Own a food business? Or thinking of starting a food business? Here are some of the top trends that are set to dominate the food industry this year, and how you can get involved.
Plant-based milks
Vegans – and many non-vegans – are now starting to experiment more with plant-based milks. Soya milk is no longer the only option. Nowadays, there are so many more options including almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk, cashew milk and even potato milk.
If you run a cafe or restaurant that sells coffee, consider whether it’s time to broaden your milk options. If you run a grocery store, consider whether it’s time you stocked some plant-based milk options.
CBD-infused foods
CBD has been on the rise for a few years now – it’s pretty much cannabis extract, but with the part that makes you high (THC) removed. CBD has all kinds of health benefits from easing anxiety to helping sleep quality. This has been driving food producers to put it into all kinds of foods and beverages.
Is there a unique CBD food product you could bring to market? Now could be the time to find the gap.
Meal kits
Meal kits increased in popularity during the pandemic and have continued to see an increase in sales. These kits are delivered to customers’ homes and contain all the ingredients necessary to make specific meals. Such meals are typically healthy and take away the stress of having to shop for ingredients and prep them.
Meal kit options are rapidly expanding, but there’s still plenty of room for more meal kit ideas. Got a meal kit idea that you think could take off?
Dry-aged meat
Dry-aged meat has also been growing in popularity over the last decade – especially dry-aged steak. So just what is dry-aged steak? Such meat is typically dry-aged for several weeks or months and has enhanced flavor. More steakhouses and restaurants are now starting to embrace it as a way to give their meat dishes the edge.
If you currently sell steaks in your restaurant, consider whether it could be worth trying out dry-aged steaks in 2022.
Ghost kitchens
The pandemic increased the demand on delivery takeout meals and this has helped to lead to a rise in ‘ghost kitchens’. What is a ghost kitchen? Basically, these are takeout restaurants that don’t have a physical restaurant that customers can visit and pick up from. Instead, they’re delivery-only, relying on food delivery apps and flyers to gain exposure. This gives such restaurants a lot more flexibility as to where they base their restaurant from.
Ghost kitchens are much cheaper to set up than conventional restaurants. In fact, they could be a great home-based business option.
Less sugar and salt, more umami
‘Umami’ is the fifth core taste alongside ‘sour’, ‘salty’, ‘sweet’ and ‘bitter’. More people are starting to embrace it as a healthy alternative added flavoring to sugar and salt. Things like garlic, tomato, mustard, turmeric and mushrooms all make great umami seasonings. You can also now buy ‘umami pastes’.
How can you be a part of this umami revolution? Coming up with your own umami paste or seasoning could be one possible business idea. It could also be worth embracing umami in order to create tastier low salt and low sugar food products.