Yahoo Finance 8 Food & Drink Trends You're Going To See Everywhere In 2023
Every year brings with it new food and drink trends. And with the end of a somewhat tumultuous year finally in sight, it's no surprise *just* how much the food and drink industry has drastically changed.
From a growing interest in sustainability to consumers turning their kitchens into cocktail bars, this past year certainly has been one to remember. But now, it's time to shift our focus to what next year might look like, which – with the cost-of-living crisis being ripe in every sense of the term – is looking a lot different to what we might have originally expected.
Both major retailer, Waitrose, and popular online booking destination, Resy, have made expert predictions on what the food and drink landscape will look like for 2023. Here's 10 highlights...
Returning to more homely, unrefined foods
Also known as ancestral eating, 2023 will see us return to our heritage, eating foods that remind us of home, our upbringing or even the upbringing or others. Partly a response to the perhaps over-the-top eating experiences out there today, coupled with the rising cost-of-living, we'll find ourselves reaching for less processed, organic and more meaningful foods. Research by Pinterest confirms this theory, with searches for traditional recipes on the up – traditional Norwegian food is up by 120%, authentic Filipino cuisine by 35% and traditional South African cuisine by 150%.
Streamlined, simplified menus
It's time to bid farewell to long-winded, crowd-pleasing menus, but rather focus on more streamlined, simplified menus that look at offering a considered choice, and use quality ingredients cooked to their best.
Going the extra mile to reduce your carbon footprint, and becoming what's known as a locavore
According to a survey by Waitrose, more than 36% of shoppers said that they are now ‘extremely concerned’ about climate change. With that, more of us will be looking to go ‘Glocal’ (a term used for thinking globally but eating locally) and in turn, becoming what's described as a ‘locavore’ – someone that buys produce grown as locally as possible to minimise their carbon footprint. We're talking meat, vegetables and dairy produced in their region, with some of the strictest even sticking to a 100-mile radius.
Deep fake meat is here to stay
Plant-based eating has seen a radical growth this year, and it's set to maintain that trajectory for next year. That's right, according to reports from Waitrose, 2023 will welcome further plant-based eating spearheaded by an increase in deep fake meat (aka, realistic mock meat).
Say hello to coffee-less coffee
There comes a time where you might have thought you had seen it all, but in reality – you had just about scratched the surface. We've seen everything from meatless meat to milkless milk and even fishless fish, but we're yet to see (and we say this with some reluctance) coffee-less coffee, well... until now. Predicted to make its mark in 2023, and after scientists warning that coffee plants are extremely susceptible to climate change, coffee connoisseurs are racing to find alternatives.
A new style of tequila
Described as ‘the next big thing in tequila,’ feast your eyes on cristalino tequila. Matured in the usual way, but instead filtered to remove the colours as well as some of the stronger, woodier notes picked up from the oak barrel, this type of tequila is clear, crisp and slightly sweeter (don't worry, it still retains the character of an aged tequila).
Solo dining is on the up
Yep! More and more people are booking tables for one. Resy's 2023 dining report says that this year, ‘Nearly one in three report they have dined alone, citing preferring their own company and wanting to eat on their own timings as reasons for ditching other diners.’
An interest in gut health
The hashtag #guthealth has over a staggering 2.4 billion views and counting on TikTok, and it's been a popular topic of discussion for the past year. And it's with that growing interest in gut health, that we will begin to see a new wave of biotics: postbiotics.
Waitrose explains, ‘Very simply, prebiotics help feed the beneficial bacteria – called ‘probiotics’ – inside your gut. You can encourage this by eating more probiotic fibre. Probiotics then create certain compounds which help promote good physical and mental health. These compounds are called ‘ postbiotics’ and they work in tandem in pre and probiotics in helping support the immune system.’
