CHICAGO -- The Food Channel has released its "Top 10 Food Trends for 2015." Based on research conducted by The Food Channel with CultureWaves, the list identifies the significant food movements consumers, foodservice professionals and manufacturers should watch for in the coming year.
"There has been an interesting evolution year as both chefs and consumers grab hold of their identities," said Kay Logsdon, editor of The Food Channel. "We see consumers upgrading their kitchens and holding dinner parties where they make a lot of the food, and we see chefs deciding to do things their way in their restaurants. Rather than tension, this is developing a new range of food creativity."
The Food Channel Top 10 Trends for 2015
- The Dinner Party Revival: In your home or in a "third space," we see a resurgence of dinner parties, perhaps because people are so connected online that they are forcing sessions where they can connect offline.
- The Loss of Ethnic: The single-flavor palate is gone; long live the global palate. While we're happy to introduce new global flavors to our palate, the tendency is to mix them into something we already understand.
- Hand Touched Over Handmade: What we call "hand-touched" is now becoming the norm: meaning that as long as we touch them in some way, we don't have to literally measure the ingredients.
- The Casualization of Wine: Millennials are drinking so much wine that wine is being rebranded as an everyday drink. No longer left to special occasions, it's got a health halo that adds to the license to enjoy.
- My Kitchen: In an attempt to get you to concentrate on what they've prepared, chefs are giving you knife and fork food, banning ketchup if it doesn't go with the flavor combinations they've prepared, and discouraging food photography. The new trend is, "It's my kitchen, my rules."
- Food Incubators: The rise in food media over the past eight to 10 years has caused a lot of people to want to take their own ideas to market, and incubators reduce the cost of entrepreneurship and provide business support.
- Seasonal Transitions: The new twist on it all is what we call "transition food," where we are inserting a combination of two seasons in between--perhaps as a way to psych people up for what's to come.
- Spice Alchemy: What we're seeing now, with the proliferation of global spices and spice combinations, is that people are experimenting with the spices--becoming mixologists with spices, in a way.
- Replicating Restaurants: We saw it with home espresso machines and Belgian waffle makers... so continue to expect new appliances and smaller workspaces that replicate the restaurant experience.
- Cooking by Life Stage: We expect that food and recipes will no longer be based solely around a traditional family of four, but instead will be offered by life stage rather than age-related demographics.
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