=   Profits $  $  $

SOURCE: FOOD BUSINESS NEWS

1. Storytelling: Consumer interest in transparency demands companies to tell a story about their products
2. Plant-Based Products: Plant-based options continuing to become mainstream
3. Consumer Interest in Sustainability: Sustainability focus areas vary by region
4. The Right Bite: Consumers expect many choices
5. Texture: Consumers want richer experiences and more indulgence
6. Macronutrients: Avoiding sugar
7. Hybrid Products: Blends of several trends
8. A Star is Born: Specific ingredients increasing in consumer popularity, like probiotics
9. Eat Pretty: Ingredients associated with muscle, hair and skin health
10. Brand Unlimited: Consumers want more personalization

SOURCE: WHOLE FOODS

1. Regenerative Agriculture: Consumers expressed interest in learning more about how their food is produced and its effect on the environment
2. Flour Power: Alternative flours made from fruits and vegetables moving into the baking aisle
3. Foods from West Africa: Traditional West African flavors emerging in food and beverage, with ingredients like moringa and tamarind
4. Out-Of-The-Box, Into-The-Fridge Snacking: The fresh snack trend accelerating in the refrigerated section
5. Plant-Based Beyond Soy: Mung bean, hempseed, pumpkin, avocado, watermelon seed and golden chlorella
6. Everything Butters and Spreads: Disruption in the butter and spreads category with products featuring macadamia nuts, watermelon and pumpkin seeds
7. Rethinking the Children’s Menu: Parents are introducing their kids to more adventurous foods – fermented foods rich in umami flavors, for example
8. Not-So-Simple Sugars: Sweetener options sourced from monk fruit, pomegranate, coconut and dates
9. Meat-Plant Blends: Products featuring a blend of both animal- and plant-based protein
10. Zero-Proof Drinks: Alternatives to alcohol

SOURCE: MINTEL

1. Wellbeing: Holistic approach to taking care of oneself, keeping in mind convenience, transparency and value
2. Surroundings: Consumers are becoming more aware of their environmental impact and becoming digital nomads
3. Technology: Mobile technologies, virtual and augmented reality
4. Rights: Consumers are feeling more empowered to call out companies and brands that they disagree with, and have increasing influence
5. Identity: Feeling more isolation and expecting companies to address it with technology-based solutions
6. Values: Consumers are taking a closer look at their consumption habits through a mindful approach to spending, while desiring authentic and unique items
7. Experiences: Powerful emotional connections to brands that are creating a point of differentiation, both online and offline

SOURCE: TECHNOMIC

1. Cool Colors Heat Up: Cooler colors like new rabes and cresses, spirulina and mauve will create variations of common vegetables and herbs
2. The Year of the Fad: Super limited-time offers with have even large chains jumping on fads instead of waiting for trends as they have done in the past
3. New Forces of Nature: New natural resources to keep the plant-forward movement trending
4. Eco-Everything: Incorporation of a wider range of resource-efficient, circular practices in the name of sustainability
5. Locking into Lifestages: Develop a more strategic voice to reach specific subgroups within each generation
6. Offsetting Off-Premise: More operators employing creative means to drive in-store traffic
7. The Pre-Recession Jitters: Consumers becoming more aware of their spending habits and increasingly trade down to lower-priced occasions across foodservice segments

1. Chicory Root: As a caffeine substitute
2. Breakfast from Kerala: Appam pancakes
3. Arabic-Inspired Sweets: Date balls, rose water pudding and baklava
4. Indoor Microgreens: Growing greens in homes, like arugula, basil and broccoli
5. Low-Waste Cooking: Consumers are eager to learn more ways to cut back on food waste
6. Greener Product Swaps: Eco-friendly substitutions
7. West African Cuisine: Spicy stews, soups and porridge
8. Macedonian Meals: Hearty, comforting dishes like kebapi and tavche gravche
9. Filipino Desserts: Banana, coconut and purple ube
10. Galaxy-Inspired Birthday Desserts: Out-of-this-world baking ideas
11. Homemade Baby Food: Searches are up 400%
12. Cucumber Juice: The new celery juice
13. Homebrewing: Interest in ‘brewing equipment’ is up 400%
14. At-Home Coffee Stations: Gourmet coffee stations at home
15. Cake for Pets: Dog- and cat-safe cakes
16.  

SOURCE: YELP

1. Breakfast Gets Fancy: Souffle pancakes, a Japanese culinary trend, and cinnamon swirl pancakes
2. Nashville Hot Chicken: Spicy fried chicken
3. Ube Desserts: Desserts featuring this purple yam
4. Zero-Proof Aperitifs Happy Hours: More non-alcoholic bars
5. Floral-Infused Drinks and Dishes: Extracts like chrysanthemum and butterfly pea tea
6. Korean Cuisine: Tteokbooki and Korean BBQ
7. Healthy-Swap Comfort Food: Healthy swaps for favorite comfort foods like cauliflower mashed potatoes and pizza
8. Pineapple Bun: Sweet Cantonese buns
9. Boozy Kombucha: Hard kombucha
10. Next-Level Desserts: Stretchy ice cream

1. Star Fruit: Aesthetically pleasing foods
2. Squid Ink: Squid-ink burger buns and pasta
3. Collagen Powder: Adding collagen powder to smoothies, coffee and tea to promote healthy, glowing skin
4. Reishi Mushrooms: Attracting consumers with their potential immune system benefits
5. Keto: Food options that embrace the keto diet of a low-carb lifestyle
6. Brussel Sprouts: This classic vegetable is undergoing a renaissance
7. ‘Healthy Foods’: Kale, cabbage and farro
8. Cauliflower: Orders like cauliflower gnocchi and pizza crusts
9. Asian Dishes: Pho, udon, and kimchi
10. Harissa: This hot chili pepper paste is being called the new sriracha
11. Bone Broth: A staple of the paleo diet
12. Ginger: For its number of health benefits
13. Hummus: Demand for Middle Eastern cuisines is increasing, with orders for hummus accelerating
14. Meat Alternatives: Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat becoming more mainstream
15. Non-Dairy Milk Alternatives: Oat milk
16. Cold Brew: Coffee that is brewed cold

SOURCE: DATASSENTIAL

Macro Trends

1. Digital Life IRL: Implementation of artificial intelligence into our lives to personalize eating experiences, wearable technology boom
2. Plant-Based Finds Its Identity: What does plant-based really mean and how should these products be positioned? – a question that will be answered this year
3. Food + The Climate Crisis: The food industry will take center stage for sustainable innovation
4. Rethinking Service: Defining hospitality for different generations as the next generation of consumers believes less is more
5. What is a Restaurant?: Rethinking the definition of ‘restaurant’ with the implementation of ghost kitchens, virtual brands and salad vending machines
6. Understanding Authenticity: Embracing a more nuanced view of what authenticity means from a consumer, chef and manufacturer level

Micro Trends

1. Breakfast, Brunch, Brinner, Blurred: Reinventing breakfast options
2. Eatertainment Evolves: The food industry pairing up with entertainment options: esports, theatrical dining, tech-centric venues
3. New Wave Tea: Premium, artisan options added to the menu
4. Tablespreads: Evolution of the small plates trend that gives diners a chance to try a little bit of everything
5. South African Cuisine: Wine, biltong (South African jerky), tea, piri piri sauce, braai (South African BBQ)
6. Hyper Regionality: Focus on individual dishes rather than broader, global cuisines
7. Farms Everywhere: Micro-farming – small, often automated growing appliances in hospitals, colleges, restaurants, supermarkets and homes

Flavor Trends

1. Ajvar: Fire-roasted red pepper from the Balkans
2. Grains of Paradise: This West African spice has notes of black pepper, cardamom, and citrus mixed with floral flavors
3. Karaage: Japanese frying technique
4. Unripe Produce: Chefs are getting creative with the unique flavors and textures
5. Pili Nuts: A Filipino nut, often eaten whole or as a powder
6. Ash: Straight from the hearth – ash-baked vegetables, ash-crusted meats, and ash as a garnish
7. Tepache: Fermented pineapple-based beverage from Mexico
8. Sabzi Khordan: A fresh platter of herbs and feta
9. Vermouth: A long-time player on the drink menu, consumers are discovering its lower ABV and wide variety available
10. Urfa Biber: Turkish dried chili pepper with a smoky, almost raisin taste

SOURCE: WAITROSE & PARTNERS

1. Simpler Eating: Uncomplicated meals – taking shortcuts without compromising on flavor
2. Mindful Spending: Prioritizing budgeting
3. Kindness Cooking: Cooking for others
4. Cutting Clutter: Maintaining an organized kitchen
5. Spicing Things Up: Spicier foods and more foods that contain spice
6. Seacuterie: Using seafood instead of meat
7. Middle Eastern Food in the Home: Experimenting with Middle Eastern flavors around the world beyond hummus and falafel
8. Goodbye Salt: Replacing this popular condiment with items like hot sauce, chili flakes and ground pepper
9. Animal Welfare: Not just by reducing meat consumption, but also better quality cuts and free-range meat
10. Online Shopping: More consumers choosing to grocery shop online