Industry
Part of Building a zero proof menu: six stages from concept to print
Zero proof menu design trends: lists, allergens and prep
Zero proof menu design trends here include allergen disclosures, shorter shared-base lists, bar-prep procedures and food-safety data.
Zero proof menu design trends get reported as flavors. The changes that alter how a bar runs are quieter: what must be declared, how long a list can run before it breaks, and how much of the drinks program gets written down. Four are visible now.
What to take away
- Allergen declaration is becoming a standard part of drinks menus, not just food menus.
- Lists are getting shorter and deeper, with more drinks sharing the same bases.
- Written procedures are spreading from the kitchen to the bar.
- Data on which practices cause outbreaks is public, and it is shaping inspection focus.
Allergen lines are appearing on drinks menus
The obvious trigger was a change to the allergen list itself. FDA's guidance on sesame as the ninth major food allergen explains that from 1 January 2023 sesame joined milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish and tree nuts. Wheat, peanuts and soybeans were on that list already, in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the 2022 Food Code.
Sesame allergen rule timeline
- 1 Jan 2023sesame becomes ninth major allergen
- On or afterpackaged foods must declare sesame
- Packaged earlierno relabel or withdrawal required
Foods packaged at retail on or after that date must declare it. Stock packaged earlier did not have to be relabeled or withdrawn.
Drinks programs were dragged along. A bar using tahini in a savory drink, nut distillates in a botanical spirit, or dairy in a foam is handling allergens. Menus are starting to say so instead of leaving it to the table.
Why the bottles behind the bar may not declare them is covered in our notes on allergen labeling at an alcohol free bar.
Shorter lists, deeper bases
The second trend is a correction. Early zero proof menus were long, because operators wanted to prove the category could be taken seriously. Long lists produced slow service, inconsistent drinks and heavy waste.
Long menus vs short menus
Early zero proof menus
- Drinks
- Long list
- Components
- Many
- Service
- Slow
- Waste
- Heavy
- Ordering
- Shallow, long list
Current direction
- Drinks
- Four to six
- Components
- Three or four shared
- Service
- Faster
- Waste
- Lower
- Ordering
- Deep, predictable
The current direction is four to six drinks built on three or four shared components. It reads as less ambitious on paper and performs better in the room.
The buying consequence is real. A venue running six drinks off four bases orders those bases deeply and reorders them predictably, which changes what a supplier can offer it. A venue running fourteen drinks off fourteen components orders shallowly across a long list and gets the terms that implies. Suppliers notice the difference well before the guests do.
Working backwards from a menu to a stock position is set out in our stocking checklist for a zero proof list.
Procedures are moving behind the bar
Kitchens have written procedures. Bars historically did not, beyond a spec sheet. That is changing as drinks programs take on prep that behaves like food production: infusions, clarifications, cordials and cut fruit held through a shift.
The visible signs are date labels on batch containers, a written holding rule for prepped garnish, and a named person responsible for the prep list.
Public data is shaping what inspectors ask
Inspection focus is not random. CDC's National Environmental Assessment Reporting System is a free surveillance system that collects environmental assessment data from foodborne illness outbreak investigations. Health departments use it to identify root causes in their own jurisdictions, take follow up action and evaluate their programs.
For an operator, the useful reading of that is simple. The questions an inspector asks come from what has actually caused outbreaks, not from a checklist invented locally. A drinks program that can answer on prep, holding and staff illness is answering the questions the data generates.
The design process behind these changes is set out in our menu design walkthrough, and the ingredient side of the same shift appears in botanical drink trends.
