Packaged Facts, a well-known market research firm, recently released its top 10 food trends for 2018. Diverse food cultures, vibrant colors, emerging flavors, and ingredients are expected to be hot topics in the food industry over the next year. Let's explore them with Foodaily!

1. Aloha! Diverse Food Cultures Continue to Blend! The food renaissance has begun, and the craft cocktail movement is on the rise. People are wearing personalized clothing in Tiki bars known for their exotic atmosphere, freeing themselves from the pressures of reality. Eastern and Western cultures are constantly colliding, and multiculturalism converges in Hawaii, ultimately building a representative diverse food culture. Hawaiian rice burgers and sushi, as well as malasadas, the iconic donuts of Portuguese-Americans in Hawaii, are also popular with Californians. Hawaiian cuisine blends features from various regions, offering more diverse and curated food options for cities and diners in complex cultural areas.

2. Color Adds Flavor to Food Color wins. Plants with high antioxidant activity typically have eye-catching colors, symbolizing naturalness and health. For example, the popularity of matcha donuts made with Brooklyn dough and Van Leeuwen's vegan turmeric ice cream proves that color is indeed one of the tricks for food to win consumer favor.

More and more chefs are also adopting the aesthetic of juxtaposition and layering, as exemplified by Jean Arp (a German-French mixed-heritage sculptor), mixing more components, ingredients, and colors to create multiple focal points rather than making a single ingredient the sole focus. Beetroot, already widely used, maintains its high popularity due to its bright red color, and purple cauliflower is also gaining popularity.

3. New Flavors of Crushed Pepper Saltiness typically comes from sea salt, and pepper is usually crushed and ground before consumption, but this has little to do with the vast savory snack market. The renewed interest in cured meats, pastrami, smoked meats, and smoked salmon has also revived a love for pepper.

4. Traditional Cuisine Revived French cuisine once dominated the globe, and although it is not as prominent as before, it still has a profound influence when considering global food culture. After the macaron craze, interest in French cuisine has rekindled, from high-end ingredients like foie gras, steak tartare, and charcuterie, to classic French restaurant dishes like duck confit, and desserts like French pound cake, all becoming favorites. The handmade food movement celebrates tradition, skill, and passion, so the revival of French cuisine benefits from this.

5. The Rise of Figs Apples are great, berries might be better, and fresh figs are making a grand entrance. In fact, figs have a long history as an ingredient, with the Middle East and Mediterranean coast being the homeland of easily propagated figs. The most classic fig dish is fig salad.

Chefs' cooking preferences and the rise of specialty foods have spawned many fig varieties, such as California Black Mission figs and Turkish Calimyrna figs. In general restaurants, fig dishes might just be food, but figs are a new growth point in upscale casual dining. Star figs are sweet, delicious, and versatile, and fragrant fig balsamic vinegar and fig bacon jam can serve as delicious accompaniments to fresh figs.

6. Meatballs Sweep the World From Italy to Sweden (Swedish meatballs are a classic at IKEA), to Japan's yakitori chicken meatballs, to India's lentil and black gram rice fritters, and back to the Mediterranean's falafel, wherever there is meat, there are meatballs.

This global food form has become a must-have on menus, and has also spawned meatball-centric concepts, like the Western version of lion's head meatballs favored by New Yorkers. Globally, meatballs continue to evolve and innovate, giving rise to many creative ideas, such as the rise of alternative burgers that are popular with consumers.

Meat is not limited to being wrapped in bread or flatbread; meat spreads are also an important food form. Nduja salumi (a spicy spreadable pork sausage) from Calabria, Italy, and pork rillette from France have soft pork fat and are delicious with bread, pizza, and sandwiches.

7. Pistachios Across Continents Pistachios, once again endowed with glamour and nutrition, are increasingly popular. These colorful, flavorful, protein-rich nuts grow well in many parts of the world, remaining sweet and flavorful in the Mediterranean, Middle East, India, and California/Southwest US.

Sahale Snacks' new product, Moroccan Spice Pomegranate Pistachios, points to an innovative direction, combining the appeal of nuts, the allure of superfoods, and accessible exoticism to attract consumer interest.

8. The Slow Rise of Vegetarian Meat In recent years, many non-meat foods that mimic meat have gradually come into view, such as further separated turkey bacon and lab-grown meat. Veggie burgers and black bean burgers have already made their way into restaurants as common dishes, such as José Andrés' tomato steak in Washington and the mushroom bacon blending Brazilian barbecue and dim sum flavors at Gunshow in Atlanta.

9. Sweet Potatoes Across North and South Sweet potatoes have always been a traditional crop in the South, but they are not as widespread as potatoes. However, in cheffy Italian restaurants, sweet potato dishes with various regional flavors are fascinating.

Before Columbus discovered the Americas, sweet potatoes were grown in South America. Today, chefs and specialty food producers are reintroducing sweet potatoes, either through trade routes or by pairing them with spices like dukka (an Egyptian blend of roasted nuts and spices), miso, red chili, small green peppers, and Japanese pumpkin to increase their visibility. Like blue and purple corn, quinoa, ginger, and turmeric, sweet potatoes also carry a multicultural health halo. Like beetroot, sweet potatoes bring rich nutrition and color to vegan plates.

10. Vegetarian and Non-GMO Becoming Unified Labels Vegetarian and non-GMO are the new green badges for food. Now, packaged food innovation is focused on clean labels, vegetarianism, and non-GMO, which has become an increasingly strong trend, while also raising the stakes for organic and all-natural. Like gluten-free, vegetarian has become a very positive signal in social circles, including vegetarians and vegans.

Source: Foodaily Daily Food News (ID: foodaily) -END-