Food Trends:
What’s Hot for 2010
By: Kaiti Roeder, RD, LMNT
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At the end of each year or the beginning of a
new year, numerous companies release their
predictions on upcoming food trends.
The past year’s fiscal fiasco sent many a good
companies reeling. But the good news is a
number of industries — not just food &
beverage makers — are starting to stagger
back to their feet and focus on ways to
improve their positions.
The spotlight seems to be on those 76 million baby
boomers who grew up in an era where the Don and
Betty Drapers were the role models.
 Look for ’60s iconic food brands to be updated with
a new ingredient profile and more flavor to meet
the nutrition desires and needs, along with the
dimensioned taste buds of the aging boomer.
 Look for less carbonated soft drinks and more
vitamin enriched everything.
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Remember the saying, "Breakfast is the
most important meal of the day?" It's true.
In fact, breakfast may help control
Americans' increasing problem with
overweight and obesity. A number of
studies show that people who successfully
maintain a significant weight loss eat
breakfast just about every day.
Nearly 20% of consumers say they’d be
more likely to eat out for breakfast on
weekdays if options were more healthful,
and operators are taking notice.
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Smoking is the process of flavoring, cooking
or preserving food by exposing it to the
smoke from burning or smoldering plant
materials, most often wood.
From the subtle notes of fruitwoods to the
more-assertive marks of mesquite and
hickory, smoking lets cooks permeate layers
of flavor into products without adding fat,
sugar or salt.
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“Fresh” continues to grow.
It can mean better for you,
local, additive free, less
processed, more natural,
traditional and authentic.
It often ties in with
decreasing number of
ingredients and increased
explanation of where
products come from.
www.agr.state.ne.us/pub/ap
d/produce.htm
The food industry realizes that by using “real foods”
and shorter ingredient lists that they’re creating
healthier products that consumers want.
 The new consumer mantra when it comes to health
and wellness is ‘simple,’
 77 percent of consumers read ingredient statements
on packaging and are using nutritional information
to make their purchasing decisions
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In this great melting pot, it’s no wonder
people love ethnic food.
Cuisines like Mexican, Chinese and Italian
have become so mainstream, however, that
it’s time to dig deeper.
Restaurants will increasingly pinpoint specific
regions — Tuscany, Brazil, Morocco, or even
within the U.S., Kansas City BBQ — to
develop tomorrow’s ethnic food.
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Poised to be the next major health
movement, sodium reduction is finally ready
to take hold.
The key difference, is that “sodium reduction
is being pushed by food companies and
health organizations, not by
consumers.” This could mean slow adoption
of the “less salt” mantra by shoppers, even as
the food industry moves ahead.
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It’s a new world of “word-of-mouth”
recommendations using the latest
technologies: mobile devices, mommy
bloggers, Twitter and house parties.
The shopper in 2010 will depend less on
advertising and more on social networking
and killer apps to help them make their
decisions on where to eat and what foods to
buy.
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Private label or store brands are starting to
look a lot more like brands. As consumers cut
spending because of the recession, smart
marketers ramped up promotions for their
private label lines.
Many shoppers now equate private labels
with national brands and value them as
such. In 2010, low cost, high quality private
labels will thrive.
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Beverages & sports drinks made
without HFCS and without
artificial sweeteners
Sugar is regaining some lost
ground at the expense of highfructose corn syrup.
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Pop chips, baked chips, veggie chips
 Flat Earth Veggie Chips
 New York Style Pita chips
 Tostitos Multigrain
 Stacy’s
 Pop Chips
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Contains electrolytes and minerals, coconut
water is often marketed as a sports drink.
One cup has 46 calories, less that .5 grams of
fat and is a good source of fiber, magnesium,
potassium and Vitamin C.
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This year, a lot of people returned to homey,
comforting cooking, such as meatballs. Bon Appétit
found them on both restaurant menus and kitchen
tables all over the country.
Meatballs are great to make at both at home and in
restaurants because they are affordable, easy to make
and delicious. Meatballs are also universal -- every
kind of ethnic cuisine has some kind of meatball.
What’s HOT???
Mini Whoopie Pies
A staple of the south, this
chocolate sandwich filled
with marshmallow cream is
a dream come true.
What’s NOT???
Mini cupcakes
What’s HOT???
Eating an immunity building diet
With H1N1 (flu) hysteria continuing unabated, building your immunity
with foods, such as those suggested by John La Puma, M.D., in Chef MD’s
Big Book of Culinary Medicine is poised to become the big health trend
of 2010.
What’s NOT???
Dining on Omega 3s
We all know how important Omega 3 fatty acids are, but we also know
that too much mercury, found in Omega 3-rich fish like tilefish,
swordfish, king mackerel, and grouper, can make you sick. Is the pill
easier to swallow???
VARIETIES INCLUDE:
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Naan
papadum
lavash
pita
tortilla
•BLACK GARLIC, ORIGINALLY INTENDED
AS A HEALTHY DIETARY SUPPLEMENT,
HAS BECOME ONE OF THE HOTTEST NEW
"MUST-HAVE" INGREDIENTS IN THE
CUTTING EDGE CHEF'S PANTRY.
•THE FLAVOR OF BLACK GARLIC CAN BE
DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE - SLIGHTLY
SWEET, WITH SUBTLE HINTS OF LICORICE
AND FENNEL, WITH SUBDUED, BUT
DISTINCTIVE, TRUE GARLIC FLAVOR
INTACT. ITS CHEWY-GOOEY TEXTURE IS
REMINISCENT OF SUN-DRIED TOMATOES
OR CURED OLIVES.
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These are comforting, nostalgic
flavors that remind us of our youth
— when we felt safe and
secure. They remind me of
the flavors that help replicate the
“campfire experience.”
Other popular flavors include: malt,
licorice, nougat and rhubarb.
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Candied, fried, baked or
boiled…sweet potatoes are one of the
most diversely prepared vegetables.
Aside from being a delicious snack or
side dish, they also will become
known as the new functional food, as
they are rich in dietary fiber, beta
carotene and vitamins C and B6.
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Companies are launching yogurt line that
contains nearly twice the amount of protein
per serving than other yogurts.
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Expect food to either have nutrients added, or have the word
“free” (gluten-free, allergy-free). Just a few year we talked about
“functional food,” which was really about adding ingredients to
pump up the nutritional value. Before that, it was “fortified.” Next
year ………????
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We’ve mainstreamed probiotics, like Activia with Bifidus Regularis.
 We’ve become used to food with calcium added, or vitamins
identified, but this year you’ll see a stronger statement—products will
be defining “good for you” as, “includes specific vitamins and
nutrients.”
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NuVal™ Nutritional Scoring System. It is
designed to help you cut through confusing
nutrition information so you can make
decisions about food quickly and easily, and
feel good about your choices.
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Nutrition labeling for standard menu items
sold by chain restaurants with 20 or more
locations
Panera is the first chain to voluntarily post
calorie info on menu boards in all company
owned Panera Bread, St Louis Bread
Company and Paradise Bakery and Cafes by
April and in all franchises by the end of the
year.
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“If you build it, they will come” isn’t working the
way it used to.
Half of Americans are spending less at
restaurants because of the economy, so it’s time
for restaurants to come to them.
Burger King is one of the latest to sell its food
(French fries) in retail stores, but expect more
retail-restaurant connections in 2010.
Additionally, more restaurants will uphold
relationships with customers by using iPhone
apps for menu changes and online ordering.
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What’s typically on the left side???
Look for:
 more creative snacky things
 more small plates
 more portion options…
▪ things sized for one, for two, for a crowd
Consumers are trading
down in order to trade
up. That’s what’s behind
the explosion of:
 “gourmet” hamburgers
 Brisket burgers
 Short Rib burgers
 Fancy toppings
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Artisan hot dogs
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Baum & Whiteman believe the words “organic”
and “natural” are diluted (polluted, actually) by
big-brand food companies.
• being replaced in consumers’ minds by “fresh” and
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“local” and “hand-made.”
Restaurants are spotlighting house-made or
locally-made bread, artisan-cured salami, chefpickled vegetables, locally-butchered beef,
honey made from nearby hives, foods purchased
from regional farms — all these theoretically
reflecting sustainability and helping local
farmers and being better for the environment.
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The trend of fortifying foods to make you
healthier and more beautiful is being
transferred to the restaurant scene.
Watch for bartenders to get into the act by
concocting good-for-you cocktails with
“enhanced” beverages — on the theory that
you can drink yourself into good health and
become beautiful .
Beverage buzzwords include guanara, acai,
goji, green tea, hibiscus and acerola.
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Well, here’s the
Truth: For 2010, it’ll be tongue
(including lamb) and oxtail
along with beef and pork
cheeks, chicken gizzards, tripe
and other innards.
Savvy chefs are using these
odd parts to offset downsized
portions of expensive steaks
and chops.
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A decade or so back, American palates made a
profound shift from sweet to bitter
• strong coffee, dark chocolate, broccoli rabe, brussels
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sprouts and other bitter food.
There’s been another, quieter shift, from sweetsweet to tart-sweet. That’s why chefs are now
pickling their own vegetables to serve with
newly trendy rich and fatty meats.You’ll see
more pickled shallots, leeks or ramps atop steak
instead of fatty onion rings. You’ll get it in the
sour-salty flavor profiles of increasingly trendy
Southeast Asian cuisine.
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Kids’ menus are popping up on
more chain restaurants, and many
are reformulating to create
healthier options.
Look for more restaurants and
hotels offering cooking classes for
kids, more “adult” things on kids’
menus, and more kids-eat-free
promotions.
The tough economy and declining
consumer traffic forces restaurants
to poach customers by stealing
competitors’ top menu items.
Fast food chains are adding up-priced
gourmet burgers, pizza chains are
selling pasta, and juice chains are
adding pizzas and flatbreads.
Everyone is adding snacks and
signature beverages and energy
drinks, hoping to capture betweenmeal business.
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Eggs are everywhere on menus — draped
over burgers and pizzas, tucked into
sandwiches and showcased in dolled up
renditions of classic deviled and Scotch eggs
as bar snacks and appetizers.
This presentation is available or downloading
at
http://www.nebeef.org/health_materials.asp
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