Photo by Franzi Meyer on Unsplash As our readers know, The Food Channel spends a lot of time tracking food trends throughout the year. If you missed it, be sure and see our Top Ten Food Trends for 2024. So, what’s happened since we did that report? …
Photo by Franzi Meyer on Unsplash
As our readers know, The Food Channel spends a lot of time tracking food trends throughout the year. If you missed it, be sure and see our Top Ten Food Trends for 2024. So, what’s happened since we did that report?
TikTok continues to be a prime food influencer, introducing new recipes and recipe hacks to a new generation that doesn’t always use traditional cooking methods. What we’re noticing, though, is that Gen Z is surprising us with its interest in heritage recipes. The game changer, though, is that their grandparents are at the most from the 1950s, so heritage is taking on a new meaning.
After years of bread being a dirty word, new recipes for homemade bread and sourdough starter are showing up. There are new bakeries and new online bread and pastry companies that are killing it in the digital space. Apparently the keto world and the gluten-free world and the “give me all the carbs” world have found ways to live in harmony.
Global flavors are having an island moment, with a lot of attention given to Caribbean and other flavors that naturally incorporate a lot of antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. More and more recipes call for turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon. We see more beans, peppers, and coconut. Fish is almost an indoctrination—lots of fish and seafood recipes are trending, so that even if we aren’t making them at home, we’re more likely to order them when dining out.
The term “Girl Dinner” isn’t what you think—it’s not like a girl’s night out, or a girl’s weekend. It’s meant as a way to describe the snacking style that makes dinner prep easy and yet elevated—so, think a charcuterie board with your favorite things. While people of all genders may be asking for meat and potatoes, a girl dinner is more experimental tidbits and exciting flavors. This is what we meant when we talked about “everything charcuterie” in our earlier story. You can do a butter board, a cheese board, a small bites board…and you can eat it alone or with a group. Yes, you can even send yourself flowers.
Fancy has its place, but people still make peanut butter sandwiches and consider it a meal. We’re seeing upscale and unusual ingredients being talked about (including sea urchin, which we consider an acquired taste), but when push comes to shove, people are still taking home fried chicken and ordering pizza. After all, dragonfruit makes something look really special, but the taste isn’t always what people expect. We think some of this will shake out and that there is room for ALL the flavors and textures–they just need to settle into position outside of find dining.
These are just a few of the things we see moving around when it comes to food. The open discussions and sharing are the healthiest we’ve seen in a while, without rancor or one-upmanship. Let us know if you see something we should be tracking!
Ligonberry pancake from Egg N’ Joe in Scottsdale, AZ. Ligonberries are not just for Europeans or Scandinavians anymore. The uniquely tart fruit is gaining attention for its antioxidant properties as well as its flavor. It’s time for our usual Food …
Ligonberry pancake from Egg N’ Joe in Scottsdale, AZ. Ligonberries are not just for Europeans or Scandinavians anymore. The uniquely tart fruit is gaining attention for its antioxidant properties as well as its flavor.
It’s time for our usual Food Trends report…but, of course, there is nothing usual about how we look at food.
The Food Channel keeps an eye on trends throughout the year, using a mix of data analysis, industry knowledge, analysis of consumer behavior, scientific advances, and global travel experience. We watch with the best as consumers order, prepare, eat and share their personal food tidbits.
If you’ve followed our reports, you know that we work hard to define the behavior that comes out of an observation. It’s not so much the food or the flavor as it is what is driving people to talk about it, buy it, interact with it. With all that said, here’s a look at what we see ahead.
Spice variety is the…well, spice of life. Photo by Paul K. Logsdon.
1. Fresh Spices. 2024 is the year you’ll clean out your spice rack. The past decade has brought us a plethora of new spices—flavors and combinations that were never really accessible before. Black Truffle Parmesan Seasoning. Ceylon Cacao Chili Powder. Umami spice, and the flavor of the year from McCormick, Tamarind & Pasilla Chile Naturally Flavored Seasoning. Then there are the staples that 25 years ago weren’t common in most American kitchens, like cumin and cardamom. And if we start talking about salts, we may never end!
Part of this trend is the movement toward using spices such as cinnamon for their potential health benefits. The rest of it is simply a way to move flavor forward. So, make room for some new staples, and—while you are at it—clean out expired spices. While many hold their flavor, if they no longer smell like they should, are cakey, or they aren’t properly sealed, toss them and treat yourself to new ones.
Along with this will come new understanding about how to season food properly—watch for some self-help videos talking specifically about this. People are asking for it.
2. Heritage Recipes. Old Recipes are making a comeback. It’s funny how those secret family recipes have a way of popping up every decade or so. We’re seeing SO much on social media where people are sharing recipes from old cookbooks, or letting loose of their grandmother’s secret sauce recipe. TikTok has contributed to this trend, perhaps because old recipes offer an unending source of new content. No matter the cause, this is bringing some good recipes back to the forefront, particularly as home cooks add their own flair as they update the ingredient list and simplify the instructions.
Lemon and Berry Tarts from Mirabella’s Table in Rogers, AR. Photo by Paul K. Logsdon.
3. How and When We Eat. There is a burgeoning afternoon evolution of coffee shop-like opportunities for remote workers. We’re seeing life extend beyond the coffee shop into charcuterie and cheese shops, and small plates that don’t require a happy hour to go along with them. Undoubtedly, this is a natural move as we incorporate the lessons of the Covid pandemic into the new realities of worklife. Buffets went out during the Covid pandemic, but are back in a smaller scale. One of the latest adaptations is the “carousel” approach, with a mix of made-to-order items and table service. Mirabella’s Table in Arkansas, where Walmart’s headquarters mean new ideas hit the area quickly, used this approach for its Christmas Eve menu. A fresh omelet station was set up where you could order what you wanted; same with a prime rib station where you could select an end cut or rarer slice. Meanwhile, offerings included baramundi, salmon, shrimp scampi, lemon ricotta pancakes, bobka French toast, seasonal tarts (pictured above) and a whole lot more. All the fun of a buffet with shareable portions brought to the table in all-you-can-eat style.
Coffee Lemonade from Freckleberry Teahouse in Galveston, Texas.
4. Playing With Our Coffee. Speaking of coffee shops, it seems something new with coffee comes up every year. Cold brew, pour over, you name it. This year it’s the addition of lemonade. Coffee Lemonade is now a thing, perhaps because citrus is being lauded for its own health benefits—but maybe just because it’s a flavor combo that seems a bit out there. Try it, though, particularly with an iced version like our Starbucks-inspired recipe, here. And, while we’re on the subject of lemonade-style beverages, we’ve become a fan of Freckleberry Teahouse in Galveston, Tx. They offer a Butterfly Pea Tea that is smooth going down, and presumably loaded with the antioxidant benefits of the peaberry. It’s also fun and insta-worthy, since the tea changes color when mixed with lemon. Oh, and First Watch has a seasonal drink called a Purple Haze, with lemon, sugar, butterfly pea flower tea and lavender. Thankfully, having a little fun with your food is always on trend.
If you want to know a little more about the peaberry, we found a good primer, here:
And, if you want to try making Coffee Lemonade at home, check out this Starbuck’s recipe.
5. Passive Kitchens. It’s back to the 70s with a new concentration on energy efficiency—but now it’s under the term “passive houses,” and it’s hitting the kitchen big time. New designer kitchens are all about natural light, sustainable materials, and lower utility costs. Kitchens are being re-engineered and, while most of us won’t be remodeling any time soon, homes of the future won’t just have utilitarian kitchens. They will be spaces where creativity reigns in both design and home chef-friendly functionality.
Photo by Paul K. Logsdon.
6. AI-Generated Cooking Prompts. We’re not saying that AI can replace recipe development. We’re certainly not saying that AI can take over your kitchen. At least not yet. But AI can write a recipe. We don’t know who ends up owning the copyright, or how many permutations may eventually be created…and, as far as we know, no one is out there testing the recipes. But, ask ChatGPT, as we did, to put together a few ingredients and see what you get. For years, culinary artists have asked for a way to easily review the ingredients in their pantry and come up with something to eat. Here you are, in 2024.
We gave a simple command: Write a recipe using chocolate chips and cinnamon. We can’t say it’s not similar to a hundred muffin recipes in our cookbook archives, but it was quick research and a doable recipe. See the recipe, here.
7. The Electronic Experience. The trends so far are leaning heavily toward home cooking again this year—another outcome of Covid. However, restaurants are recovering from the onslaught of having to recreate themselves for delivery and outdoor dining, and are once again paying attention to their back-end technology. They’ve discovered that the newest part of an exemplary dining experience is one that includes seamless payment and the use of the latest apps. The problem is that there are a bunch of possibilities now—Square, Toast, MyCheck, to name just a few. While Square seems to have a good share of the mom and pop market, we expect to see more of this sorted out as consumers demand a good experience from start to finish.
One additional note on this: We’re seeing a lot of frustration over customer service, so along with an evolution in electronics, we see a revolution in employee training gearing up.
8. Retirement Food. The latest wave of Baby Boomer retirements is doing what pundits have predicted for years: made senior facilities wake up to what people really want. Institutional food is being replaced by chef-created menus and on-site restaurants. These retirees are not into traditional dayparts, either. They like elevenses, high tea, extended coffeebreaks, workout menus, and—dare we say it—flavor and texture that is hard to achieve when you are serving hundreds at a time. Boomers are still a sizeable and influential category, even if it appears GenX is creating all the newest trends. It’s still Boomers who have expendable cash to travel and try new things. So, seniors and food is a category worth watching.
9. Appliance Cooking. We’re always asked about a piece of equipment when we do our trends report, so here’s one for 2024: the rice cooker. Those who want them have air fryers, but rice cookers offer a small appliance that doesn’t have to sit on the countertop. Recipe books such as “I Love My Rice Cooker” are popularizing some unexpected uses of the appliance and bringing new interest to meals. Hint: We recommend the Root Beer Beef Shortribs recipe.
10. The Olympics of Food. The 2024 Summer Olympics are in Paris starting in July, which brings a whole new level of culinary interest to the world. Combine this with the renewed interest in European travel and you have something worth paying attention to. While the focus will be on sports, we expect new interest in crepes, croissants, and escargot.
Reconstructed tacos with the cheese on the outside, from MartAnne’s in Flagstaff, Az.
BONUS
In addition, here are some individual food items we’re watching for 2024:
Pizza bowls will continue to innovate, as people avoid carbs but want the rest. Forget scraping and eating the top—new bowls are on the horizon. So quit arguing about the type of crust and focus on the flavor and other ingredients.
Breakfast soups are now a thing. It’s a way to extend the dayparts, and even the seasons, since cold soups are becoming more and more popular as well.
We did deconstructed food. Now people are doing reconstructed food: putting the cheese on the outside of the taco, for example, as pictured above.
Mushrooms are popping up as a flavor enhancer as well as a standalone meal.
Savory baking is growing. This is a trend that was pretty much confined to high end bakeries until lately, as home cooks are more willing to experiment with timesaving shortcuts, such as refrigerated dough or frozen puff pastry. And, since a little sweet goes a long way, pastries and popovers are showing up with all the elements of a quiche. A few years ago we predicted hand pies would become more universal, and we were right—this just moves them from a hand-held lunch into a standard breakfast item.
I’ll never watch a sports highlight the same again.
We all know what a proper sports highlight looks like.
It’s a bunch of spectacular plays chopped up into one reel that’s probably about a minute long. It’ll likely have some instrumental in the background that might be faster or slower depending on the player and what they’re doing in the highlight.
We’ve seen this formula for years. It works. It keeps us coming back over and over again.
But, today, you’re about to learn that we’ve been watching highlights incorrectly for our entire lives. Prepare to have your world rocked.
It all started with a tweet from Secret Base’s Kofie Yeboah. He made a simple joke about how TikTok was the best because you could be minding your business and then stumble upon a Ben Wallace highlight reel set to some MF Doom.
What that one simple tweet unlocked will change your world.
Insight companies (which The Food Channel has partnered with since its inception), base their trend reporting on data: surveys, analysis of consumer behavior, scientific advances, and the numbers behind the behavior. Food manufacturers and others …
Insight companies (which The Food Channel has partnered with since its inception), base their trend reporting on data: surveys, analysis of consumer behavior, scientific advances, and the numbers behind the behavior. Food manufacturers and others pay big money to access those reports.
Two things, however, have made trend reporting muddy. First, the internet. Sure, online polling and observation offered new ways of watching the trends. It also put new voices on the scene, some trained and some not-so-trained. Second, the COVID crisis, when all bets were off and consumers went into survival mode, where trends just didn’t seem to matter as much.
Now, companies are tentatively finding their way back. With that in mind, we are publishing a mid-year trend piece just to get the juices flowing again. Here are five of our Top Food Trends for Mid-2023:
1) Food & Travel Changes. Yelp and TripAdvisor have gotten cluttered, and TikTok has added to the mix to the point that many no longer know where to turn for reliable information. What’s sponsored and what is truly a consumer experience? Do you use Expedia, Travelocity, Hotel Tonight, reward apps direct to the hotel…and when are they all the same thing/owned by the same parent? As more Boomers enter retirement and have time to travel, how do they figure it all out?
Many are falling back on traditional travel agents, even though they are often hidden behind a .com name. Companies such as cruisetraveloutlet.com, and others, are offering bundled options and all-inclusives that recognize that some people travel specifically for the food experiences. Culinary tours continue to spring up, and we expect to see more. Travel has changed, and food travel has become its own niche opportunity.
(To begin your research on culinary tours check out sites such as these: https://www.exploreworldwide.com/experiences/
https://www.culturediscovery.com
https://www.zicasso.com/italy/food-tours-vacations
https://www.foodnwinevacations.com/culinary-tours-italy)
2) The Conversation Around Tipping. We first called this out in a column in 2015, then in our Trends Report in 2016. We’d been following a conversation started by noted restaurant entrepreneur Danny Meyer, among others, and saw early hints that there would be a call for change. Now, with tip jars on counters and machines that ask for your tip before they move forward, well, consumers are starting their own conversation. We’re hearing words like “enough,” and “I draw the line.” At the same time, consumers recognize that workers often rely on tips, and want to help. When will the conversation move into action, and what will be the final impetus for change?
3) Customer Service. Granted, this has been iffy for years, and the fallout from recent events has made it worse simply because companies are short-staffed and don’t always have time for advance training. Restaurants are focusing on the need to create a place where people want to come. Consumers want to be around people who appreciate their patronage. This is the opportunity area: Nurturing staff members who are excited to help customers find what they may not even know they want. Less shrugging of shoulders and more extensions of consideration. It requires knowledge, training, but most off all attitude.
This is crucial as restaurant service is recognized as a long-term career, not an interim or high school job. That means the incentives have to be better, and the industry has to work harder at this.
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4) Charcuterie anything. For a while it was food flights, where bars and restauranteurs offered tastings. They can be fun, actually—pancake flights, beer flights, cheese flights, dessert flights, and more. The next step seems to be putting them all together on one big board…or into something innovative (snackle box, anyone?). Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence has reportedly even called out “tin fish boards” as the new charcuterie—using cans of caviar and other tinned fish.
People are playing with size, too, making mini-boards for personal feasting and table-length boards with multiple options beyond the traditional meat and cheese. TikTok Influencer and “private chef in the Hamptons” Cooking Classy (also known as Meredith Hayden of Wishbone Kitchen) has been known to comment that “cheese chunks and crackers are not charcuterie,” and she’s not wrong. After all, the origins of charcuterie are about charred meat, paired with cheeses and any number of sweet and savory items for flavor and texture. That includes pickles and olives, various spreads and preserves, mustards, honey, fresh fruit, and more.
Presentation is part of making food fun, and it’s a great way to make food both entertaining and safely sharable. So, bring on the Charcuterie Brunch and the Charcuterie Chocolate boards.
5) Pickles. We always try to offer at least one specific food item that answers the question, “What’s the on-trend food item?” When the Chick-fil-A app allows you to remove its famous pickles from a chicken sandwich, it makes you wonder how popular that option would be, because pickles are in the limelight right now. It goes along with our previous trends that identified an interest in brining, although the latest interest extends to the pickle juice itself—cooking with it, reusing it, even drinking it. And it’s not just cucumbers. Sandwiches have pickled onions, as do tacos. Pickles and all-things-pickled are turning up as something more than a condiment right now, and are worth watching.
That’s our top five for a mid-year checkpoint of food trends. We’re also watching as more and more restaurants begin charging an additional percentage to use a credit card. We’re watching AI and the pros and cons and how they will affect the industry. We keep an eye on the kinds of grocery stores where people collect their merchandise and even shop and ship for others (yes, Trader Joes, but it’s catching on). Food prices and availability are still discussion topics, and lots more.
In the past we’ve brought you mushrooms/mushroom coffee, plant-based, seafood, nostalgia foods, mocktails, food as medicine, THC, Ube, African food, fermented, hatch chilis, and more—all before they were regularly talked about. For fun, go back and look at a few from the past. After all, knowing what has come before is often the first step to understanding what’s next.
It’s summertime, and the thoughts of food industry professionals turn to the Fancy Food Show. It’s the largest specialty food industry event in the U.S., and is a great place to see what’s new in flavor, design, and product innovation. If you plan …
It’s summertime, and the thoughts of food industry professionals turn to the Fancy Food Show. It’s the largest specialty food industry event in the U.S., and is a great place to see what’s new in flavor, design, and product innovation.
If you plan to go, it’s at the Javits Center in NYC starting June 25 and running through June 27. Here are just a few features:
1) 2,200 domestic and international exhibitors, including 700+ with NEW products
2) Pavilions dedicated to hot product categories including plant-based; snacks and sweets; deli; and beverage
3) International Pavilions from 31 countries and regions
The Food Channel has covered the Fancy Food Show many years, and here is one of our favorite stories that gives you a little history, too. We especially enjoyed the year we served on one of the judging panels, too. See if these trends have held up!
A new trend is starting to emerge in New Orleans Saints mock drafts. Multiple projections have them trading up in the first round targeting pass rushers:
A new trend is starting to emerge in the latest series of New Orleans Saints mock drafts. The 2023 NFL draft is within sight, and it makes sense that some things will begin to crystalize as teams finalize their plans — and information is more readily available than ever with coaches, scouts, and personnel executives traveling the country on the pro day circuit. Free agency is beginning to wind down, which helps identify remaining team needs.
Multiple projections have the Saints trading up in the first round targeting pass rushers. New Orleans lost its former first-round defensive end Marcus Davenport (ironically acquired in a similar first-round trade back in 2018) to the Minnesota Vikings in free agency, and though they added help at defensive tackle in Nathan Shepherd and Khalen Saunders neither player adequately replaces what was lost in David Onyemata, who went to the division-rival Atlanta Falcons.
Maybe the writers putting these mock drafts together are simply connecting dots between an aggressive team that needs pass-rush help and a rookie class with some big names who might be just out of reach. Maybe rumors are going around suggesting a trade is in the works. It’s too soon to say right now, but here’s a quick look at each of these projections:
The NFL has assigned veteran referee Jerome Boger to work Week 17’s Saints-Eagles game. New Orleans is 12-9 for games with Boger on the field:
Here we go. The NFL has assigned veteran referee Jerome Boger to work Week 17’s game between the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles. Boger is one of the most-experienced on-field officials you’ll find these days, having been promoted to referee way back in 2006 after working a few years as a line judge in the NFL. New Orleans has a 12-9 record in games with Boger on the mic; they most recently worked with him in their prime-time loss to the Arizona Cardinals, in which the Saints were outscored 42-34
The black and gold were hamstrung by a pair of first-half Andy Dalton interceptions returned for touchdowns by the Cardinals defense in that one. But New Orleans was also fouled 8 times for 49 yards, whereas Arizona drew 4 penalties for 20 yards — the Cardinals were given as many first downs by penalty (3) as they converted on third downs (where they went 3-for-10) in the evening. Hopefully the Saints can do a better job of staying out of their own way this time.
Boger’s crew has thrown more penalty flags for offensive holding and false starts (27 each) than any other foul, with defensive holding infractions (17) in a distant third-place. While they rank among the least flag-happy crews around the league (averaging just 11.2 penalties per game, tied for fifth-fewest), they do lead the NFL’s officials in defensive holding fouls per game (1.21), so the Saints secondary needs to mind their hands.
If you’re curious, New Orleans has drawn more fouls for false starts (24) and defensive holding (14) than any other team in the league going into Week 17. They are tied for the third-fewest offensive holding fouls (11), so that shouldn’t be as big of an issue. Hopefully.
On the other hand, Philadelphia stands right in the middle of the pack for offensive holding (17 penalties, tied for fifteenth), false starts (16, tied for fourteenth), and defensive holding (6, tied for seventeenth). So this should be more of a typical day in the office for the Eagles, whereas the Saints need to watch out for themselves. Boger’s crew doesn’t throw many penalty flags, but the fouls they do look out for are some that New Orleans has struggled to clean up all season.
We’ve posted a few articles this week on the latest weird, wacky and wild flavors out there in the world of ice cream. Time for a reality check. Who knew Butter Pecan gets so much love?
Dessert trends may come and go, but ice cream remains a perennial favorite. The question is: Which flavor is most popular?
We looked at data from Lexham Insurance — they cover ice cream vans — for the 2022 results. They looked at search volume around the world in 121 countries.
Below you will see what the results were back in 2008 when this article was first published. Note: Mint chocolate chip and cookie dough ice cream didn’t even crack the top 10 back then (nor did banana, toffee, or carmel). Vanilla and chocolate are in the top two spots, but vanilla took first place back then. In 2022, strawberry and cookies-and-cream ice cream were absent from the top 10.
Favorite Ice Cream Flavors Back in 2008
1. Vanilla, 29%
2. Chocolate, 8.9%
3. Butter pecan, 5.3%
4. Strawberry, 5.3%
5. Neapolitan, 4.2%
6. Chocolate chip, 3.9%
7. French vanilla, 3.8%
8. Cookies and cream, 3.6%
9. Vanilla fudge ripple, 2.6%
10. Praline pecan, 1.7%
Source: International Ice Cream Association, 888 16th St., Washington, D.C.
More Popular Ice Cream Flavors (based on sales)
Back in 2008, the NPD Group’s National Eating Trends Services published its own Top 5 List, based on share of sales in the USA. Here’s how their cone stacks up; note that Chocolate Chip Mint makes it to the top 5 whereas it was omitted by the International Ice Cream Association data.
1. Vanilla, 30%
2. Chocolate, 10%
3. Butter Pecan, 4%
4. Strawberry, 3.7%
5. Chocolate Chip Mint, 3.2%
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2008 and updated on June 9, 2022.
Analysis: Saints’ dual-threat identity emerges on offense in Week 14 win vs. Jets, via @Maddy_Hudak94
The New Orleans Saints showed they have no plans to step down as playoff contenders in Sunday’s 30-9 win over the New York Jets. The win won’t receive any style points, nor will it placate the anxieties of fans in acknowledgement of the opponent. Neither of those facts change that the team decisively ended a five-game losing streak and got swiftly back on track towards the offensive identity they’d been foraging under Winston.
What’s important is found reading between the lines of Sunday’s game plan. Continued injuries to the offensive line? Throw an extra lineman out there for run blocking. Inability to generate a passing game? Lean on Alvin Kamara early and often. No identity on offense? Look again. As much as the idea of Taysom Hill under center for the remainder of the season elicits a chorus of groans, his return to the lineup is perhaps most significant past Kamara. Passing prowess aside. Some key trends surfaced that haven’t had footing in weeks. Here’s what mattered in the team’s Week 14 win:
The New Orleans Saints entered uncharted waters in Sunday’s 40-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Playoff hopes, for the first time in years, officially feel more uncertain than not. Three straight losses are one thing. This was an implosion. While injuries excuse a lot, New Orleans’ downward spiral to 5-5 has taken on an identity of its own.
In their scrappy win in Seattle, it was apparent the season-long loss of Michael Thomas had implications past personnel groupings; a psychological element afflicting the receivers was hard to ignore. What no one foresaw was the impending loss of Jameis Winston – nor how quickly the house of cards would fall thereafter. Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia felt abnormally demoralizing for the number of games remaining.
Should we have seen this coming? In a span of three weeks, winning ugly in chaos took an abrupt turn. Factors lauded early in the season such as winning the turnover battle, controlling the clock, converting third downs with mobility, and error-free football suddenly became liabilities. Those risks saw consequences in all three phases of the game. All of which to a loss of any identity on the team at all:
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