January 17, 2012

With desserts getting smaller at restaurants, more consumers are saying "yes" to an additional course after a filling meal. These tiny treats not only encourage more sales, but they allow restaurants to expand their confectionary visions and condense them all into one tiny, appealing bite-size package - so much so that the National Restaurant Association gave mini-desserts the number 4 spot on its overall menu trends list for 2010.

"This trend is about being worth it," the Food Channel reports. "There's something about the richness and decadence of a single piece of perfection that is giving this trend toward bite-sized a giant advantage. Operations offering tempting small-bite desserts (at an attractive price) have a better shot at getting two or more dessert orders where before they felt fortunate to get a single dessert purchase that gets split by the entire party."

Rathbun's, an Atlanta fine-dining establishment, not only saw its dessert sales triple since introducing mini-desserts, but its overall after-dinner offerings saw more table traffic as well, QSR Magazine reports. "People think they're only spending $3 on dessert, so they figure they can spend $10 on a nice port," pastry chef Kirk Parks told the news source.

Restaurants and hospitality establishments aren't the only ones to recognize the value of "less is more" when it comes to dessert - consumers are touting this trend with equal enthusiasm, pleased with their ability to get a relatively guilt-free taste of indulgence that won't set them back a pretty penny (or pound). Additionally, diners are more likely to experiment when they're not investing as much in one single order, giving chefs the freedom to let their imaginations run wild and deliver creative options that are bound to make the dessert menu a destination in its own right.