5 Food Trends Food Marketers NeedTo Know About

Remember the foods you used to love from your childhood?  I remember eagerly awaiting Mom’s chicken pot pies and savoring her mashed potatoes with roast beef.   Well, those comfort foods are making a comeback. 

It seems like almost every day we are bombarded with news items reporting the latest trends.  It can get overwhelming at times.  Here I’ve reported on 5 trends that I think are of greatest interest to food marketers, including a twist on those comfort foods we remember so fondly.

1. Comfort foods have made a comeback.  These are foods that we have fond memories of, that maybe our grandmothers used to make,  or that just remind us of simpler times.   NY Times columnist Kim Severson observes that 18 to 24 year olds are cooking up a storm and getting good at it.  They like this “grandma food” but with good ingredients.   Some of our favorite comfort foods are meatloaf, soups, grilled cheese sandwiches, pot pies, mashed potatoes, potato salad, chili, and macaroni and cheese.
2. Super Ingredients and magic foods that were unknown not so long ago,  have now become a part of our everyday lives.   Baby boomers in particular seek out these foods as health becomes ever more important.    According to a Decision Analyst report on ingredient and healthy food trends,  pomegranate juice, dark chocolate, berries, walnuts, almonds, ginger, and cinnamon have shown the most growth since 2006.   Fiber and whole grains, vitamin and mineral fortified functional foods, antioxidants, and omega-3s have remained popular.
3. Popular foods of the decade. The Food Channel  identified these top ten foods – sushi, bacon, cupcakes, sliders, gourmet burgers made with Kobe or Angus beef, superfruits (acai, blueberries), oils (olive especially), whole grains, artisan foods (particularly breads, dark chocolate, and cheeses), coffees/teas.  Some up and coming popular foods are macaroons, beef jerky,  coconut water,  and relaxation beverages  fortified with melatonin and kava root.
4. Buy local.  Perhaps because we feel more comfortable with food locally sourced instead of harvested 100’s or perhaps 1000’s of mile away, we have gravitated towards buying locally grown foods at our supermarkets or local farmstands.
5. Street food is hot.   While catering trucks and street vendors have not had a great reputation in the past nowadays now you can find tasty, gourmet food served up on food trucks in major metropolitan areas.    Some enterprising young chefs are using social media to attract customers.

About the author: Nancy Peterson leverages 20+ years CPG experience at her company, Emerging Brands Marketing, to help clients, small to medium sized food and seafood companies,  grow revenue with product development & consumer marketing.  At Gorton’s Seafoods she launched several major new product and business initiatives, managed an international turnaround, and developed a new direct-to-consumer business.  Products she launched grew to represent 20% of sales and propelled the company to the # 1 national brand share.