To get 2020 off to a good start, TheFork & NellyRodi are pleased to reveal the top 6 food trends of the year , identified among 3 major food movements that will revolutionize the content of our plates in 2020: #foodmood, #foodcool & #foodgood. Eating well has become a major concern in our society and more and more customers are asking questions when booking a restaurant. It is no longer simply a question of satisfying a primary need for survival. Our eating behaviors contribute to nourishing our soul , spirit, and heart , and at the same time, they must not come into contact with those and what surrounds us, especially our planet.
foodMood
Your customers are more and more sensitive to the notion of well-being linked to what we eat, food is becoming the remedy to get better, to feel good. On Instagram, more than 65,000 publications already mention the hashtag #mindfood and usually associates it with #powerofpositivity .
Mind Food Trend
The #mindfood trend highlights the emotional role of food in our daily lives . We are now interested in the benefits that our diet can provide us with beyond its purely functional benefits and the synergies between our current state of mind and the foods most likely to respond to it. Restaurants will more systematically take into account the moods of their customers in their recipes to offer dishes that respond to their state of mind at a given moment, which goes well beyond detox or gluten-free.
Some examples of restaurants following this trend:
- Millimeter Milligram Black Buddha in Seoul
- The Souls philosophy in Copenhagen
- Grow Healthy in Portugal
FoodGood
Consumers are driving an upheaval in the restaurant industry, they want it to be more sustainable, more virtuous, modern and positive. Commitment and social responsibility are at the heart of current concerns.
Sustainable Food & Kitchen Trend
In reaction to a linear economy marked by waste, pollution, and many environmental damages, virtuous cooking and food products cycles are becoming more widespread. From now on, faced with an ultra-committed consumer, the chefs are free to open their kitchens and bet on transparency as to the origin of the products . Reduce, recycle, reuse. This is what certain restaurants offer, such as the “Hunter Gatherer Manifesto” restaurant in Shanghai and the zero-waste bar “Nine Lives” in London, inspired by the “Sillo” restaurant in Australia and the “Zero Waste Bistro” in New- York, a pop-up restaurant made from beverage cartons and recycled plastics.
Foodtech Trend & Smart Consumption
Foodtech, at the heart of our plates, experienced global growth of 43% in 2018 (source: AgFunder). For 70% of French people, technology now has its place in the world of gastronomy . The robot waiters that can be found in several Japanese restaurants such as the “Sushi Sun Magliana” in Rome do not even create surprise anymore.
By 2023 , the mobile app market is estimated to be worth more than €16 million (Allied Market Research) and personal tracking & health checks are expected to experience an unprecedented boom. The “Hapifork” electronic fork, which allows you to monitor your eating habits and send vibrations when you eat too quickly, is clearly at the heart of this trend.
It also has other innovations such as the Winnow company. For example, it offers a system that allows a scale and an intelligent camera to measure the quantity and type of food thrown away by restaurants. Employees can then specify why the food was put in the trash (kitchen error, unfinished plate, etc.). Studying this data carefully allows decisive action to be taken to reduce food waste.
FoodCool
But on the food side, the time is not only for awareness and health, the gastronomic scene in 2020 will reinvent itself by building bridges between culinary creativity and art, aesthetics and fashion . What to dynamite this sector in full boiling.
Food Club Trend
Between insurgencies that go against the tide of major #healthyfood movements, the search for a sense of belonging to a community sharing the same obsessions, and ultra-personalized loyalty programs , food clubs are on the rise and are becoming ultra-trendy . More and more individuals feel the need to get rid of the dictates of the majority and sometimes go so far as to develop non-conformist behavior.
This is particularly the case of the “Filles à Côtelettes” club for meat lovers and the “Chokola Club” for #rebelsonly. So keep this trend in mind when developing your seasonal menu, there is (still) something for everyone !
Food Entertainment Trend
Welcome to the post foodporn era. In order to surprise consumers in an ultra-Instagrammable world, culinary experiences push the limits of the senses by relying in particular on virtual reality and ASMR.
Cooking stimulates all our senses on an extra-sensory , almost orgasmic journey, from the plate to the restaurant!
The “Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland” hotel-restaurant, built under the sea, transforms your dinner into a unique, sensual and unforgettable immersive experience.
Some examples of restaurants following this trend:
● French Chef Paul Pairet (Jury Top Chef 2020) and his restaurant UltraViolet in Shanghai
● Swedish restaurant The Alchemist “Under the dome” located in a planetarium by Chef Rasmus Munk
● Svart Hotel & restaurant in Norway First restaurant in the world with positive energies 2021
Deliriums Food
Visual, aesthetic, creative, sensory, artistic, food is a real playground where the codes of classic gastronomy are widely challenged ! 25% of French people are attracted by more creative cuisines, whether visual or gustatory, based on insects, fluorescent dishes and other atypical concepts. Let yourself be carried away by the limitless universe of culinary creation ! Dare to stand out from the others, go to the end of your restaurant concept to become a local/world reference, let your vision of food speak for itself and no longer follow established codes .