With numerous trends coming up in various sectors, the food and beverage sector is not lagging behind. The top food trends for 2017 are identified by companies like Technomic Inc., NPD Group, Mintel, and Baum + Whiteman. They collect data from hundreds of restaurants to predict what could be the next trendy foods in 2017.
Keep reading to find out what the food and diet trends for 2017 are.
Generation Food Service and Home Delivery
Among all the age groups, the Millennials (born in the early 1980s) currently contribute the most to restaurant traffic. According to NPD Group, Gen Z (people born between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s), are just starting to enter the work force and their spending power is emerging. Aaron Jourden, Managing Editor and Analyst of Technomic Inc. said, “It’s a generation that foodservice companies will begin to pay a lot more attention to.”
NDP Group also believes that online food delivery services and take-out is booming. Restaurants providing these services can see a tremendous growth in their business. Also, meals plans offered by Chef’d, Blue Apron, and Chefs Plate are expected to grow.
Coffee Trends for 2017
Coffee connoisseurs have more reason to cheer this year. In addition to the familiar hot beverages like espressos, lattes, and cappuccinos, the latest coffee trend is cold brew coffee. The cold-pressed coffee made from cold-filtered water and coarse-grind coffee, is soaked in water for 12 hours or more, and diluted with water or milk. It is served hot, over ice, or blended with ice and other ingredients such as chocolate. It is already a part of the menu at a number of restaurants.
The another trend will be blending the coffee with a variety of ingredients like avocado, lemon, and jellies. Settlement Co.’s co-owner and President, Rob Theodosiou, says that in the summer, the chai coffee is the most-preferred drink. Another coffeehouse, Monigram, seasons their coffee in wine barrels before roasting.
Top Food Trends for 2017
The upcoming ethnic food trends for 2017 are Korean and Filipino foods. They have bold flavors combined with spicy and sour sauces, which people love. Also as people become more health conscious, vegetarian and vegan foods will be preferred to a larger extent, but won’t be limited to soups and salads.
A number of junk foods like burgers, pizzas, and burritos will get a vegetable focus and can be consumed guilt-free. Food searches with the word “veggies” has increased by 336% last year, while words such as “lasagna” decreased by 69%, “macaroni” by 55%, and “Stroganoff” by 50%, according to Pinterest.
Dave Meli of The Healthy Butcher in Toronto and Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, believes that beef soup will be a growing trend in the upcoming years. He said, “If beef is going to make a major stand in restaurants, I would see it in the soup end of things.” The health-conscious crowd will opt for soups, stocks, and broths in the next few years.
Breakfast Trends for 2017
The first meal of the day will see a change in the texture of breakfast. Soft foods like scrambled eggs, buttered grits, or oatmeal will be swapped with crunchier food items like fried chicken, crispy chorizo, and chimichurri. Smaller businesses can capitalize on this trend as they are great for hangovers.
Interesting Alternatives to Kale
A number of interesting alternatives like beet greens, chard, turnip greens, mustard greens, and carrot tops may drive kale out of the salad list. We can count on these veggies to give a creative twist to meals and also to reduce food waste. For example, to add more umami flavor to different broths, there is a large variety of seaweed available.
Serving Trends for 2017
Restaurants will adopt a new and compact serving technique. Although eating from bowls is already popular, it will take over as restaurants migrate from serving handheld food items to placing them in bowls. In addition to being convenient for a take-out meal, eating from these bowls ensures you spill less while eating at the office and will psychologically make you feel full faster, savoring the flavor with each mouthful.
Artisan Butcher Shops
With more people becoming health-conscious and eating vegetarian food, artisan butcher shops will make a comeback for meat lovers by becoming shops-plus-restaurants. Customers can prepare various delicacies like grilled steak and fish quickly at home or enjoy them at the shop.
