American consumers now spend more than half of their food dollars on meals and snacks at restaurants and other foodservice facilities. With this in mind, Australian lamb partnered with some of America’s brightest culinary stars to develop a program to demonstrate the opportunity for foodservice operators to diversify the application of lamb on their menus. In an industry where entrees and generous serving sizes are the norm, many operators are distinguishing themselves by offering just the opposite – small plates. The trend of small plates and sampling dishes is well documented in the US foodservice industry and was recently explored in a New York Times Article (Is The Entrée Heading for Extinction?; December 5, 2007).  The trend is sizzling! In the National Restaurant Association’s “What’s Hot & What’s Not Chef Survey” of the American Culinary Federation, 73% of chefs distinguished small plates as “hot” and 65% view grass-fed items, such as Australian Lamb, as “hot.”

Consumer research conducted by Australian lamb displayed three important findings: lamb regularly appears as an entrée option at successful restaurants; consumption is largely with the baby boomer generation; and younger generations are interested in trying lamb but see an expensive lamb entrée as ‘risky’.

Armed with this knowledge, Australian lamb reviewed research on the needs and aspirations of the younger generations and learned that they expect and seek out the unique flavors of ethnic foods including Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern and Asian inspired dishes and prefer experimenting with smaller portioned meals. They also expect the variety offered by the smaller serving sizes to be healthy, all-natural options which allow them to reward themselves guilt free. All of these factors make Australian lamb a versatile, valuable and successful addition to any restaurant’s repertoire.

Through the high standards of the Australian lamb industry, the products’ quality and integrity keep Australian lamb consistently on the menus of some of the most influential chefs in the US. The bright chefs included in Australian lamb’s Bar Food Program are: Chef Brad Farmerie of Public in New York City, Vikram Garg of Indebleu, Washington, D.C., Chef Michelle Bernstein of Michy’s in Miami, Josiah Citrin of Melisse Restaurant in Santa Monica, Josie le Balch of Josie Restaurant in Los Angeles, Jimmy Bradley of The Red Cat in New York City, Jason Wilson of Crush in Seattle, Andrew Ormsby of Tucker Restaurant in Dallas and Chef Randy Zweiban of Nacional 27 in Chicago.

For chefs and restaurateurs to learn how Australian lamb can be used for their own bar food applications, they can visit the trade section of www.australian-lamb.com to download or order the Bar Foods Booklet the Australian lamb product guide.

The naturally mild and delicious taste of Australian lamb is widely available to restaurants, chefs and consumers throughout the US. It is packed with protein and nutrients and raised on grass with no artificial additives. Vacuum-packed for freshness, Australian lamb is truly the best nature has to offer.