San Francisco may be suffering through a number of urban issues, but according to a recent study, it remains America’s most food-forward city.
Los Angeles comes in second, followed, in order, by Miami … Washington, DC … San Diego … New York … Houston … Monterey, California … Las Vegas … and Austin, Texas.
According to Axios, “Food consultancy Datassential used a custom formula and an enormous database of restaurant menus” to come to this conclusion, which is based on the availability of the widest number of cuisines.
Two other factors were included in the ratings – “residents’ receptivity to new tastes and foods, which Datassential tracks through its consumer preference program,” and “how often earlier-stage [food] trends showed up at local restaurants, highlighting that a particular city was responsible for giving life to new food trends.”
The bottom five cities – 178 communities were evaluated – included Sioux Falls, South Dakota … La Crosse, Wisconsin … Green Bay, Wisconsin … Fargo, North Dakota … and Wausau, Wisconsin. Which is not to say that these places don’t have good food, just less trendy – the available variety is somewhat lacking compared to other places.
Axios notes that “plenty of other rankings reached different conclusions.
“WalletHub’s 2023 list of the ‘best foodie cities in America’ factored in the affordability of quality ingredients and restaurant meals, giving top marks to Orlando; Portland, Oregon; and Sacramento.
“U.S. News and World Report‘s rankings looked for ethnic diversity, ‘distinctive cultural fare’ and ‘hometown dishes you won’t find anywhere else in the world.’ It gave top honors to New Orleans, New York and Chicago.”
KC’s View:
In communities that, for whatever reason, are food-forward, this creates an enormous opportunity for food retailers to be part of the conversation. I wouldn’t let restaurants take the lead in capitalizing on these trends, but rather would endeavor to lead people to new and unusual foods that are both provocative and evocative. Lowest common denominator marketing, it seems to me, seems guaranteed to generate lowest common denominator results.
One of the best models, it seems to me, is Dorothy Lane Market. Its home of Dayton, Ohio, comes in 128th in the Datassential rankings, but it is hard to imagine a more food-forward retailer that Dorothy Lane Markets – a willingness to scour the world to find new products and elevate people’s tastes is built into its DNA.
Not everybody, of course, can or will take the same approach. But so much of this is about culture and mindset, being aspirational rather than reductive.
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