I don't think I've ever been on a farm tour where I didn't end thinking, "How does every agricultural product not cost a million dollars?" (And that food waste should be illegal.)

What consumers want from packaging, what happened when strangers spent 30 minutes talking to each other, Wisconsin supper clubs and ice cream cookbooks, and great organizations to support.

Why eating bold flavors makes consumers more experimental, the magic of a New Orleans second line, a Filipino witch bar in New Orleans, a cocktail bar to meet or get some work done in Chicago, and the cuisine consumers would eat for a year.

In a recent survey, Menu Matters asked consumers this question. Here’s a sampling of their answers.

Americans are on the move, with citizens taking more than 100 million trips outside the United States in 2024, according to the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. 

The sense that becomes heightened when consumers are hungry, the happiness quiz, restaurant recommendations in Australia and Chicago, and the best meal food industry experts had recently.

Spring has sprung, and so has this edition of the Menu Matters Monthly Minute. As always, Maeve and Mike share the latest insights and analysis on trends, data, and developments shaping the food industry, plus news from Menu Matters and beyond.

On a recent TikTok video from a restaurant doing chicken vodka parm knots topped with a drizzle of hot honey, these were some of the comments.

It's time to think outside of the seafood box. That can be a fruitful merchandising message as retailers are in a position to boost sales by demonstrating seafood’s role as a side dish, appetizer, ingredient, and snack instead of primarily being a center-of-the-plate option, analysts said.

Let's get into ear wax. This article from the BBC News about what earwax can tell us about our personal health is absolutely fascinating.