The food and drink that consumers enjoy buying changes so frequently — it can be hard to keep track! But, according to experts, what should you be adding to your shopping list in 2018? Suttons, online gardening retailers and advocates of grow your own vegetables, investigates:
Low-calorie indulgence
Many of us enjoy an alcoholic tipple now and then — whether it’s to accompany a meal or to drink whilst socialising with friends. However, we are becoming more health conscious and calorie counting doesn’t go well with a taste for liquor…
This leads us to our next trend — healthy alcohol. This new trend allows us to drink and be sociable without consuming extra calories. The low-calorie option amongst alcoholic drinks has been a rising segment for many years and will continue to grow as we increasingly monitor what we eat and drink.
You might have already seen versions of this on supermarket shelves in the form of ‘healthy’ beer an low-calorie cocktails. Now, 78% of bars offer cocktails which is up 12% on 2016 — driven by social media and people’s willingness to post photos of their fancy drinks. Zach Sasser, a head bartender, predicts that ingredients such as beetroot juice, kale and pureed carrots will be popular. “Going into this health-conscious age that we live in, I believe integration is inevitable,” he says.
We could see new, beneficial ingredients in our cocktails now too. In one survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association, 700 chefs were surveyed on what they think the latest culinary trends may be. They said that the relationship between the bar and the kitchen is to become stronger. Can we expect vegetable-infused cocktails in 2018?
More room for mushrooms
Recent research has shown that mushrooms are beneficial to our health because of their ‘adaptogenic’ compounds. These compounds have anti-stress and anti-cancer properties. For this reason, we predict that mushrooms will be the next big thing in 2018. In fact, Food Navigator found that year-on-year sales of food products that include medicinal mushrooms have risen between an outstanding 200-800%, depending on the variety.
The mushroom market its set to soar over the next six years and be worth over £37 million. Making its way into the food and drink sector through mushroom-infused coffees and mushroom smoothies, many cafes and retailers are already profiting from the trend.
The mushroom will be cropping up in non-food items too, for example in hair and beauty products. Different species of mushrooms are chosen for their varying properties — for example shiitake mushrooms are known for their richness in antioxidants and high vitamin D content, and the reishi mushroom is selected for its anti-inflammatory properties.
Expect more flexitarians
Turning vegetarian and vegan is becoming a popular diet choice. In fact, the number of vegans in the UK has risen by 350% in the past decade — predominantly driven by the younger market, with half of those opting for this diet falling between the ages of 15 and 34. Some people are enjoying the best of both worlds with a flexitarian diet — primarily vegetarian with meat and fish occasionally.
You may think that a vegan diet is predominantly healthy and free of fast food. But some food producers want this to change. With so many people transforming to a ‘flexitarian’ diet, there is a new market for vegan fast food.
This might mean that we see more plant-based ‘meats’ on our shelves. An example of this is an innovation that Leonardo DiCaprio has invested in called Beyond Meat. This could come in the form of burgers or fried food. Expect to see other indulgent food too, such as extravagant vegan desserts.
A rise in plant-based proteins
You may have noticed that smoothies have been big in 2017 — foodies have been posting new types of smoothies on their social media feeds. Finely ground tea leaves, matcha and powdered super vegetables such as kale, spirulina and spinach have been popular too — their texture making it easy to add to soups, smoothies and salads. Registered dietician, Abbey Sharpe, explains their popularity: “I think people love a quick way to get in their healthy-eating fix, and powdered substances are seen as an easy way to pack in the nutrition.”
To support the new health craze, we could expect to see plant-based proteins which double as workout fuel. One of the newest forms of this is pea protein which has many benefits including its neutral taste — making it favourable for regular consumption.
More Brits growing their own
With Brexit negotiations well underway, it’s possible that we will take to our own back yards to grow produce this year. Brexit is already changing our views on food shopping. In April 2017, one in five said that they were more likely to buy British food after leaving the EU to support the economy. However, this was dependent on pricing, and if prices rise, many will go for cheaper alternatives.
In 2016 we experienced the implications of bad weather as fruit and vegetable costs rose. Vegetable prices rose by 6.6% and this was explained by climate problems in Europe which led to shortages in some items. Can we risk facing these soaring prices again? Many think not. Instead, keen and amateur gardeners are heading to their back yards to plant their own seeds and it’s expected that this trend will continue.