Chapter 7: Current Trends and Future

The changing preferences of consumers have forced the restaurant industry to introduce innovative concepts in food service. This chapter gives an insight into the current trends in food and beverage service operations and how they might change in the future.

Indians have been well known for their food culture and hospitality. Serving food in an eco-friendly way in naturally available products like banana leaves and lotus leaves has been a part of our culture since ancient times. The following are a few ways food service is offered in a traditional way in today’s modern Indian restaurants.

In India, a “banana leaf meal" is largely used for traditional South Indian meals, particularly for serving vegetarian meals. The banana meal usually has various dishes, and having banana leaf meals is a traditional practice, which is entrenched in South India, specifically in states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Leaves were the main source in ancient times, which were used for serving food. Since the time immemorial, different varieties of leaves have been used traditionally for serving food. Before food is served, water is sprinkled on banana leaves for the purpose of cleansing. Using fresh leaves is considered more traditional and hygienic, healthy, and disposable than using other utensils. Also, it is everlasting, huge, and not easily ruined. With regard to health benefits, banana leaves include a lot of polyphenols, protein, essential fatty acids, and also act as a cancer-preventing agent. The banana leaf has a specific property that increases the taste of the food. When using the banana leaf, some techniques should be followed, i.e., the tip of the leaf must be on the left side. There is a strong belief that the development of cosmos is usually taken place on the left side, whereas obliteration takes place only on the right side. Hence, the tip of leaf must be on the person’s left side that specifies development and progression, which exhibits the beneficial effect of leaf on progression of the body.