5 Pork Trends that Can Transform Your Menu

With labor and ingredient costs impacting operations,^{1, 2} many operators are exploring versatile, crowd-pleasing proteins to boost menu appeal.³ Bacon — loved or liked by 84% of consumers⁴ — can shine in sandwiches, sauces, toppings or sides, adding flavor and texture across multiple dayparts. Tapping into these bacon trends can help operators diversify offerings while keeping labor and costs in check.

Sustained Bacon Selections

Although bacon has historically been a beloved breakfast ingredient, it can breathe life into lunchtime, dinner and even beverage pairings. Patrons can get burgers, sandwiches, salads and an Italian green bean side made with bacon for lunch at Black Bear Diner locations, or customize hash browns, mashed potatoes or fries with diced bacon and cheese.

The Smith & Wollensky steakhouse chain’s dinner menu includes a soy-glazed confit bacon appetizer, salad with bacon lardons and a gorgonzola-crusted filet topped with crispy bacon and scallions.

Bacon has popped up in some unexpected places — like the applewood-smoked bacon bits Five Guys customers can mix into milkshakes. Individual eateries have also debuted salty-and-sweet desserts; the Fish Bones Grill in Lewiston, Maine, for example, introduced a deconstructed maple-bacon cheesecake with a candied bourbon-bacon sauce as a weekly special in October.

Global Flavors and Formats

Today’s consumers are craving a taste-driven travel experience to escape the daily grind — which extends beyond the Italian, Mexican or Chinese cuisine options that have become mainstream meal choices in the U.S.^{5, 6}

In the past eight years, the number of consumers who eat items with culinary influences from other countries on a weekly basis has increased by 68%.⁷

Both classic, traditional offerings and inventive takes with a twist can resonate with diners. Chicago’s Casa Yari, for instance, has whipped up versions of mofongo, a Puerto Rican plantain dish, coated in a creamy garlic, bacon, pea and shrimp sauce and paired with bacon and eggs for brunch.

The rising interest in internationally inspired fare can boost restaurants’ returns. According to 74% of operators, the dishes can be offered as premium items that command a higher price.⁶

Including on the menu a familiar dish or two that incorporates specific aspects of a cuisine may make diners who are hesitant to try an entirely new type of food feel ordering it will be less of a risk.

For example, the menu at the Sergio’s restaurant chain in Florida features global and domestic elements. Sergio’s serves an American version of its Cuban-style omelet that involves bacon and tomatoes; its BLT-esque Miami sandwich comes on Cuban bread.

Hearty, Unique Bacon Varieties

Distinctive types of bacon can appeal to customers — Irish and slab styles are starting to be served at fine dining restaurants, amid a growing interest in thick-cut bacon, which has appeared on nearly 7% more menus in the past 12 months.^{8, 9}

Pork products that are made with inventive curing techniques — potentially with flavors added during or after the curing process — are also proving popular. As of September, retail sales of bacon with a seasoning or specific flavor outpaced the overall category’s sales.^{10, 11}

Smoked bacon has achieved the most widespread menu penetration; 84% of consumers have tried it. Pepper-flavored strips — such as Heritage By Hatfield^TM Black Pepper Thick Cut Bacon — are also gaining ground, showing a more than 4% menu penetration increase in the past 12 months.⁹

Specialty bacon can attract customers, but it’s time-consuming to prepare, a daunting prospect when the kitchen staff is already struggling to complete orders.

All-Natural, Hardwood-Smoked Heritage by Hatfield^TM Black Pepper, Maple Bourbon and Double Smoked Thick Cut Bacon can be served alongside other items or used as an ingredient, reducing the steps required to make dishes such as this savory Southwest breakfast bowl or creamy pasta carbonara containing bacon and mushrooms sauteed in bacon fat.

Because premium Heritage By Hatfield^TM bacon is crafted using state-of-the-art injection and slicing technology that provides consistency, operators are able to maintain their quality standards — while keeping prep time in check.

Portable Pork Options

Takeout and delivery is a growing source of business for restaurants: 47% of adults pick up orders at least once a week, and 37% have food delivered. Fast, helpful customer service is one of consumers’ top criteria to order from an eatery again in the future.¹²The amount of employees working in an office, instead of remotely, has increased in recent years — which could equate to higher sales for restaurants.¹³

Workforce members may be looking for menu items they can eat on their way to work or pick up for a quick lunch — portable, handheld meals like breakfast tacos stuffed with crisp Heritage By Hatfield™ Black Pepper Thick Cut Bacon and maple-syrup-roasted peaches and empanadas made with fig jam, smoky apple chutney and black-pepper-flavored Heritage By Hatfield™ Bacon.

Operators can also explore consumers’ growing penchant for substituting and supplementing meals with snacks by selling portioned items beyond their typical morning and lunch hours of operation — like bacon breadsticks with a chipotle cheddar dip and buffalo chicken and bacon snack wraps.¹⁴

Naturally Focused Fare

Americans now view protein as the most important element in making a food better for you. More than a third (35%) increased their intake of it in 2025, and for the past three years, a high-protein diet has been the most common type that’s followed in the U.S.¹⁵

Protein supplies health benefits such as amino acids that help build muscle, and meat — such as bacon and other pork products — is Americans’ preferred source of it.¹⁵

A number of consumers prioritize products that are organically sourced and contain recognizable ingredients, in lieu of preservatives, artificial colorants and antibiotics.¹⁶

Transparency is another food and beverage purchasing priority. Highlighting any responsible production practices — such as Clemens Food Group’s Farm Promise^® commitment to provide the highest level of veterinary care, which can minimize or eliminate the need for antibiotics to be administered — will help ensure customers can make informed eating choices.¹⁶

Clemens Food Group Corporate Executive Chef Jenny Moyer Murphy says she has seen callouts for all-natural, local, NAE and vegetarian-fed aspects of pork products. “Consumers want to know what kind of food they’re eating and where their food is sourced from,” Murphy says. “That has to be really clear on your menu.”

Ultimately, proactively increasing your array of global, breakfast and other bacon menu items and supplying information about their origin can help you attract patrons without adding sourcing or labor concerns — allowing you to consistently serve a roster of high-quality items in an efficient, effective way and provide exceptional customer service.

Learn more about maximizing bacon’s potential by reading our post on “Bacon’s Exciting Menu Effect” — and checking out our trends & insights page to stay up-to-date.

1 The 2025 Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey, Toast, October 9, 2025

2 Food and Beverage Industry Trends 2025: Key Challenges and Future Predictions, Expert Market, October 1, 2025

3 Food Price Outlook, 2025 and 2026, USDA, December 15, 2025

4 SNAP Bacon Menu and Consumer Data, Datassential, January 4, 2026

5 What’s Hot 2026 Culinary Forecast, National Restaurant Association, 2025

6 Global Flavors Keynote Report, Datassential, July 2025

7 Global Flavors Are Redefining American Restaurant Trends in 2025, Datassential, 2025

8 Bacon Varietes, Datassential, 2025

9 Most Popularly Menued Bacon Varieties Instant Chart, Datassential, January 4, 2026

10 The World of Bacon, Datassential, March 2024

11 All Eyes on Thick-Cut Bacon, National Provisioner, September 9, 2025

12 Off-Premises Restaurant Trends 2025, National Restaurant Association, April 15, 2025