Autumn is fast approaching, which means it’s apple season! Whether that means picking apples at the orchard, baking apple pie, or canning apple sauce, there’s no question that apples are the quintessential fall fruit.
While traditional pairings such as caramel and cinnamon are still present on menus, food service providers are finding even more ways to introduce apple into their menus. Menu penetration of apples has grown 5.1% in the past four years. With the popularity of breakfast any time of the day in food service or serving “brinner” (breakfast for dinner) at home, it’s no surprise that maple syrup and apples have become a popular pairing.
Maple syrup and apples as a combination has grown 21.8% in menu penetration the past four years, and 15.3% in just the past year. French toast and waffles are a couple of the most popular dishes incorporating the complementary flavors, but there are also several new launches in chicken sausage that pair maple syrup with apples. In retail, the maple syrup and apple pairing is made even more explicit as two recent global launches use the combination as a jam/jelly.
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