Bacon's Profits Are Sizzling
Bacon has had a sizzling career. First and foremost, it was the leading man in the daily movie, bacon and eggs, premiering across the world's table each day. Once again, at lunch, bacon took the lead in the famous BLT. Not bad for a slab of flavorful fat graced with a crisp portion of meat connected to it.
Today, bacon, with all its flavor and spattering controversy, is experiencing a flavorful marketing boost that is placing its presence in everything from breakfast platters to blue plate specials to ice cream and lollipops.
And now, Denny's has turned up the heat on the strip meat's popularity by announcing that bacon will have its own menu section devoted strictly to the combination of its flavor with just everything and anything else. Yes, Baconalia has arrived.
The flavor of bacon has been around a long time. Perplexing as it may seem, with the current boom in slimming down and eating healthy, bacon is making a resurgence as a top flavor for world diners.
In January, bacon was highlighted at the San Francisco Fancy Food show in a Bacon and Maple Lollipop. The flavor combination of sweet and savory – if you can call bacon savory - exploded with every lick of the tongue.
And, the media continually picks up on bacon ice cream, as chilling as that may sound.
It may be enjoyable to explore the creativity your kitchen can have with bacon. Mashed potatoes with bacon. Mac and Cheese with bacon. Apple Pie, yes, with bacon. Hold the bacon ice cream on the Ala Mode, it may be overkill.
For whatever the reason, bacon has culinary sex appeal. It adds flavor, texture, salt, sweet and savory all in one bite. It is not the best food for healthy diets, and rarely do we see it mentioned in any diet. However, people will fall off the diet wagon for just one slice.
Denny's thoughts were simple – a good publicity stunt with a product that most people enjoy and eat frequently. It uncategorically wins the fatty meat with most appeal category and works across appetizer, entr?e and dessert menus.
Think of how wonderfully a strip of bacon dressed up a skimpy chicken liver to become the highlight of society cocktail parties. Think about the profit in one of those morsels. How about the hot dog wrapped in bacon and broiled until the oven almost exploded with so much fat being splattered on the heating elements the air exchange unit became clogged. The cost of the hot dog skyrocketed with something as simple as a slice of bacon. And let's not forget warm bacon dressing on wilted spinach salads that took the country by storm a decade or so ago and cost virtually nothing to make but costs a lot.
Now, bacon is back, stronger than ever. And it should be on your menu. Bacon is becoming more than just a breakfast food. It's becoming a fun food. Maple cured bacon appeals to the sweet, savory, and salt cravings we endure daily. And, it's doing it with style, panache, and publicity.
Take advantage of the food fad. Create some combinations that tease the taste buds, entice the adventurous and bring larger profits to the bottom line.
