In the past year, I fell back in love with Caesar salads. They are representative of everything I want in a dish—herbal seasonings, a creamy sauce, and, of course, crunchy fresh vegetables.
I am not the only consumer who recently rediscovered the star power of a simple Caesar. Trends from 2024 show that the veg-centric dish has skyrocketed in popularity, and even brought new iterations of the classic recipe to the forefront.
If you frequent the foodservice space, chances are you have seen a kale Caesar salad on the menu once or twice. This is perhaps the most prevalent twist on the classic dish, infusing it with darker leaf lettuces for a boost of vitamins that puts health front and center.
Food & Wine reports that other vegetables are being added to the mix too. Asparagus, for example, is one ingredient consumers might not have initially incorporated into the dish, but inarguably adds an elevated flavor and texture that pairs perfectly with Caesar dressing.
I myself was served an exciting version when traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a trade show last year. Piero’s Italian Cuisine had what it called a “Garbage Caesar” on the menu. The dish featured hearts of palm, avocado, tomato, and shrimp piled on top of a bed of crunchy Romaine and topped with a decadent dressing. Anything with avocado is an instant winner in my book, plus the abundance of jumbo shrimp on my plate made the dish that much more enticing.
The experience inspired me to add a Caesar salad kit to my shopping cart each week, and I still do to this day. I like to make a meal out of it and top the dish with a plant-based protein, such as veggie chicken or a mushroom steak.
However your consumers wish to dress up this dish, it would be wise to put some cross-merchandising strategies into action. Who knows? Caesar salads could be your produce department’s next big hit. 
