Stay Fresh on the Latest Food Trends

By Beth Erickson, Wedding Planner Magazine editor, La Crosse, Wis.Photos contributedWhat are the flavors, products, and trends on the rise in 2015? Consumers want bolder flavors and more variety on their plates.The editors of Specialty Food News, a publication from the Specialty Food Association (SFA) listed their top trends for 2015. Here are a few of our favorites:Alternative Proteins:
Think plant-based meats and cheeses, like soy, beans, tofu, quinoa—even cricket flour.Bolder Snack Bars:
Snack bars are reimagined with bold, sassy flavors and unique ingredients. The Royal Park Hotel in Rochester, Mich., unveiled a bruschetta bar smash station, featuring trendy avocado, white bean, and thyme puree; eggplant carbonara; and herbed goat cheese with pickled beets served on warm, grilled breads. Pickpocket Dips has unveiled its shelf-stable, on-the-go hummus in single servings that, along with traditional flavors, also comes in unusual flavors like barbeque, sriracha, and brownie. Bacon is coming soon.Tea’s Time: Though coffee is not passé, tea is getting thoughtful consideration with its elegance and new and unusual ingredients. Consider Urbal Tea, a company that, along with its more traditional herbal blends, offers a variety of wellness blends that promise energy, detoxing, an after dinner digestive aid, sleep aid, a brain booster, cold and flu relief, and more. Ingredients are all-natural and include everything from chamomile, hibiscus, and dried fruit bits to the more unusual burdock root, skullcap, hops, and cat nip. For those who prefer a cold or sparkling beverage, Sotéa combines carbonation with the health benefits of green tea sweetened with a combination of stevia and cane sugar. It comes in a variety of flavors, including blackberry breeze, citrus-a-peel, peach passion, and mojito mist.Packaging Revolution:
Sustainable packaging and transparent labeling are gaining in popularity. Boxed water, anyone? Not only is the packaging made with 76 percent of a renewable resource, but the box is recyclable. What’s more, the boxes are brandable and can be shipped flat to the filler for greater efficiency. The company also has a partnership with 1% for the Planet to work on water relief, reforestation, and environmental protection projects.Super Bowls:
Bowls are the go-to dish for convenience food and healthy, fast yet casual dining. Imagine a buffet spread of foods and sauces. Think soba noodles, brown rice, black beans, shredded veggies, edamame, meats. Spreads could range from Asian to Italian, from grain bowls to smoothie bowls.Marketing communications brand J. Walter Thompson unveiled its top big and small trends to watch this year in its JWT Intelligence’s The Future 100. We liked:Ferment Fervor: Known to aid in digestion by boosting healthy bacteria, fermented products include yogurts, sauerkraut, tempeh, pickles, flavored vinegars, etc. Drinking vinegars, often infused with fruit juices, herbs, and spices, also are on the rise and are useful when mixing your own soft drink, cocktail, or digestive aid. The term shrub refers to an American colonial-era beverage made by mixing vinegar syrup with spirits, water, or carbonated water. Mad Maiden Shrub, made in Madison, Wis., is available in honey ginger and orchard overload. Small batches are infused with flavors like honey, mulberry, strawberry, cranberry, and raspberry.The National Restaurant Association surveys 1,300 AmericanCulinary Federation professional chefs to determine their top trends. Our favorite:Farm/Estate Branded Items: Since locally sourced food and the idea of knowing our food sources is a growing trend, it’s no surprise that transparency, knowing where and how the food served has grown in importance. Black Canyon Cattle Company is one such company. Their fresh patties are made “start-to-finish” at their state-of-the-art plant in Dodge City, Kansas. Meat doesn’t corner the market on estate branded items. Natalie’s makes Florida fresh-squeezed and handcrafted juices and lemonades. What began as one mom’s way to ensure her children had fresh juice with local ingredients and no additives has grown to a company with products in more than 30 states and 24 countries that also has the smallest carbon footprint in the industry.What else to watch?While it’s helpful to know the current trends, it pays to know what’s on the horizon as well. The SFA says to watch for the following future trends:• Small-batch, local yogurt.• Superfood contenders: kaniwa, a South American grain similar to quinoa and high in fiber, iron, calcium, and protein; African baobab, made from the pods of the baobab tree, is high in potassium and vitamin C and aids in iron absorption; and soursop, the fruit of a flowering evergreen tree native to South and Central America and parts of Africa that is high in vitamin C, potassium, and dietary fiber.• The next kale is likely to be seaweed and/or cauliflower. Seaweed is high in iodine and calcium and contains vitamins A and C. Cauliflower is high in a number of vitamins and minerals, choline, antioxidants, and phytonutrients.Don’t forget to explore new tastes and trends when traveling or at the grocery store. If you see something new, try it. It might just be the next great trend. ••