Find out how Oporto and Mad Mex address discerning diners’ preferences

As the customer's palate evolves with their ever-changing lifestyle, the food industry has been prompted to adapt.

Adapting ranges from experimenting on the menu and fusing cuisines to playing with concept dining and amping up the ambiance.

The emergence of a more health-conscious eating public and vigorous campaigns for more heart-friendly dining have revolutionized how kitchens around the world serve food.

If big servings and eat-all-you-can promos filled tables just a decade back, today's discerning diner would most likely inquire how many calories a plate is worth or ask the chef to half the salt.

Australia's quick-service restaurants (QSR) know what their customers now crave for. Challenged by the seeming stigma that fast food is a rather unhealthy option, the QSR industry is redefining its menu to give Australia's diner the meal they deserve.

Eagle Boys Pizza is keeping up with their customers' changing tastes by giving the beloved pie a twist.

Eagle Boys CEO Todd Clayton says clients had “an overwhelming desire” for pizza topped with only the freshest ingredients and started looking for lower-calorie options. The pizza chain had to adapt without giving up fast service at still affordable prices.

“Australians have shown an overwhelming desire for higher quality pizza made from real, fresh ingredients, but still retain all the things they love about a pizza chain – quick and friendly service, great location and value for money,” Clayton says.

"At the same time, Australians wanted more natural healthy choices when it came to mealtime, including low calorie, anti-oxidant rich foods and low fat options,” he says.

Greek casual diner Souvlakihut have gone as conscious about how they prepare food, noting how “industry watchdogs” are looking out for critical food ingredients such as salt.

“With the rise of grocery and supermarket prices, we are finding consumers are looking for fast but healthy dining options to accommodate their increasingly mobile and busy lifestyles,” says Souvlakihut founder Bill Fotiadis.

“We have found that consumers these days are looking even more stringently at the health content in their food choices,” he says.

Souvlakihut also uses fresh ingredients and serves flame-grilled fillets of 100 percent lamb and chicken. It offers seven souvlakis- a traditional grilled Greek skewer dish - that contain less than 7.5 grams of fat, says Fotiadis.

The coming of more health-conscious diners have also ended an era of compulsive buying, says Healthy Habits founder Katherine Sampson.

“Yes, consumers want quick service, value for money and great tasting food options. People are thinking more about what they are going to buy. I don’t believe they are buying as spontaneously anymore. Customers are considering the options and value of meals on offer by food retailers,” she says.

Diners have become increasingly aware of what's in their food, they could be picky down to the kind of oil in their dish.

“Obviously, health has also become a huge motivator in buying fast food. People want healthier choices, even if they are perceived healthier choices. For instance, chicken breast schnitzels cooked in canola oil, as opposed to thigh meat schnitzels cooked in vegie oil or fat,” Sampson says.

Besides providing a healthy menu, Australia's QSRs know that customers look for total dining experience. And to satisfy this all-sensory quest, restaurants like Mad Mex complement good food with stunning ambiance.

“Consumers want and deserve an experience. Fast Casual/QSR interior design is very important in setting the stage for a lunch or dinner dining experience. Businesses that continue to run the front of house with fluoro lights, cheap finishes and poor aesthetics will suffer,” says Mad Mex director Clovis Young.

Oporto, a Portuguese-themed food franchise, has found that success comes by covering all bases: experience, value and a menu that caters to different tastes.

“We have identified a number of consumer trends over the course of the past 18‐24 months, these are around ‘product customisation’, ‘brand experience’, ‘healthy (or perceived healthier)’ and ‘value’,” says Oporto CEO Jeff Fisher.

Creating a brand image is what draws customers for Chooks Fresh & Tasty, a fast food that seeks to be known as “the champion of chicken.”

Attributing customer preference to effective promotion, Chooks founder Steve Hanson believes consumers go for what is known to be “cool at the time,” among them products that are backed by aggressive advertising and celebrity endorsement.

“You must be promoting and selling a wanted and needed product. It must be of value to the consumer, it must be available when they want it, they need to know where to get it, and the outlet needs to have strong branding and a clean and bright image,” Hanson says.

As Bucking Bull founder Dean Vella says, customers continue to raise their expectations in every fast food visit.

“Consumers today have a higher expectation of quality and value from the QSR industry,” he said.

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