Whole Foods recently announced its top food trends for 2017. Their team of experts and trend-spotters compiled a list which includes the following:
- Wellness Tonics – More than just juice, wellness drinks are expected to gain traction and popularity. Look for drinking vinegars, turmeric elixirs, and other tonics with herbal medicinal ingredients to be the trending beverages.
- Repurposing Byproducts – Examples include repurposing leftover liquid from cooking chickpeas in a vegan mayo and whey from yogurt for probiotic drinks.
- Coconut Craze – There is almost nothing this all-purpose “fruit-nut-seed” cannot be made into. Trending items will be coconut sugar, coconut tortillas (and other products from coconut flour), coconut butter, coconut ice cream, and coconut aminos.
- Japanese Food – No longer limited to sushi, Japanese food products are growing in popularity with mainstream America. Keep an eye out for seaweed, mochi, and condiments like mirin, miso, sesame oil, and plum vinegar.
- Creative Condiments – Look for these exotic flavor combinations and products to be popping up on shelves: black sesame tahini, habanero jam, pomegranate molasses, black garlic purée, date syrup, and beet salsa.
- Pasta – Traditional noodles, step aside. We’ll be seeing more alternative pastas made with quinoa, lentils, and chickpeas, as well as veggie or kelp noodles.
- Purple Reign – Foods such as purple cauliflower, black rice, purple asparagus, elderberries, acai, purple sweet potatoes, purple corn are gaining popularity. The deep color indicates nutrient density and antioxidants. Expect to see products such as chips and corn cereal made with this darker variation.
- Diet – Eschewing rigid rules to chew on something more personalized, consumers are adopting the ‘flexitarian’ diet which is less strict than recent trends of paleo or veganism.
- “Make some/Buy some” – A flexible way of preparing meals is on the rise. Consumers save time and money by combining store-bought items with homemade dishes for dinner at home. Meal kits are another popular way to eat fresh with less prep time.
For more on the 2017 food trends, click here.
