I think I have seen the future of fast food, and frankly, it looks pretty good. Over the last 60 years or so, we've created an industrialized food supply, very much at the expense of nutrition and sustainability. Fast food was, no doubt, a North American phenomenon, and it has grown into an intertwined part of our standard American diet and culture.
The problem, as I see it, is that mass society's consumption of fast food, over decades, yields any number of unsustainable issues. Eating fast food regularly, over long periods of time, can contribute to significant health challenges, especially when there is little or no moderation. And the sourcing of ingredients is a study in massive-scale manufacturing, from the cattle, chicken and pork farms, to the greens, grains, and everything else used in fast food. None of these things are sustainable over decades, because they come with such serious consequences.
Enter new and very alternative-style fast food models like LYFE Kitchen. Though small and lacking significant influence, at least at this point, I think a glimpse at LYFE Kitchen shows us what the future of fast food will be in North America (and as the USA goes with fast food, so goes the world, eventually.) LYFE (which stands for Love Your Food Everyday) Kitchen started in 2011 in California, and is now up to 10 restaurants from California to Chicago, with plans to grow rapidly to 250 restaurants and beyond.
Enter new and very alternative-style fast food models like LYFE Kitchen. Though small and lacking significant influence, at least at this point, I think a glimpse at LYFE Kitchen shows us what the future of fast food will be in North America (and as the USA goes with fast food, so goes the world, eventually.) LYFE (which stands for Love Your Food Everyday) Kitchen started in 2011 in California, and is now up to 10 restaurants from California to Chicago, with plans to grow rapidly to 250 restaurants and beyond.
What makes LYFE Kitchen different is their menu and the sources for their ingredients, both of which are the alter ego of typical American fast food. They offer flexitarian (the 'I eat everything' part of the menu, including steaks, eggs, potatoes, etc.), gluten free, vegan and vegetarian selections, with fairly incredible menu items like these:
- quinoa buttermilk pancakes and turkey sausage for breakfast
- chicken and kale soup and grilled chicken and avocado sandwich for lunch
- roasted salmon, tomato & fennel for supper
Sides include things like baked garlic parmesan sweet potato fries, and for dessert, chocolate or banana budino (an Italian-style custard) and more. Check out their full menu here.
For ingredients, LYFE Kitchen obtains everything they can locally, identifying suppliers and quality local ingredients, even to the extent of adding dishes to their menu in that location based on what is of interest to patrons, and what can be locally sourced. That is really interesting to me... that's sustainable.
So keep an eye out for the likes of LYFE Kitchen. The first one for the Northeast is supposed to be this fall in New York City. The rest of us will just have to wait ... I'd give it another 5 or so years. We'll catch up eventually.
By the Way
LYFE Kitchen was founded by two former McDonald's executives, Mike Donahue and Mike Roberts. I think they know that McDonald's has seen better days in North America, and they're staking their fortunes and their future on the LYFE Kitchen model. Not that it will be a fad, but will instead be the sustainable fast food trend of the future. In Mike Donahue's words (as quoted in the New York Times recently):
"Having worked at the scapegoat for everything that's wrong with food in American, we know what issues consumers care about...we had to learn everything about GMO's, recycling, animal welfare, calories, sodium, fat, social responsibility... we took all of that and poured it into the new place."
Check out this great write up on LYFE Kitchen in a Colliers real estate publication (posted with Issuu, page 19):
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