A few years ago “hyper-regional” menus were the hot ticket. Restaurants proudly listed the exact farm, field or even fishing boat each ingredient came from. Farm-to-table wasn’t just a buzzword; it was a statement of ethics and taste. The pandemic only strengthened that urge to buy local, and diners loved the sense of place it promised.
But 2025 looks a little different. Rising food costs and the general cost-of-living crunch have made strict hyper-regional sourcing harder to pull off. If a chef insists on getting every carrot from a single postcode, they may face a choice between sticker shock or quietly breaking their own rules. Some have scaled back without the fanfare, by still sourcing thoughtfully, by widening the circle when the economics don’t add up.
That’s not a bad thing. In fact, I think hyper-regionality as a concept will endure, because it tapped into something bigger than a trend: a desire for transparency and a connection to the landscape around us. Diners still care where their food comes from. They just also want to afford dinner.
Close doesn’t always equal good
But here’s my twist: the obsession with “close equals good” was always a little misguided. Distance on a map doesn’t automatically equal quality or sustainability. A greenhouse tomato grown ten kilometers away with heavy chemical inputs isn’t inherently better than an organic tomato from a region with the right climate and soil, even if the latter traveled a few hundred kilometers by efficient rail. A chicken raised under high-welfare standards two countries over may have a lighter environmental footprint and far better animal welfare than a local one from an intensive farm.
What matters more than miles is how the ingredient is produced. Taste, soil health, animal welfare, fair labor, carbon footprint: these are the real markers of good sourcing. Sometimes the best product is right next door, and sometimes it isn’t.
For operators, the way forward is less about rigid geography and more about clarity. Tell guests why you chose an ingredient: the farmer’s regenerative practices, the flavor of a specific heirloom grain, the supply chain’s low emissions. Diners respond to that honesty far more than to a map pin on a menu.
Hyper-regionalism may have started as a marketing hook, but its lasting lesson is bigger: people want food with integrity. If we keep that focus, this “trend” isn’t going anywhere. It’s just rightfully evolving beyond the postcode.
Marius Zürcher
About the author:
The co-owner & founder of Millennial & Gen Z marketing and employer branding agency 1520 in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, Marius Zürcher was a participant at FCSI’s ‘Millennials’ focused roundtable at INTERGASTRA and a speaker at FCSI workshops about industry trends.
