What is the future of fast food' There is no longer a dollar menu. Understandings of nutrition and health are in flux. The biggest player in the game, McDonalds, is finally staging acomebackand putting kale on the menu.Theres a lot of change happening in the world of fast food. Looking forward to 2016, here are five of the biggest trends you should know about. A new definition of healthy Once, a simple promiseof vitamins and a lack of caloriescould be seen as a symbol of nutrition. Now, however, the definition is more complicatedand more in demand. I think that what is really interesting is that traditional definitions of healthiness are changing,"Darby Hughes, an analyst atfood and beverage brand-building companyQuench, told Business Insider. While once nutritionwas all about cutting calories and adding salads tothe menu"healthy" offerings few customers even purchasednow, transparency and the production chain are of elevated importance. In an era when a viral blog post about chemicals in fast-food could seriously damage a companys reputation, chains are eager to take action before they get called out.In 2015, companies made a lot of promises about their food quality. Chipotle went GMO-free, McDonalds and Papa Johns pledged to remove antibiotics from chicken, and Taco Bell revealed plans to go all natural. However, as chains continued to one-up each other, it has created a new area for competitionone that can have costly consequences as chains work to find new suppliers.Revamped value menus that cost more than a single dollar The dollar menu may be dead, but value menus will be a major battleground in2016. McDonalds isstarting the years price war with McPick 2 on January 4. McPick 2 allows customers to select two of the following items for $2: a McDouble, a McChicken, small fries, and mozzarella sticks.It isnt feasible for chains to sell most items for a dollar in 2016, so companiesare getting creative onhow to beat out the competition with bargain offerings. Burger King brought back a 10-nugget deal for $1.49 inNovember, while Wendys recently began offering a 4 for $4 meal with a junior bacon cheeseburger, four chicken nuggets, small fries, and a drink for $4. Soon, there will benew combinations of fast-food favorites at low pricesshowing up for limited periods on menus. No fast-food chain wants the McPick 2 to become the uncontested new dollar menuexcept, of course, McDonald's. Tech-savvy orderingMobile and automated ordering offer a big opportunity for restaurants, both in terms of customer service and behind the scenes.At this point, its easier to count major chains that havent launched or at least tested mobile ordering that those that have. Ordering via mobile app gives restaurants new ways to get customer data, tends to increase the average bill, and delivers orders directly to the kitchen, cutting out the middle man. Automated ordering via kiosk hasnt quite caught on in the same way, despite various tests inthe last few years. However, as mobile and online ordering increase, in-store tablets may become more seamlessly integrated and accepted as part of the fast-food experience. That means fewer necessary employeessomething that gains special importance as battles over minimum wage continue across the country. Snacks beat out breakfastAfter a few years of seemingly endless breakfast news, from Taco Bells Waffle Taco to McDonalds all day breakfast, its time for another daypart to have a chance in the spotlight. That daypart is snacktime. Were seeing the gradual move towards a snacking culture, says Hughes. Snacking is not the taboo it used to be 10, 15 years ago.Thats good news for chains trying to find new times of dayto draw in customers. Starbucks decision to focus on food and McDonalds $1 mozzarella sticks are just two instances of chains aiming to boost sales with new snacks that are slightly outside of the chains' traditional offerings. Expect more companiesto do the same, especially as the breakfast market becomesincreasinglyoversaturated. Expanding delivery Now is the time for fast-food chains toprofit off of just how lazy Americans are. We are expecting to get things without even leaving our houses, says Hughes, who notes that restaurant chains are far from the only players in the delivery game. Indeed, earlier in December, Starbucks partnered with app-based delivery service Postmates in a delivery test in Seattle. Other Postmate partners include Chipotle and McDonalds. Companies such asDoorDash,Instacart, and evenUberare equallyeagerto get in on the restaurant delivery game.The biggest barrier to delivery in the fast-food business is that the cost of delivery can easily double how much the customer is spending on his or her meal. However, with new models for delivery and increasing demand, that may not be a problem for long.Amazon Prime Now, for example,is now delivering from select restaurants in certain cities free of charge. Both fast-food chains and their entrepreneurial partners have a lot to gain from creating new delivery options. So, be on the look out for new ways to get food delivered directly to your doorstep in 2016.Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: We compared Chipotle's food to another major Mexican food competitor ' and the winner shocked us
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