding process.

3 Overlooked Knife Safety Tips in Commercial Kitchens

Knife safety is critical in every commercial kitchen. Chefs are trained on proper handling techniques, but it’s easy to overlook other critical safety protocols that can prevent injury and reduce the lifespan of your knives.

Don’t overlook these important safety tips.

1. Make Knife Handle Cleaning an Important Part of Your Workflow

Each time your team uses your knives, food particles and oil start to build up on the handle. That build up makes grips unstable and slippery, which increases the risk of injuries. In high-volume kitchens, buildup can happen in a single shift.

To keep your staff safe, implement knife handle cleaning procedures into your workflow. For example, have your staff wipe handles with sanitized cloths in between tasks.

Be sure to also address how your staff cleans knives at the end of a shift. Dishwashers are convenient, but they degrade handles and blades more quickly. Ensure everyone is washing knives by hand and drying them immediately.

2. Standardize Blade Angles

Inconsistent blade angles can cause knives to behave unpredictably. Chefs then have to compensate, increasing the risk of strain-related injuries.

One effective way to avoid this problem is to standardize your blade angles across all shifts. This will improve precision, reduce fatigue and protect your knives.

Be sure to include these standards in your formal training programs and reinforce them regularly.

3. Rotate Knife Handles

Knife handles can wear down easily in a high-volume kitchen. As they wear, it impacts the grip’s integrity. They become less stable and may even crack.

Damage and poor grip quality increase the risk of slips and injuries.

Start inspecting your knife handles quarterly. Rotate knives in and out of service to protect them and to keep your tools safe.

When you perform your quarterly inspections, don’t just look at your knives – handle them. Assess the grip. Record handle conditions in your maintenance records.

Being proactive will help your chefs work more confidently and prevent injuries.

3 Quick Wins to Make Your Bar Sustainable

Bar sustainability is becoming increasingly important to both owners and patrons. You might overlook this concept as just another “trend,” but it’s also a great way for you to save money in the long-term, reduce waste and do something good for the environment.

Quick wins that any bar can instantly take advantage of today are:

1. Food Waste

Bars serve food, even if it’s not a full meal. Your guests are hungry and even small snacks help you increase revenue. But food also comes with the assurance that some items will go to waste. Your goal is to find ways to cut back on wasteful practices by:

Reviewing your menu. Which items sell best? Worst? If you source ingredients for one menu item that never seems to sell, consider removing it from your menu. It’s better to have one less snack than to waste ingredients.

Condense your ingredients where possible. If you can use mint instead of basil without a noticeable difference in taste, consider it.

Focus on your ingredient shelf-life first and find ways to extend this shelf-life in any way possible.

2. Search for Local Suppliers

Reliable local suppliers are your lifeline. If you can, try and find local suppliers who will ensure you have access to the freshest ingredients. For example, if you use mint in a lot of your drinks (who doesn’t?), a local farmer may be your best source.

You’re opting to help the local community while also reducing your risks of ingredient spoilage.

3. Train Your Staff

Staff members are focused on their duties and don’t have the same commitment to sustainability as an owner does. You can, and should, train your staff to cut back on waste. You may need to teach them how to spot ingredients that are going bad or fun ways to use alternatives that may have a longer shelf-life.

Sustainability takes time and a cohesive effort among owners, managers, mixologists and other staff members. But if you make an effort now, you’ll reduce waste and increase profit margins.

Why Does Restaurant Market Research Matter?

If you’re just opening a new restaurant or want to grow an existing one, you may be wondering why restaurant market research matters.

The truth is that many restaurant owners assume they know their customers. But when they really look at their demographics and customer data, they’re often surprised by the results.

Here’s why research matters and how it affects your business.

What are Demographics?

Demographics give you insights into your customers. Specifically, they tell you your target market’s:

Age

Income

Location

Gender

Dining habits

To get a full picture of your diners, you may want to stretch beyond just demographics and focus on:

Psychographics: Values, interests and motivations. Why are customers visiting your restaurant?

Behavioral: How people interact with your brand, how often they dine out and how they respond to promotions.

All of these data points give you valuable data that you can leverage to improve the dining experience and your marketing strategy.

Why Restaurant Market Research is Important

Demographics and customer data as a whole helps you understand your target market. In turn, this helps you improve your marketing and profitability.

But market research also:

Defines your brand: Everything from your logo to your messaging is impacted by your demographics.

Allows you to deliver a better experience: When you know your customers, you can better cater to their preferences. You can adjust your opening hours to meet their needs, create specialized places (like event areas) and even select a prime location for your establishment.

Helps you focus on the right marketing channels: Younger audiences prefer social media channels, while other audiences may prefer direct mail or email.

Makes it easier to optimize your menu: Adjust your offerings to appeal to your target audience. For example, a larger cocktail menu would appeal to younger guests.

Ultimately, understanding your customers helps you deliver a better experience. You can anticipate customer needs and cater to their preferences with greater ease.

What’s Cross Utilization in the Restaurant Industry and Why Does It Matter?

Cross utilization isn’t just a buzzword that is being thrown around. For restaurants, this is a strategy that helps reduce costs and waste while also ensuring a better dining experience for customers.

At the moment, restaurants are focusing heavily on this level of proficiency and utilization because:

Food and ingredient costs are rising due to inflation. Reducing reliance on too many ingredients allows you to buy in bulk and absorb some of these price increases.

Disruptions on the supply chain take time to resolve, and you’re paying more for these problems even if you don’t realize it directly.

Labor costs are on the rise as workers need to be paid more due to rising costs.

A simple reduction in food waste may mean up to 10% or more profit margins. Traditionally, before food even reaches a customer’s plate, there’s a 4% to 10% wastage.

Imagine if you could recuperate these costs on a large scale.

For example, imagine that you cook whole chickens on a regular basis. You use the meat in many of your dishes, but for your soups, you usually buy chicken broth. Well, one alternative option is to use the chicken carcass to make your soup.

You already have the chicken carcass, so it makes sense to extract every last bit of value that you can out of it before disposing of it.

Getting started with cross utilization requires diligence and persistence. You’ll want to pay close attention to your menu and ways that you can condense the number of ingredients required across dishes without making your menu bland.

Working alongside your creative chef will allow you to offer menu variety through texture and flavor.

As the seasons change, so should your menu. Adapt your menu to match in-season ingredients to reduce waste further while also offering your patrons a revolving menu that offers fresh and delicious food.

3 Steps for a Successful First Catering Event

Catering events are a lot of fun and good for business, but they require a shift in your mindset to make them a success. If you’re going to your first or hundredth event, these steps will make it easier - and safer - for your team and guests.

Visit the Venue Site

Your first course of action is to visit the venue. While this may seem like a step you can skip, it’s one of the most important. Site visits allow you to:

Plan out your cooking and prep stations

Create a menu that fits with the space’s kitchen and appliances

Design sanitization stations for all dishware and food items

Managers should be in charge of the venue visit and work with the event manager to ensure the space is ready for your team. Communication with the manager is one of the most crucial steps that you can take.

Focus on the Transportation Portion

Food and ingredients must arrive at their destination safely. You’ll want more than travel-tested recipes. You’ll also need spill-safe containers to avoid contamination, as well as insulated carry bags that keep your food and ingredients fresh.

Ideally, 90% of the prep and cooking will be done in your kitchen, but you need to take steps to ensure everything arrives in pristine condition.

Train Your Staff on Food Safety Procedures

Your staff is out of their normal routine, operating in a new space with risks of food safety issues. Train your staff on:

Proper labeling practices to promote allergen transparency

Clear roles for cooks, prep staff, cleaners and so on

Sanitization and basic food safety

Food inspections for when emergencies occur

Internal training and a designated catering manager from your restaurant will ensure food safety standards are upheld.

Once you have all of these basic steps in place, you can then add to them to create your own catering checklist that includes food safety.

5 Plating Techniques Restaurants are Using in 2026

Plating and food presentation are becoming increasingly popular in 2026. You have a lot of options at your disposal, including:

1. Clock Method

Imagine your plate is the face of a clock and split it into the following sections:

12-3: Fruits and vegetables

3-9: Proteins, such as meats or fish

9-12: Carbs and starches

The Clock Method is one of the easiest for chefs to follow and one that is being used worldwide to improve food presentation.

2. Landscaping

Your goal with the landscaping plating technique is to use the horizontal space as a landscape that tells a story. Perhaps your story is told through the seasonal ingredients that you add to the plate.

3. Free Form

Free form plating is one of the more advanced techniques, and it’s one that you should designate only to your top chefs who have the creative desire to try it. The concept allows for artistic freedom yet requires certain tools, such as tweezers or squeeze bottles, to be done properly.

4. Visual Height

You’ve made a landscape with your food, but why not add some height, too? Start with a strong base, such as pasta or rice, that you can use to build up on. Rice is a good option, or something like quinoa, to which you can then add chicken.

On top of the chicken, or your meat of choice, consider adding a sauce followed by some vegetables and a garnish.

Adding height is one of the fun ways to present food and relies heavily on creating contrasts. Avoid using foods that are all the same color because it will have a negative impact on the plating effect you’re creating.

5. Experiment with Colors

Vegetables and textures are a good way to experiment with plating. For example, carrots and beets add a wonderful color on top of mashed potatoes. And on top of the mashed potatoes, the carrots add another texture: crunchy.

Experiment with your presentation ideas and see what works best for your patrons.

4 Reasons Restaurants Choose Stainless Steel

Stainless steel is one of the top metals in today’s commercial kitchens. You’ll see this metal in everything from small to large kitchens because it’s practical. While many options exist, there are some of the reasons for this material’s popularity:

Corrosion Resistant

Rust makes a once-durable item a must-replace one. One of the strengths of stainless steel is that it is resistant to corrosion, so you don’t have to worry about rust on your:

Pots and pans

Appliances

Tables

Add in the benefit that stainless steel is highly durable and resistant to dents and warping (under normal use), and it’s easy to see why commercial kitchens choose this material over others.

Multiple Grade Options

Stainless steel comes in multiple grades, meaning that you can choose one type for resistance and lower cost or another that may be more expensive but has greater properties to prevent rust or pitting.

For instance, 304-grade stainless steel is a good option for balancing cost and durability, while 316-grade stainless steel adds molybdenum to the metal.

What molybdenum does is provide more resistance to corrosion. You’ll also have the option of 430-grade stainless steel, which costs less but has the least resistance to acidic foods and moisture.

Non-reactive

Stainless steel is non-reactive, so there’s zero risk of it leeching new compounds into your food and having a negative effect on your food’s taste.

Fewer Hygiene Worries

Commercial kitchens are under continued scrutiny. Food safety inspectors will enter your space, guidelines must be followed and one complaint of food poisoning can shut down operations. Stainless steel offers the perk of being resistant to microbial growth and cross-contamination.

It’s also really easy to clean, which saves your team time.

Stainless steel is a strong, durable material. If you’re outfitting your restaurant with new tables, appliances or other equipment, it’s worth talking to your supplier to learn what stainless steel options are available.

3 Ways to Keep Food Distributor Pricing Low

Restaurants work with distributors to supply ingredients, which are then used to make dishes their customers love. But, over time, your original agreement may change. Prices start to creep up and profit margins fall as a result.

So, what can you do to keep your costs down?

Keep in Close Contact

Many owners forget that they have relationships with distributors that they need to maintain. Each month or quarter, have a face-to-face meeting with your suppliers and let them know your goals.

If the supplier has a new cheese that they’re sampling that tastes the same and brings costs down by 20%, they will keep you in mind because of these relationships.

Stay on Top of Pricing

How do you know if price creep is happening or not? Start with a baseline list of the ingredients that you purchase and the cost associated with them. For example, what were the costs you paid in January 2026 for:

Beef

Milk

Butter

Flour

Eggs

Once you have a baseline for all of these costs, you can then compare them to your latest invoice. If prices for one or more items increase, question why. Your supplier may have changed their markup percentages, or it’s possible that there are other factors in play, such as lower supplies and higher demand.

Leverage the Power of Volume Discounts

Volume also plays a role in the total cost of goods. If you commit to purchasing a certain large quantity of goods every month, suppliers will often offer a volume discount. Entering into these agreements can lock you into a lower price for some of your most important ingredients.

Work closely with your food distributor to grow your restaurant. If pricing continues to creep up, obtain bids from other suppliers to see if any will provide better terms that lean more in your favor.

How to Optimize Your Restaurant’s Website for AI Search

For years, you’ve been focused on optimizing your restaurant’s website for search engines (SEO). But with the rise of AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, and AI Overviews, digital marketing has once again become a little more complicated.

Search is changing. The way people find things online is changing.

If you’re not trying to rank in AI chatbots and overviews, your restaurant may be left behind.

But the question is: where do you start? Here are some things you can do to show up in AI results.

Be Present Everywhere

AI platforms use the information at their disposal (e.g., information online) to give answers. To answer questions, bots like ChatGPT will gather information from things like:

Business directories

Forums

Blogs

Press releases

Social media

If you want to show up in their responses, then you need to be present everywhere possible. Don’t spam to promote your brand, but use these platforms naturally to inform and engage your audience.

Focus on Reviews

Every restaurant owner should be focused on gathering more reviews. If customers really enjoy your food, they will leave a review if you nudge them a little.

If you haven’t done so already, create a Google Business Profile so that customers can start leaving reviews.

To encourage people to leave feedback, you can add messages to your receipts, such as, “If you had a good experience, please leave us a review.” You can add similar messaging to your website.

Make it known that it’s easy for customers to leave reviews.

Structure Your Data

Make sure your content is clearly structured and defined to help it appear in AI chatbots. This means:

Adding accurate schema markup

Seeking brand mentions (which are becoming just as important as links)

Formatting page content with headers

Many of these best practices are the same ones you used to follow the best SEO practices.

If you want your restaurant to start showing up in AI search, these are a few of the most important things you can do to optimize your website.

Run a Cafe? Here are 4 Coffee Trends to Watch in 2026

Coffee runs the world. In fact, over 2 billion cups are consumed every single day. But coffee is more than just a beverage. It’s created a community of people who gather in coffee shops and cafes to socialize and escape the grind for a while.

But as consumer behavior and preferences change, so do coffee shops and cafes. What are consumers looking for in 2026? Here are the four coffee trends to watch in 2026.

1. Plant-Based Alternatives

Many customers still prefer dairy milk for their coffee beverages, but an increasing number of consumers want non-dairy options.

In fact, plant-based milks have become the new standard, not a specialty offering.

More cafes are offering almond, coconut, oat and soy milk options for their customers.

2. Gourmet Pairings

Coffee shops are going beyond the basic cups of coffee and offering gourmet pairings. Menus are curated to complement coffee flavors and include offerings like:

Artisanal chocolates

Savory breakfast sandwiches

House-made pastries

Gourmet offerings not only satisfy customer demand but also boost margins and overall profits for coffee shops.

3. Social and Relaxing Experiences

More Millennials and Gen Zers are seeking out spaces to escape daily stressors and enjoy a cup of coffee.

Cafes are creating comfortable and relaxing spaces that meet this demand.

They’re outfitting their spaces with:

Comfortable, plush seating

Soft lighting

Cushioned bar stools

Separate spaces for quiet reflection and socialization

4. Tech-Enhanced Ordering

Technology will continue to influence the cafe and coffee industries. More cafes are building apps or making it easy for customers to customize their orders. They can choose their preferred sweeteners and milks or even their favorite brewing methods.

These are some of the biggest trends we’re seeing in the cafe and coffee industries. Today’s consumers are demanding more options for personalization, more alternative options for dairy, and the ability to easily place orders without having to step foot into the cafe.

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