While the buffet is a timeless catering staple that will always appeal to hungry consumers, the foods that are prepared and served continue to change and evolve. Indeed, in 2016, certain foods are in vogue while others are yesterday’s news.
Whether it’s the general need for healthier fare, food without antibiotics and other chemicals or bite-sized delights, F&B managers should keep an eye on these 20 emerging trends in food.
Millennials Are Friendly Towards Functional Foods
Pedro Pina at Think with Google describes a new food trend appealing to millennials: functional food.
“A number of top trending foods over the last two years are ‘healthy’ ingredients like turmeric, apple cider vinegar, avocado oil, bitter melon, and kefir….They are said to infer benefits like better skin, libido, and energy or cures for depression, insomnia, and pain,” says Pina. “Now, the focus of people’s diets is less about eliminating foods than about adding them.”
Sweets Sizes Are Shrinking
If you’ve noticed the size of desserts at your favorite restaurant is getting smaller, you’re not the only one. Lori Hall Steele at QSR Magazine talked to Kirk Parks, a Georgia pastry chef, who “believes mini desserts, with a lower price point and less commitment, encourage customers to experiment. Customers are lured by the novelty and promise of flavor without the guilt.”
Give Purple Bread a Chance
Sure, maybe you’ve seen or even eaten colorful bread dyed for a special occasion. However, purple bread is different. A Singaporean professor named Zhou Weibiao created the stuff, which is supposed to be healthier than conventional bread.
How did he do it? As Sumitra at Oddity Central explains: “He started by extracting anthocyanin—the natural blue pigment found in foods like grapes and blueberries—from black rice, leaving behind its starchy compounds. He infused the anthocyanin into bread dough and used it to bake loaves that are apparently much better for you than white bread.”
Need a New Take on Rice? Try Cauliflower
Rice is a delicious addition to meals and desserts, but it’s also heavy in carbs, especially white rice. No wonder people are looking for new ways to make this food healthy, namely making rice out of cauliflower instead. You can use this new form of rice in any recipe that calls for it, including sweet ones. Ciara Attwell at My Fussy Eater has a recipe to get you started.
Vegetables Can Also Replace Pasta
Club & Resort Business shared data from Baum + Whitman that estimates 2016 food purchasing patterns. They call pasta an “endangered species” and say vegetables are an ideal stand-in.
“Vegetables, namely spiralized veggies like zucchini and sweet potatoes that resemble spaghetti in shape, are on the rise. Vegetables in general are set to have a banner 2016, with concerns about animal proteins for health and environmental reasons leading more people to reach for the cauliflower instead of the cow,” they said.
Poke Is Popular
Poke (“poh-kay”) is a meal straight from Hawaii that has a lot of people talking. Similar to sushi, Jennifer Fiedler at Grub Street says this dish “appeals to health-conscious, Paleo-leaning lunchers who crave something more substantive than another bottle of green juice.” Part salad, part raw fish, this dish is a big deal.
Ancient Grains Catch on with Consumers
Although not new by any stretch of the imagination, ancient grains are big with consumers looking for healthier eats. WTOP, a news station in Washington, D.C., interviewed Sally Squires at Lean Plate Club, who explains more about these grains.
“As you might expect, these are grains that have been around for thousands—even tens of thousands—of years. They include chia, quinoa, sorghum, barley, amaranth, millet, buckwheat, wild rice, teff, spelt, farro, Kamut and Einkorn. Blue corn is also considered an ancient grain by some,” she says.
Ube Proves Purple Is In
We already discussed purple bread above, but purple’s popularity doesn’t stop there. Purple ube, a yam, also sells, says Tom Jenkins at Fine Dining Lovers. This food “when cut open reveals a rich violet coloring, which in turn permeates into the food it’s added to, having been cooked first, including cakes, breads and pies.”
It’s the International Year of Pulses
Pulses or legumes are receiving their fair share of the spotlight after the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations declared this year the International Year of Pulses. The extra attention “aims to heighten public awareness of the nutritional benefits of pulses as part of sustainable food production aimed towards food security and nutrition.”
And Chickpeas Are Doing Especially Well
This year’s star pulse is definitely the chickpea, confirms Jennifer Graham at CTV News Saskatoon in Canada. She chatted with University of Saskatchewan nutrition expert Carol Henry about what makes chickpeas in particular so exceptional.
“These are a very critical part of the general food basket…They are a vital source of plant-based protein and amino acids and they really should be eaten as part of a healthy diet,” she says. “…now that we have gotten into the increasing emphasis on reducing chronic disease, such as obesity, coronary heart disease and so forth, there has been renewed interest in promoting pulse.”
North Africa’s Dishes Entice
Whether it’s single ingredients, seasoning or whole dishes, the average consumer is borrowing North Africa’s unique flavors for their own meals.
Monica Watrous of Food Business News got in touch with Mel Mann at Wixon, a seasoning company, to talk about the trend: “The growing multicultural population in the United States is changing desired flavor profiles, and consumers are striving for authentic regional flavors…As consumers grow more adventurous in their food choices, authentic flavors are key,” he says.
Power Bowls Gain Momentum
While M.M. Cloutier at Palm Beach Daily News in Florida notes how much momentum power bowls have gained in 2016 in that state, these are also big across the rest of the country. The emphasis is on nutrition, which means these bowls typically contain healthful ingredients like vegetables, grains, egg whites and fish. The customizability of this meal also adds to its appeal.
Pork Is Still In
Although consumers largely prefer healthier eats these days, that hasn’t stopped them from buying pork and other meat, found The Pork Checkoff. The site shared a report in late 2015 from the Volumetric Assessment of Pork in Foodservice by Technomic.
“The study showed that total pork sold through foodservice outlets reached a record 9.8 billion pounds, reflecting a volume increase of 533 million pounds over 2013 when the survey was last conducted. Gaining momentum, this number is slightly higher than the 462 million-pound growth experienced from 2011 to 2013,” The Pork Checkoff writes.
Drink Your Greens
No time to sit down to a conventional plate of veggies and other edible greens? Why not drink them instead? One unique food trend that’s taken off in 2016 is liquid chlorophyll. Kreation Juice in Santa Monica, California has such an item on their menu, which they say “increases the quality and quantity of red blood cells while also cleansing the body by reducing the binding of carcinogens to the liver.”
Smoking (Food) Is Back
As US Foods says on its blog: “All things old are new again. That’s certainly true of smoked foods, one of the oldest forms of food preservation.” So just why is this old-fashioned trend back in favor? Kirstin Kirkpatrick, a US Foods employee, shares her thoughts.
“Within the last 15 years, people have become more aware of what natural smoke tastes like and are going back to true old world cooking techniques like smoking, pickling, and fermenting because they are considered an authentic and traditional way of preserving food,” she said. “It invokes a sense of pride to go back to the original way things were made.”
Alternative Flour Has Great Appeal
In Missouri, Juliana Goodwin at the Springfield News-Leader reported that alternative flour is constantly being snatched up at grocery stores. In other states across the US, the same is happening. These other types of flour are made from fava beans, sorghum, coconuts, garbanzo beans and almonds.
Goodwin chatted with Hy-Vee Health Market’s Rene Hanson, who talked about purchases at her store. “They [alternative flours] are flying off the shelves. They are not quite yet outpacing regular flour, but they are increasing every month,” she explained.
Get Ready for Koji
While koji, a Japanese mold, is nothing new in that country, America is starting to understand its value. Makiko Itoh at Japan Times writes about the history of this fungi: “Koji…was probably domesticated at least 2,000 years ago. It is used to make sake, mirin, shochu, awamori (an Okinawan beverage), rice vinegar, soy sauce and miso.” As the US learns even more about umami, koji fits in quite well.
Vegan Donuts Are a Feel-Good Treat
Donuts are often seen as an indulgence, but thanks to vegan donut makers across the country, this perception is changing. These donuts are somewhat healthier for consumers. If you don’t have a vegan donut shop near you, don’t despair. Food blog Oh My Veggies found a boatload of recipes for homemade vegan donuts.
Grass-Fed Beef Sells
Grass-fed beef is, as the name implies, meat sourced from animals that consume greens like grass. This is compared to conventional beef, where the animals may eat corn. According to David Yeager at Today’s Dietician, the USDA Grass Fed Marketing Claim Standard has limitations on meat that’s considered to be grass-fed. However, those limitations pay off, as grass-fed beef is hotter than ever.
“There’s no question that grass-fed beef is gaining in popularity and market share, with demand growing at an annual rate of 25 to 30 percent per year over the past decade,” says Yeager.
It may also be more nutritious. “Another advantage of raising grass-fed cattle is the healthier fat profile of their beef compared with traditional beef. There’s little scientific literature comparing a human diet of grass-fed beef to a diet of conventional beef, but a growing body of research describes the differences in the animals’ fat profiles.”
Canned Wines Have Casual Charm
Move over, canned beer: it’s time for canned wine to shine. Lily Pabian at Dixie Canner Company in Georgia notes how this trend has been popular in Australia for nearly two decades, with US consumers just taking notice. Pabian outlines a couple of advantages to canned wine, mentioning how the beverage is “approachable,” “sustainable” and “portable.”
Images by:
Hans, kulecanbazi, StockSnap
