Every year, groups of experts attempt to forecast food trends. These are important because, in different ways, they determine which food businesses will flourish, but also how consumers perceive certain food products, which can mean their success or failure.
Several specialized publications try to predict the year's food trends based on various market research, as well as analyses of social megatrends that impact the way we eat. One trend that has been transversal across different forecasts is the drive to make food more sustainable by incorporating veganism as a lifestyle, or by seeking more sustainable alternatives to replace certain ingredients in our dishes. The plant-based eating trend will increasingly impact the world of haute cuisine, as well as the search for dishes that can be easily replicated at home and that incorporate novel ways of consuming vegan food.
When analyzing different trend forecasts, we can highlight that while some are strictly based on trends impacting haute cuisine or the gastronomic world, others focus more on consumer food goods or the way consumers will purchase food, and some concentrate solely on ingredients or dishes that might become fashionable this year. In reality, a trend is the result of different movements and social ideologies that are not recent, but have been developing and manifesting in the way we eat for years. Thus, one of the most repeated trends is people’s desire to consume packaged foods that are not ultra-processed, meaning that the ingredient content of a food is as simple as possible for consumer comprehension and perception of safety. This is partly due to the growing consumer concern regarding the relationship between what they eat and their health.
Another recurring social megatrend is the impact of mushroom consumption as meat substitutes, but also as foods that provide extra benefits, for example, for neurological health. Although experimentation and research with mushrooms dates back several decades, their emergence, first as dietary supplements and now as culinary ingredients found in various dishes, also responds to properties attributed to them in recent studies.
The use of "exotic" ingredients always occupies a place on the lists, and this year, many Asian-origin ingredients are expected to make a significant entry into the market. What was called "fusion cuisine" in the 90s—essentially the combination of recipes, ingredients, and techniques from different origins—will find various niches to attract attention. However, all these movements are the result of the growing phenomenon whereby today, we can have foods from all over the world available at our table, partly due to the globalization of markets, but also due to the movement of people, ingredients, and knowledge that now occurs massively, thanks to the immediacy of information and access to ways of eating that were previously unavailable. As every year, the prediction of food trends offers an interesting perspective, not so much for what will be eaten, but for the analysis of the processes behind them.
— This article was originally published in Spanish by Liliana Martínez Lomelí. Translation generated with AI from the original text.
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