Menu Matters, a food industry consulting firm known for pairing culinary expertise with strategic thinking, is excited to announce that Erin Murray has joined the company as Senior Director, Client Partnerships. Murray brings more than 30 years of experience helping food and beverage brands understand what people want next, and why. She’ll work closely with clients to turn market signals, cultural shifts, and changing behavior into clear direction for innovation, positioning, and communication strategy.

In this September edition of the Menu Matters Monthly Minute, we announce exciting company milestones—including team expansion, a new podcast home, and women-owned business certification—alongside our debut issue of Trendscout covering food and travel insights from Tampa. We also examine early consumer trends around holiday spending cutbacks, highlight top weekly #FridayFive insights, share recent media features and Hot List recommendations, and preview our upcoming The Mess Hall podcast episode on the evolving alcohol industry.

In this June edition of the Menu Matters Monthly Minute, we explore how creative constraints drive culinary innovation and why setting clear limits often yields better products than unlimited budgets. We also share surprising consumer data showing that 44% of Americans are feeling hopeful, highlight our top weekly #FridayFive insights, pass along favorite dining and newsletter recommendations on the Hot List, and dive into Japanese konbini lessons and consumer optimism on The Mess Hall podcast.

In this May edition of the Menu Matters Monthly Minute, we break down the relentless "trend-maxxing" culture and why brands are better off slowing down rather than chasing every fast-moving internet phenomenon. We also look at generational phone habits during meals, highlight key insights from our weekly #FridayFive, share team travel and dining recommendations on the Hot List, and explore the science of sensory evaluation and food craveability on the latest episode of The Mess Hall podcast.

In this edition of the Menu Matters Monthly Minute, we explore how consumer skepticism impacts modern food marketing using Prego’s screen-free “Connection Keeper” device as a case study in navigating brand trust. We also dive into the power of shared dining experiences, key industry insights from our weekly #FridayFive, team recommendations from the Hot List, and restaurant design trends from The Mess Hall podcast.

Rethinking April Fool’s Day, what people want from advertising, and an incredible restaurant in New Orleans.

The magic in friction, what makes ultra-processed OK to consumers, a cookbook website you need to know, and the state of flavor.

Wherever you fall on the AI debate, one thing is true - humans still want to connect with other humans. There’s a reason an original work of art costs a lot more than a print - it’s a physical embodiment of the human effort and touch that went into it. Study after study has shown that we gravitate toward human faces in images, beginning in infancy. It’s not a preference, it’s an innate part of who we are.

Showcasing the people behind your brand, life before subscriptions, and a gothic Mexican restaurant to check out.

A recap of 2025, the data on Gen Z eating while on their phones, and some East Coast destinations to check out.

Giving thanks, how consumers are feeling as we head into 2026, an upscale Persian restaurant, and what the Cracker Barrel uproar was really about.

Print is back, consumers feel the pressure to chase trends, cookbook recommendations for cooler weather, and whether emotion has a place in food innovation.

Consumers translate their favorite foods into music, a restaurant in a former mortuary, and whether food trends even matter anymore.

Consumers are eating straight butter, a retreat in the woods, and whether GLP-1s will be the downfall of the food industry.

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.