Tag: Food

Top Ten Food Trends for 2025…as predicted by The Food Channel

The lemonade flight from The Original Lemonade House Grille in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. We’ve been keeping our eye on the food industry for decades, so why stop now? There’s a lot of attention turning to food manufacturers and the behind-the-scenes …

The lemonade flight from The Original Lemonade House Grille in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

We’ve been keeping our eye on the food industry for decades, so why stop now?

There’s a lot of attention turning to food manufacturers and the behind-the-scenes of food. There’s also interest in food as a travel incentive, particularly as the number of retiree’s grows, and—according to a Forrester report, travel is reportedly back to pre-pandemic levels.

In addition, while we’ve called out recalls before, the instances appear to be growing.

So, let’s explore what we see ahead. Here are the first five; the remainder will follow shortly.

  1. Recalls Upon Recalls. Is it just us, or are the recalls coming faster these days? You can check it out at the United States Food & Drug Administration’s site. Hamburger meat, carrots, and eggs have been a few of the products singled out recently. Some of this is a matter of statistics, and there is a thoughtful article on the subject found at Food Safety News. Given the increased reporting (for whatever reason), it’s worth digging into this for 2025 so we understand what’s happening in food safety.
  2. Transparent Ingredients. As the call goes out for healthier ingredients, even those manufacturers who haven’t gotten on the band wagon before will now be ready to innovate. This means several things, including increased openness with the public about ingredients, and possibly a new discourse about how to achieve health goals as a nation. Some of this is a response to the industry awareness of government health policy, of course, but some of this has been evolving over recent years and is coming to a head. To read more, we recommend this impact article from Bakery and Snacks.
  3. Kitchen Warehousing. A few years ago, there was a trend where people offered their garages and extra space as “warehouses” – sort of the Airbnb of storage, you might say. That has transitioned into people filling their own space and calling it “kitchen warehousing.” This new warehousing is in your own home, and it’s not for really for food but for decorating. Picture yourself pulling from your shelves like a tablescape designer. After all, the idea of storage now goes beyond your Rubbermaid or old Tupperware containers, and into shelving and moveable racks. Have a closet that used to be crammed full of unused coats? Donate them and use the space for appliances that aren’t in daily use. Your stand mixer, air fryer, blender, dehydrator, seasonal decorations, all qualify for self-warehousing. After all, simplifying your life comes down to living with the things you love, and clearing out the rest, right?
  4. Beverage Playground. You know mocktails have hit mainstream when a hotel happy hour offers them, like our recent experience at an Embassy Suites in Chicago. But even more interesting is the types of flavor combinations. Wine Enthusiast is calling out tropical flavors, while we’re watching soda companies experiment with seasonal and limited time offerings featuring unique taste combos, like Coke Spiced (we liked it, but they’ve already pulled it in favor of a new idea). The KerryDigest sees sensory pairing with flavor, as do we. And, Mintel says it well when it writes, “…the industry will need to encourage consumers to welcome and trust the new origins, ingredients and flavours that will emerge locally and globally.” So, watch for the unusual and try it before they change it again!

  1. Culinary Travel. You are going to think The Food Channel has a thing about this, because we’ve talked often about the influence of food on travel planning. Sur la Table must agree because they’ve come out with Culinary Journeys and they sound amazing. Right now, they are focusing on France, so if Bordeaux or Normandy are on your list, you might want to check them out. We already knew people booked travel around certain restaurants—look at the demand for Tracy’s King Crab Shack in Juneau, Alaska, or The Pancake Bakery in Amsterdam—but it’s now rising to a new level of commitment to the food and restaurants, not just this historic sites and museums. Hint: if you go on your own, make advance reservations!

That’s the top five, so go here for the remaining five of our Top Ten Food Trends for 2025!

Food trends by The Food Channel are not sponsored and any mention of restaurants, products or companies is meant to provide appropriate credit to them for part of our research. They do not pay for the mention.

 

 

 

 

 

Mariani berries takes a Sun-Maid raisin approach then classes it all waaaaay up

It’s dried fruit. But it’s good enough my family crushed two bags before I got to write a formal review, so…

Welcome back to FTW’s Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage (or food) that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.

I’m not sure when I became a dried fruit guy, but I’m assuming it happened somewhere around the time I got a Costco membership. Suddenly, an array of exotic trail mixes were laid before me. There was more to this world than wrinkled drupes. Bananas, cherries, papayas… CRAISINS??? They were all in play.

Thus, I was pretty excited to receive a sample pack from California’s Mariani Dried Fruit. Not only did this appear to be a cut above the cubed and smushed fiber I’d normally only find next to cashews and yogurt chips, but it came from a family-owned company with origins on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea once whence my own family once emigrated.

But then, a problem. I opened up my sample bag before review and ate, well, a bunch of berries. My daughter finished off the rest. So while I assure you the mixed berries are crushable and satisfying, I was left to craft a review beyond “my family raided two bags worth before I could write about it.”

Fortunately, I had some backup strawberries to review on top of the mix that worked so well. Welp, let’s talk about them.

Sweetened dried strawberries: B

You’re getting full strawberries dried down to about one-third their normal size. It’s a little unsettling to look at. The texture is a problem as well; the dried berries are dense. Not chewy, but just a little bit unappealing upon first bite. Think about how an organic gummy would feel in your mouth; kinda weird, right?

Once you get through that, you get sweet, full-bodied fruit flavor. It’s unmistakable strawberry, coated with just enough sugar to be a hit in any child’s cereal. I don’t think Mariani needs that extra sweetness, but I also understand there’s a whole wide spectrum of strawberry flavor from tart to almost savory, so this helps create a uniform taste across each bag.

I like these strawberries better as smaller chunks of a mix, but they’re fine on their own. Not something I’d seek out, but something I enjoy. While that extra sugar and 140 calories per serving ensure I won’t think of this as a healthy snack, I’m getting some fiber out of the deal. That’s apparently something you worry about when you’re 40.

via Mariani.com

Berries n’ Cherries: A

This was absolutely my jam and my daughter’s as well, apparently. When you’re able to create a moderately healthy snack a 40-year-old and a six-year-old can share, that’s a good sign. My only regret is not having more, so she could open a fresh bag, decide she no longer likes them and never touch them again.

This would not have been a problem for me. Dried cherries and blueberries are the best part of my default Costco trail mix; the snack I buy when I just killed off a family sized bag of Cool Ranch Doritos on my own and want to eat “healthy.” With Mariani’s they’re even better, shriveled into tiny, chewy capsules that burst with flavor and a satisfying texture with each bite.

You’re paying a premium for that quality. As you can see in the screenshot above (because, again, we ate both sample bags before I could take a picture. I am a true professional), you’re looking at more than $1.25 per ounce. Which means by the time I’m done (because there’s no chance in hell I’m stopping at a single ounce of snack food) I’ve eaten what would otherwise be a 12-ounce bag of potato chips worth of food.

That makes it more of a luxury than I’d like, but I can’t say it’s not worth it. While I’d OK with skipping the full strawberries, the Berries n’ Cherries mix is exactly what I wanted it to be. Now I just need to figure out where to buy more so my daughter can get immediately sick of them.

Would I (eat) it instead of a Hamm’s?

This is a pass/fail mechanism where I compare whatever I’m drinking to my baseline cheap beer. That’s the standby from the land of sky-blue waters, Hamm’s. So the question to answer is: on a typical day, would I eat Mariani Berries over a cold can of Hamm’s?

Well, a bit of a berries to beer comparison here, but if you made me the very weird one-or-the-other offer, I’d take you up on the nut-free trail mix. Probably not the strawberries, but those weren’t too bad either.

How to buy the Goldfish crackers renamed as Chilean Sea Bass

Here’s how to get your hands on the limited-edition bags.

Goldfish changed its name because adults have seemingly forgotten their roots — but it’s only temporary.

That’s right. Goldish is now Chilean Sea Bass. The snack, initially made for adults, has morphed into a longtime kids’ option. And the Pepperidge Farm-owned brand just can’t have that be the only thing its cheddar friends are known for. So, it changed its name to appear more sophisticated and to remind adults that they, too, can eat the classic cracker.

And guess what? It worked. The initial batch sold out after Chilean Sea Bass was released online on Wednesday. But don’t worry. You can still get your hands on a bag until October 30. Chilean Sea Bass Crackers are available to buy at ChileanSeaBassCrackers.com.

(Feature image courtesy of Pepperidge Farm)

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Krispy Kreme for 13 cents on Friday the 13th? How to get donuts for cheap on Friday, September 13

Go get some cheap donuts on Friday the 13th!

It’s Friday the 13th in September of 2024, but fear not. You could have very cheap donuts to make you feel less scared.

You can get donuts for just 13 cents from Krispy Kreme. And how do you do that? We have an answer!

First off, it’s a dozen Original Glazed donuts for 13 cents. Second, if you purchase any dozen donuts or 16 Minis at their regular price, you get the 13-cent deal for a dozen. That’s all you have to do.

If you’re doing the order online, use the code “13.” That’s it! Go enjoy some very cheap donuts on Friday the 13th!

Ranking the new Dairy Queen Fall blizzard menu offerings by how much I want to eat them

These Dairy Queen blizzards sound SO GOOD.

Forget about Pumpkin Spice season (I know you won’t).

Dairy Queen revealed its Fall Blizzard menu offerings for 2024, and the six of them sound amazing. But in the service to you, the reader, and to myself (full disclosure, I wrote this on an empty stomach, gonna go eat after this publishes, I swear), I decided to rank them.

What are the parameters? It’s a ranking of how much I would eat these if I was staring at a menu at a local Dairy Queen.

Here they are in order of the worst to first, with the descriptions via DQ’s site:

6. Caramel Java Chip

This one blends “coffee with rich, choco espresso crunch piece, caramel and our world-famous soft serve.” 

I think there are better flavors out there, and I’m not a coffee guy.

5. Royal NY Cheesecake

Soft serve with “rich pieces of real cheesecake and graham, featuring a strawberry topping center.”

Meh. Sounds like a mishmash of flavors.

4. Salted Caramel Truffle

“A blend of world-famous DQ soft serve, salted caramel truffles, butter toffee pieces with rich choco chunks and decadent cocoa fudge.”

Oooo. I might be underrating this one.

3. French Silk Pie

“Rich choco chunks, pie pieces and cocoa fudge blended with delicious DQ soft serve and garnished with whipped topping.”

YUP.

2. Oreo Fudge Brownie

This one has “cookies, chewy brownies and velvety cocoa fudge.”

I am a sucker for all things Oreo. Sorry, not sorry.

1. Reese’s Pieces Cookie Dough

It’s “packed with candy pieces, gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough and peanut butter topping.”

The GOAT. Give me one. Now. For breakfast.

John Elway’s Cherry Creek steakhouse is closing (but there’s good news)

John Elway’s Cherry Creek steakhouse is closing down, but three other locations will remain open and the brand might return to Cherry Creek.

John Elway’s first steakhouse location at Cherry Creek will close at the end of the month, but his three other locations will remain open (and a Cherry Creek location could return in the future).

“After 20 years, John Elway and partner Tim Schmidt are closing the doors to their renowned Cherry Creek Steakhouse on August 31, 2024,” reads a note on the restaurant’s website. “The ongoing Cherry Creek Mall construction project requires our closure.

“Our plan is to continue to work with our development partners to determine a post-construction location. We have been honored to have been your dining choice throughout the years for special events and family celebrations and we hope to see you this month to thank you personally.”

Elway, 64, played quarterback for the Denver Broncos from 1983-1998, helping the team win two Super Bowls. He returned to the club as an executive in 2011 and helped build a roster that won the team’s third Super Bowl.

Elway still has a steakhouse in Vail, plus locations licensed with his name and menu at The Ritz-Carlton (Denver) and at the city’s airport. After construction concludes, a Cherry Creek location might return as well.

The original steakhouse is closing down, though, so any sentimental diners have about three weeks to make a final visit.

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Chiefs WR Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown to partner with Q39

According to a report, Chiefs WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown will partner with Kansas City barbecue joint Q39 to create a new sandwich

Though Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown has only been in Western Missouri for a few months, he has wasted no time getting acquainted with the region’s burgeoning barbecue scene.

According to a report by Aaron Ladd of KSHB 41 in Kansas City, Brown is set to partner with local barbecue restaurant Q39 on a “Hollywood” rib sandwich that will leave mouths watering on both sides of State Line Road.

While Ladd’s announcement didn’t mention when the sandwich would begin being served at Q39,  it was said that it would feature pork ribeye, onions, pickles, and potato straws on a hoagie bun.

Brown is expected to play a major role in the Chiefs’ offense this season and sales of his sandwich could soar if he puts on a show during his first few games at Arrowhead Stadium.

Expect more collaborations between Brown and local businesses as his career in Kansas City progresses.