Sometimes these dishes come from an original recipe that’s been refined over decades. Other times, it’s been honed and crafted in a test kitchen until it’s ready for the public. Whatever the origin, successful restaurants use signature flavors and dishes to establish their brand and create a loyal following.
So how do well-known food brands create consistent, recognizable flavors that customers want to latch onto? By crafting custom flavors that distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack and connecting their flavors to their brand identity.
How Flavor and Brand Identity Are Connected
A brand identity encompasses all of the unique characteristics that give your restaurant personality. Everything from the visual branding of a logo to the seat cushions to how your staff treats your patrons is tied to the overarching brand identity.
What makes a food brand unique is its ability to introduce flavors, aromas, and textures when creating a brand identity. No matter the type of food, you can almost always carve out a bold flavor profile that distinguishes your dish from others like it.
Take the humble fast food hamburger—you can observe subtly distinctive flavors between McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s, even if they use the same basic ingredients. And yet, each of those QSRs have an avid fanbase, showcasing how custom flavors can award brand loyalty.
Linking Flavors to Your Brand Identity
When building a brand identity, think of your goals, vision, and customer base. How can the flavors you want to use relate to your existing brand?
Your flavors should be within reach of your existing menu items. If you run a sushi restaurant, pivoting to Texas BBQ likely wouldn’t resonate with your existing customers. However, mindfully introducing local flavors can work well if approached correctly—like developing fusion-style maki rolls with chicken, cheese, and Chips Oman in the UAE. This dish is a prime example of a brand that aims to resonate with its local audience in the UAE, where Chips Oman is a popular snack.
Another example is Nando’s, the South African multinational chain that specializes in flame-grilled peri-peri chicken. In many countries, Nando’s flavors are entirely unique. All of their menu items feature flavors that echo their African origins, with peri-peri-style seasoning featured prominently in their chicken, fries, and even mayonnaise.
Build Brand Loyalty Through Taste
If you want to build brand loyalty, there are a few essential strategies you should employ:
- Seasonal Flavors: From McDonald’s Shamrock Shake in the spring to Starbucks’ obsession with pumpkin spice in the fall, restaurants have long employed seasonal flavors to attract customers annually.
- Limited Edition Items: Not tied to any specific season or holiday, limited edition items offer an opportunity to experiment with unique flavors and intrigue loyal customers. Think of the countless limited edition flavors of Lay’s potato chips or Oreos.
- Twists on Staples: Create slight variations on familiar favorites to claim them as your own. For example, a Mexican restaurant might feature a mango guacamole, creating a unique yet enticing flavor profile.
While all these factors can help encourage repeat customers, there’s only one thing that will get them to order: the quality of your food. For restaurants, unique flavors are the most important aspect of convincing patrons to be loyal to a brand.
The earlier example of quick serve burgers illustrates how small differences in flavor can influence brand strategy—but why not turn the flavor dial up a notch? Distinguish your bites even more by introducing bold and unique flavors. Whether it’s bringing Indian or Korean-inspired flavors to a fried chicken shop, or looking to a drink menu to create beverage-inspired flavor blends, you can craft a flavor profile that your patrons won’t be able to get anywhere else.
Leverage Trends for Food Brands and Restaurants
Make sure you’re aware of rising food trends and apply them when relevant. Check out what consumers and experts are saying about what’s popular. For example, we recently came out with our 2025 Food and Flavor Outlook, exploring featured themes that are rising across the globe. Some of the top trends include:
- Asian Fusion: Authentic Asian culinary traditions continue to transcend borders, bringing more umami and spice to familiar dishes.
- Sweet-Spicy Pairings: From mouth-watering snacks to unique protein marinades, sweet and spicy flavors bring a wide range of options for innovation.
- Tropical Flavors: Tropical fruits like passion fruit and guava are used in savory dishes to bring contrasting sweetness and acidity.
Take these examples and conduct your own consumer research to explore what’s most exciting for your patrons. Consider including one of these flavors as a special, limited-time offer—a way to give variety to your own signature flavors. But remember: Don’t force a trendy flavor if it doesn’t fit with your brand identity.
Prioritize Sustainable Flavor Innovations
With rising consumer expectations for brands to be more environmentally friendly, many customers find that the best tasting dishes are the ones that come with a clean conscience of minimal environmental impact. That’s why if there’s one trend that’s here to stay for restaurants, it’s sustainability.
Beyond keeping food waste, and sometimes even costs, down—two imperatives for any food brand—showcasing sustainability efforts around your new signature dish builds trust and loyalty with your customers. From sustainably-sourced ingredients to repurposed scraps from your other menu offerings, showing a thoughtfulness and purpose behind your flavors is key to helping both the planet and your brand succeed.
One example of a company that prioritizes sustainability in their offerings is Shake Shack. They have long been engaged in supporting regenerative farming and pasture-raised meat as part of its alignment with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Their commitment to sourcing high-quality, sustainable ingredients supports their burger’s refined and elevated signature taste, setting it apart from other quick-serve burgers.
Develop Your Brand’s Unique Flavors
If you’d like help developing new and exciting flavors for your brand, explore FlavorIQ® and reach out to a Griffith Foods representative. Through predictive consumer insights, extensive sensory testing, and technical and culinary expertise, FlavorIQ® can help your brand create the perfect signature flavor to help you innovate and grow.
