Check out the December 2021 issue of Prepared Foods, featuring our 2022 food and beverage predictions: ingredient, consumer & product trends impacting tomorrow's R&D!
Welcome to 2022! It’s a good bet this new year will fly by even more quickly than the past one just did. Recently a key retail executive forecasted that their industry will change more in the next five years than it has in the past 50. Another executive believes society will change more in the next 50 years than it has in the last 300.
Experiencing the world's worst supply chain crisis has us envisioning a future where more goods are produced in more places through more varied and geographically distributed systems.
What are some of the trends on the horizon for the foodservice industry in 2022, from the state of the industry and operations to menu optimization and enhancing the guest experience? Here's Technomic's big picture forecast.
Discussing packaging trends is something akin to talking about reincarnation—where something is reborn, reborn and reborn yet again. When it comes to packaging however, each new iteration brings more sophistication and promise.
As consumers continue to recognize the important place of digestive health in immunity and cognitive and emotional health, their appetite for food formulations that offer gastrointestinal benefits grows. As better-for-you food and beverage formulators strive to stay up to date on new ingredients in the pipeline, it’s worth a brief look at a few key ingredients expected to trend in the coming year and beyond.
Perhaps I’m in the minority, but I love surprises—especially when they are of the culinary sort. When Prepared Foods asked me to write about future food trends, it led me to think about all the change our food and beverage industry has endured during the past few years. I also am thinking how we’ve adapted so quickly, and with such extraordinary ingenuity. I started to reflect on what surprised me the most and what sort of change we can expect in the future.
Comfort is Key: Consumers stay with comforting specialty foods, drinks say SFA’s Trendspotter Panel.
December 23, 2021
Heading into the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, specialty comfort foods and beverages is an overriding theme. Here are SFA's 2022 Trendspotter Panel Trend Predictions.
As Datassential put together its 2022 "Trends to Watch" list, we considered both the short-term trends that will impact the year ahead and the long-term trends that will help us prepare for future success.
Nearly two-thirds of US adults agree that the pandemic has made them reevaluate their life priorities, according to Mintel research on American values. In food and drink, US adults say the pandemic caused the most change in where they eat, how they grocery shop and how they approach their diets.
For centuries, cooks have artfully cross-pollinated cultural elements of flavor, and now culinologists are combining Latin and Asian ingredients and cooking techniques to launch innovative and flavorful prepared foods. Today’s retail shelves display a world atlas of culturally inspired experiences that might not be authentic yet answer the consumers’ desires to nourish themselves with fresh new takes on flavorful foods that simply taste good.
COVID-19 has certainly brought an ever changing "new normal" to the food industry but one thing that will be a sure constant in 2022 is that food safety and quality testing will continue to be important for the integrity of the global food chain.
As the experts work toward divining the best strategy for quantifying protein needs across the lifespan, and how to utilize protein to prevent sarcopenia, novel protein sources have been cropping up.
Looking at the position fibers and gums are playing in everyday foods and beverages reveals product developers paying closer attention to these key ingredients for their dual functions as both texturants and nutraceuticals. This has become especially evident where those two functions merge—in plant-based products designed to mimic meat and dairy.
What some thought was temporary adaptation to an unexpected retail store challenge, has proven to be a transformational period for our industry with eCommerce in the forefront.
Pre-pandemic changes in the workforce and an aging population contributed to a home-centric lifestyle
December 17, 2021
Most analyses during the pandemic have focused on discerning its impact on consumer behavior and forecasting how this might change going forward. However, before the pandemic structural changes in the workforce and the aging population already contributed to a home-centric lifestyle, and COVID accelerated it, reports The NPD Group.
In the world of food colorants, the anti-artificial trend governs the space today, with natural colors appearing in about 75% of new food product launches. Consumers still use their eyes to choose foods, but they want the ingredients, including (and sometimes especially) any colors, to be derived from biological sources, such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other botanicals.
There are many GRAS or GRAS-affirmed ingredients poised for use in foods and beverages to improve health and well-being. Some are “new,” some have been gaining traction, and some are surprisingly familiar. Here are half a dozen that merit a closer look.
A comprehensive selection of flours and starches derived from ancient grains and seeds is increasingly being tapped for products that appeal to consumers seeking foods that are gluten-free or non-GMO, or simply have more healthful profiles.
Innova Market Insight's 2021 Global Lifestyle & Attitude Survey reports that 43% of consumers are actively attempting to reduce waste and 32% are taking action to eat in moderation.
Whole Foods Market suggests non-alcoholic spirits, yuzu, prebiotics and botanicals are among the food influences expected to rise in popularity in the next year
October 20, 2021
Each year, a Trends Council of more than 50 Whole Foods Market team members, including local foragers, regional and global buyers, and culinary experts compile trend predictions based on decades of experience and expertise in product sourcing and studying consumer preferences, as well as in-depth workshopping with emerging and existing brands. Here is a list of the council's top 10 trends for 2022...
“Shared Planet” leads Innova Market Insights’ Top Ten Trends for 2022
October 15, 2021
A sense of joint responsibility for our shared planet is guiding the choices consumers make and the lifestyles they wish to lead. Innova’s Global Lifestyle & Attitude Survey reveals that, when it comes to food choices, the top two environmental actions people are taking are reducing waste (43% of respondents) and eating in moderation (32%).