Trends We Tasted at Innovations: Part 2

Functional menu items can be a tough sell. Consumers walk in the restaurant intending to order something good for them, but as Jack Li shared, they end up straying from their healthy intentions after they open the menu.

This presents a big opportunity for restaurants: How can menu items bridge the gap between health and craveability? Our exhibitors found some possible solutions:

• At a seminar led by Datassential Trendologist Rene Lee Wege after Trend Explorer, Chef James Bickmore-Hutt from Dole discussed his mango turmeric Bali bowl. He wanted to avoid “banging people over the head” by talking up the health benefits, since that tactic can polarize consumers. Instead, he focused on using functional ingredients to create a colorful, eye-catching bowl with delicious global ingredients.

• The sports recovery market is booming, with athletes and regular consumers alike seeking products containing ingredients that help them bounce back after a workout. Danone’s recovery smoothie, made with nutritious nonfat Greek yogurt, capitalized on the trend.

“Consumers are thinking beyond calories. They want functional food and beverages that taste good and make them feel good.”

—Chef Tim Gump,

Dot Foods Corporate Chef

Nostalgic for older generations, new for younger generations, newstalgic food and beverages are fun for everyone. Newstalgia combines childhood pleasures, retro throwbacks, and a modern cool factor to transform menu items into playful experiences. 

Our exhibitors gave us plenty to play with:

• Cereal is a core ingredient in this trend—after all, it was a core part of most consumers’ childhood breakfasts. Califia brought a classic cereal to adults with its cinnamon toast coffee.

• It doesn’t get more retro than fondue, with entire parties centered around it in the ’70s. Rise Baking Company prepared an assortment of sweet treats, dips, and toppings for attendees to have their own DIY deliciousness.

• Savory can also be newstalgic. Conagra Foods harkened back to old-school Italian with Cavatappi, rosé sauce, and unexpected plant-based sausage slices.

With so many consumers leaning towards comfort food in recent years, the rise of unexpected flavor combinations may seem ... well, unexpected. The culinary world has moved from fusion to mashups to a new phenomenon known as chaos cooking. And it’s all thanks to TikTok.

As part of his presentation, Jack Li shared a few TikTok videos of home cooks seemingly dumping everything they found in their fridges and pantries into one confounding dish. TikTok might be taking chaos cooking to the extreme, but our exhibitors proved that unexpected combinations can have delicious results.

• Ube, a purple yam of Southeast Asia, has grown 169% on U.S. menus in the past four years according to Datassential. Idahoan brought together two tubers, with their ube crunch bite made with their tater tumblers.  

• Kikkoman put a surprising plant-based twist on poke, replacing the usual seafood with beets.

• BBQ is especially adaptable to experimentation, as AK Pizza Crust and Lower Foods both proved with their smokey brisket pizza and Hawaiian-style pork grilled cheese, respectively.