FSR February 2023

TRENDING ON THE MENU // Side Dishes

popular side dish ordered on the app, out pacing the previous year by 173 percent. Carr says macaroni and cheese pro vides contrast with Chicken Salad Chick’s signature salads while also stay ing true to its Southern roots. Mac and cheese appeals to children as well as anyone looking for a more filling menu item. “Since our brand is a ‘mom brand,’ we have a lot of moms and grand-moms who are bringing young ones into the restaurant for lunch or ordering takeout,”

cheese—similar to its line of heat-and serve soups for foodservice, which are also made without preservatives. “Our guests at Chicken Salad Chick are looking for gourmet-style flavor, and they already happened to really like our Blount soups on offer, like Baked Potato Soup and Broccoli Cheese Soup,” Carr says. “Macaroni and cheese fits right in with that.” While Carr says flavor was the first priority in the decision to menu Blount’s

While Chicken Salad Chick serves tra ditional mac and cheese, it’s a versatile dish that can also accommodate mash ups of different cuisines and other cre ative twists, depending on how chefs choose to innovate and the flavors that customers of specific brands have come to expect. “We’re going to start to see more unique pairings and flavor combinations inmac and cheese offerings,” Blount says. “You can even add a couple of ingredients

“Macaroni and cheese is such a crowd-pleaser.”

CHICKEN SALAD CHICK DECIDED TO ADD MACARONI AND CHEESE TO ITS SIDE DISH MENU AS A FILLING COUNTERPOINT.

CHICKEN SALAD CHICK

Carr says. “Mac and cheese is a favorite with kids, and since most of our menu is cold salads, it’s a nice complement to have a warm side.” Most of Chicken Salad Chick’s menu is made in-house, but the macaroni and cheese is sourced from Blount Fine Foods , a producer of gourmet sides and soups. “We wanted tomake sure we were only ever going to offer a very gourmet style, higher-end macaroni and cheese,” Carr says. “We’re very particular about that, and we saw that Blount products are a great fit for us. Blount uses whole some, high-quality, all-natural ingredi ents without any preservatives, which is really important to us.” Blount prides itself on producing a creamier, all-natural macaroni and

macaroni and cheese, it also made sense from an operational perspective. “It’s actually really simple to menu because it comes in pre-made,” he says. “Blount’s mac and cheese was chosen because it’s the very specific type of higher-end, gourmet-style mac and cheese we want to provide our guests, but the fact that it’s so easy to serve has been a really pos itive byproduct.” “We know labor is expensive and lim ited,” says Steve Blount, Jr., senior brand manager at Blount Fine Foods. “Just like our ready-to-eat soups, our mac and cheese is made with quality ingredi ents—just heat and serve. We become an extension of the kitchen, delivering a premium product to keep guests com ing back for more. It’s in the bag!”

and create a unique, showpiece share able appetizer.” For example, a restaurant could take a traditional macaroni and cheese base, add sliced jalapenos, and drizzle hot honey over the top to create a trendy, signature spicy mac and cheese dish. “Mac and cheese is something that a lot of people start off eating as a kid, so it’s the ultimate comfort food—think about the familiar richness, the chees iness, the pasta,” Blount says. “And in this day and age, there are all kinds of ‘adult’ variations on mac and cheese. It’s a base that people can easily recognize as they experiment with different fla vors. ere’s room for endless creativity, and we’re going to see a lot more of that in the next five years.”

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