If the last couple of years has taught us anything, it’s that in the most difficult of circumstances the food and beverage industry will always look to innovate, creating new and exciting trends that help to elevate and revolutionise the industry year on year. 2022 is shaping up to keep the trend going, in style. Here are 6 Food Trends to look out for in the coming year, it’s gonna be a good one.

Same, same but healthier

The backlash against ‘ultra-processed’ and HFSS continues to grow, driving innovation around ‘better for you’ alternatives. Brands are continuing to look to ‘natural sweeteners’, swapouts like dates or grain free flour, as well as salt substitutes to make healthier products that don’t skimp on flavour.

Hello fine eating

The future is all about ‘fine eating’ not ‘fine dining’ – meaning the focus will be all about the extravagance of the food and not the formality of the setting. Less white table cloths and more white truffle, sounds like a winner to us. This fuss free approach is driving a resurgence in bistros and brasseries, gourmet wine bars and the new generation of gastro pubs. It’s the same Michelin-grade food as any leading restaurant, but in a more chilled environment. Result.

Eastern influence 

The cultural fascination and influence of Korea & Japan continues to surge in the UK. Chefs are diving deeper into Japanese food and get creative with cuisine mashups, sweets formats and pantry staples. Meanwhile Korean film (who’s seen Squid Games?) fashion, music and art continues to captivate the world, bringing with it bulgogi, fried chicken and Korean corn dogs.

Novel Nostalgia

Who doesn’t love a bit of nostalgia? Consumers are enjoying channelling their inner child through whimsical concepts and nostalgic experiences, arcade games, immersive movie nights, ice cream trucks etc. Indulgent childhood favourites form much of the eating experiences, with s’mores, hot dogs, custard, jelly and ice cream floats becoming more commonplace  - at the very least allowing people to do it for the ‘Gram.

Plant-based fine dining

It’s official, plant-based is mainstream and the fine dining world is finally starting to notice. Michelin awarded more stars to plant-forward restaurants while more and more big-name restaurants announce new plant-centric menus. Fine dining chefs appear to be having more fun using novel techniques and ingredients to prove that plants are also capable of deeper umami-level flavours. Vegans – your time is now. 

Ghosting in

As the home delivery boom continues at pace, a lot of restaurant businesses are cleverly openly ghost kitchens across UK cities, allowing them to serve customers their food via delivery without the overheads of opening a whole restaurant. It’s a win, win situation for all involved, long may it continue.