2020 food and drink trends

We are proud to present our 2020 food and drink trends

All you need to know to freshen up your menu for 2020. Scroll down to find out more about our predictions for next year, as well as a quick look back over trends gone by with our 1990-2020 trend timeline. We also have information on the wider social trends, as well as the chance to find out which 2020 food and drink trend you are with our fun quiz!

2020 food and drink trends

Working with food experts, research resources and keeping our finger on the pulse for the latest foodie news, we have developed 5 food and drink trends for 2020. Click on the icons below to find out more.

2020 social trends

What we’re eating, how and where is also influenced by changes in consumer attitudes, behaviours, and lifestyles. These are the biggest social trends we see impacting foodservice over the next year

Throwback comforts

In uncertain times, many of us are looking for touches of comfort from days gone by, whether through TV, film, fashion or food. Nostalgia has never been bigger. Think Stranger Things, The Spice Girls’ reunion, 90’s chokers and 70’s prawn cocktails; we are using nostalgia as a collective cultural coping mechanism, as a way to resist current events and a way to anchor into the familiar.

Eco-Anxiety

As consumers we are bombarded with headlines about the current climate crisis. Consumers are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the issue and what they can do as one person on a planet of billions. This is leading to a feeling of powerlessness coined ‘eco-anxiety’. However, we live in an age where individuals have more power than ever before. As individuals take on more of the responsibility, consumer choices are changing.

Individual vs. community

Our society is increasingly becoming more ‘me’ than ‘we’. Politics has never been more divisive and the continued proliferation of social media means ‘brand me’ and social currency are high priorities. As such we are seeing social issues such as loneliness rise at an alarming rate amongst all age groups. This constant digital connectivity is continuing to replace physical interactions and is contributing to feelings of loneliness and social isolation.

Wellness Engineers

Consumers are increasingly becoming wellness engineers as they shoehorn ‘wellness’ into aspects of their busy lifestyles.  On one end of the scale we have ‘Insta-wellness’, – think CBD mocktails and charcoal moisturisers! On the other end of the scale, some are simply trying to find small moments in their day to focus on their wellbeing, whether buying an ‘energy boosting’ smoothie or practicing mindfulness. This wellness trend is being met with more flexible formats in food service such as yoga brunches or lunchtime classes in communal eating spaces.

Helpful Tech

There are emergent shoots of backlash to our ‘always-on’ digital society, with digital detoxes on the rise (particularly amongst younger generations). However, digitisation and innovative technology is still being embraced as it can both help and inspire us. Technology is helping to reinvent how we produce our food; forward thinking companies are developing solutions to produce scientifically engineered ingredients and finished products. Think lab grown meat, 3D printing, urban farms and europonic, hydroponic, aquaponic farming– these are not way off in the future, they are the here and now.

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