Everyone is looking forward to an exciting year ahead, especially in the restaurant industry. Technology continues to move forward at breakneck speed, which means more challenges and more opportunities for businesses to set themselves apart.
This year we’ve seen delivery take the main stage as consumers increasingly want to eat at home, thanks in part to Netflix and other on-demand services. Large fast food chains have been refining their operations, eager to please customers with better quality and healthier ingredients, better service and good value. As the competition increases, chains have had to find their USP and ensure their service is always of the highest quality.
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For some food trends to look forward to in 2018, keep reading to learn more from finedininglovers.com:
1. Floral Flavors
The giant (Whole Foods) believe that more and more home cooks and companies will begin to add flowers into dishes to add actual flavor rather than as decorative notes. They’re predicting things like Lavender Lattes, Teas with Hibiscus, Elderflower everything and they say we should be watching out for “rose flavored everything.” The company also points to some interesting food mashups such as marshmallow and violet.
2. Super Powders
This has already started happening, think matcha, maca root, cacao, turmeric powder, spirulina, kale, herbs and other roots. The company is predicting powders galore for 2018 as consumers look to kick up their creations with simple powders to enhance their health attributes and flavors.
3. Functional Mushrooms
Another trend being pushed by health conscious consumers is that of mushrooms making their way into all sorts of products. Drinks like coffee, tea, smoothies are being packed with mushrooms like reishi and chaga.
4. Feast from the Middle East
They say consumers are looking to go beyond hummus, pits and falafel – instead they want to start to discover more regional dishes from the Middle East. This is leading them to predict a rise in a number of ingredients: harissa, za’atar, parsley, tahini and dried fruits are just a few. They also predict a focus on Persian, Israeli, Moroccan, Syrian and Lebanese cuisine.
5. Transparency 2.0
A demand for more information on the packaging, more transparent labeling will be pushed by supermarkets to meet consumer demand for more info on GMO, Fair Trade, Ingredients and Traceability.
6. High-Tech Goes Plant-Forward
As impossible foods create burgers so delicious they can please even the most discerning meat eaters, Whole Foods in predicting more plant and protein based products created thanks to high-tech innovations. More dairy free products that taste as good as dairy alternative, new plant based yogurts and more varieties of nut milks.
7. Puffed & Popped Snacks
Citing new developments in food technology, the company say that there’s some clever new extrusion methods (ways of combing ingredients). This means all sorts of new popped goods: expect more vegetable crisps, puffed pasta, puffed seaweeds and flavored puffed rice.
8. Tacos Come Out of Their Shell
The company say the taco is changing, they’re speaking about more and more people choosing to use the taco for more than savory dishes, so expect taco desserts. They’re also speaking about the evolution of the tortilla as more and more people look to buy varieties made with heirloom corns. They also say we should expect more leafy greens, lettuces and seaweeds to start housing our tacos in 2018.
9. Root-to-Stem
Root-to-stem has been alive and well for a long time within the high-end restaurant industry, but Whole Foods is predicting this to start having an impact further down the food chain. Food waste was one of the most hotly debated topics of 2017 and you can expect food producers to jump on this growing trend. Expect pickled watermelon runs, pesto made from vegetable stems and a whole host of new products that make ingenue uses for food waste.
10. Say Cheers to the Other Bubbly
Sparkling coffees, sparkling sap based water drinks, sparkling everything. The company says they’re expecting fizz to find its way into a whole range of new products.
