15 Food Trends that will Guide 2020
More plants, please!
When it comes to this year’s food trends, we, as consumers, are truly driving a more focused game. With high rates of obesity and chronic health conditions in the United States (such as heart disease, cancer, autoimmune disease, and diabetes), awareness of and interest in dietary choices to decrease the risk of life-threatening diseases is rising sharply.
Health and wellness is the over-arching theme of this year’s trends with plant-based eating leading the charge. While these are not new, they are gaining a great deal of steam across many age levels and demographics. The plant-based eating movement encompasses a wide spectrum of applications – from adopting a completely plant-based approach to simply adding more plants to our plates while lessening meat consumption.
There is also a strong interest in learning to cook better meals at home, having access to healthy prepared entrees and snacks for convenience, along with the desire for healthy, creative, flavorful restaurant menu items. Sustainability continues to be at the forefront of many of our minds and is oftentimes reflected in our purchasing choices.
The bottom line is that we want palate-pleasing options that are created from high-quality, whole, or minimally-processed ingredients free of undesirable additives. Many food businesses, specialty food producers, and restaurant owners are working hard to meet these preferences and needs. Here’s a glimpse of specific food trends that are driving what we’ll find in our local markets, restaurants, and home kitchens in this new year.
15 Food Trends that will Guide 2020
- More plant-based dishes, less meat-centric
- Plant-based proteins other than soy
- Pre- and Probiotics
- Fermented foods
- Low or non-alcoholic beverages
- Low or no added sugar
- Use of and more products made from “Superfoods”
- Better quality bread using sourdough (fermented), heritage, and heirloom grains
- Use of alternative flours – nut, seed, non-grain varieties
- Ready-made snacks that are real food, less processed
- Nut butter and spreads
- Ethnic cuisines, especially West African and Latin American
- Providing children more “adult” menu options; phasing out the “Children’s Menu”
- Stronger emphasis on sourcing and using Sustainable Seafood
- Regenerative agriculture practices
Love + Craft Kitchen has a history of incorporating many of these concepts into the work it does, and I truly look forward to sharing further information with you each month in this newsletter in 2020. Here’s to a happy, healthy, and delicious new year!
References:
- Whole Foods Markets
- Today’s Dietitians
- The Specialty Food Association
- National Restaurant Association
- American Chef Association
- Food & Wine Magazine
- The Food Network
© 2019 Love + Craft Kitchen, LLC, All Rights Reserved
Photo: iStock/ Sveta Zarzamora
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