Business Ideas: Most Popular Food Trends of 2020
2020 has been an eventful year for many, with a number of high and low events. However, those did not stop innovation and creativity from continuing to push past its boundaries. Food trends continued despite the lockdowns that happened worldwide and continue to inspire new creations from aspiring entrepreneurs.
The food trends that come and go every year usually come as a development of past trends as people discover or rediscover cuisines from different cultures or develop new technologies that allow art to take on a greater height. Take for example the invention of refrigeration. Before the invention of the refrigerator, people had to rely on preservation methods like drying, salting, or canning. But the invention of the modern refrigerator helped bring in an explosion of new foods like ice cream and solid chocolate (chocolate was only enjoyed as a drink before), but it also helped preserve food that used to spoil easily, helping lowly seafood like lobster and crab to become majestic delicacies.
While 2020 is not yet over, let’s take a look back at the trends that have delighted taste buds throughout the year.
Food Trends in 2019
In 2019, we saw the continuing success of many new food innovations. First of which is the increasingly popular plant-based meat called “Impossible”. Heralded by Bloomberg News as the “End of Meat”, the substitute meat debuted in 2016 and is increasingly becoming a tasty (and more environmentally-friendly) alternative for real beef—a perfect solution for vegetarians who crave the taste of beef. A fully vegan meat substitute might be out in a few more years. Even Burger King has started rolling out the burger. While still very new, the increasing acceptance for plant-based meat is likely to drive down costs in the future and because of the interruption in traditional farming due to the pandemic, might make a strong return.
Healthy food, particularly keto-friendly food made a big entry into 2019. A keto diet (or more accurately, “ketogenic diet”) is high on fats, just enough on proteins, and low on carbohydrates. That means a lot of unprocessed meats (not too many sausages please), oily fish, chicken, and protein-rich green vegetables like spinach or broccoli. But almost none of bread, rice, pasta, or sugars!
Other popular trends last year include zoodles, acai bowls, kombucha, and the still going strong matcha.
Food Trends in 2020
This year, many trends were carried over from the 2019 before an abrupt shift over the summer as the pandemic and lockdown changed day to day life. But there are several unique trends that survived the shift.
Coffee-based Cocktails
Restless minds over the summer came across the Dalgona coffee craze popularized in South Korea. Made by whipping instant coffee, sugar, and hot water, it became an instant hit.
But this also marked a rediscovery of traditional alcohol-infused drinks. The esteemed Irish coffee, White Russian, and Italian Negroni are now complemented by new mixtures. By combining tonics with a simple espresso, coffee houses have innovated products like the “Cold Brew Mojito” of South Carolina’s Methodical Coffee; or cold brew with mezcal to create the “Negroni Coffee Swizzle” of New York City’s Dante’s.
While your local Starbucks might not yet have alcohol-infused coffee, it already is a menu item for many of the country’s top coffee bars.
Fusion Cuisine
The interaction of different cultures, historically, has turned up different results, sometimes good, sometimes bad. But for all the times that cultures have mixed peacefully, food has probably become the ultimate expression of cultural exchange. Filipino food itself is the result of the mixing of different cultures.
For 2020, fusion cuisines will continue to become popular but will continue straying away from the mainstream. Instead of combining French, Japanese, Korean, or Spanish influences with local cuisines, many are looking further elsewhere. Filipino-Mexican food is becoming more popular in recent years. Food joints like Poblacion’s El Chupacabra, Uptown Parade’s Gorda, Fort Bonifacio’s Vatos Urban Tacos, or Silantro Fil-Mex Cantina are successfully pushing Filipino-Mexican food into the mainstream.
Other Asian cuisines are well-represented: Thai foods in menus offered by Doon Thai and Asian Cafe, Songkran, and People’s Palace are inching their way deeper into Filipino taste buds, while Korean food joints are diversifying from the ever popular samgyeopsal and into new fusion foods.
And why stop there: restaurants like the Cocina Peruvia are embarking on a creative venture to combine dishes, like famous ceviches from faraway Peru, with Filipino flavors.
But before you get your geography book and try to cook different countries’ cuisines, it is best to get in touch with someone well-versed in a country’s cuisine. The key to successful fusion cuisine is not only a mutual understanding of food preparation, but also a deep understanding of cultures.
Regional Cuisine
With all the craze on fusion cuisine, regional cuisines are also taking the spotlight, fueled by renewed media coverage. Spanish cuisine, for example, can be further subdivided into the different Spanish regions like Valencia, Asturias, Catalonia, Galicia, Madrid, and so on. Meanwhile, traditions that make up Italian cuisine include regional cooking in Sicily, Venice, Rome, Lombardy, Liguria, and Campana.
Chinese cuisine too is actually traditionally split into eight cuisines: Anhui, Szechuan, Shandong, Hokkien/Fukian, Cantonese, Hunan, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, just like how Korean cooking styles are differ from Seoul and Gyeonggi to Jeolla and Gyeongsang.
In the Philippines alone, each province may very well have their own variations of each others’ dishes, and their own iconic ones too. Regional fare like Pancit Lomi, Bulalo, Pancit Malabon, Batchoy, Bagnet, and Inasal chicken no less, warrant enough fame to become cornerstones of Filipino cuisine.
This hunt for regional cuisine is bound to continue, so time dig up your old recipes or retrieve hidden recipes to get yourself cooking.
Ube
Ube has long been a cornerstone of Filipino desserts before it was picked up and popularized in Western cuisine last year. Much like the Japanese matcha, ube has gained a massive following in global markets. The craze over Ube has led to recipes that Filipinos themselves might see strange such as Ube pancakes, Ube cupcakes, Ube cookies, and a whole lot of purpled treats.
But the renewed popularity of ube has found its way back into the Philippines where ube has transcended traditional favorites like Binignit, Ube halaya, Ube cake, Ube ice cream and Sapin-Sapin, into novel creations like Ube pandesal, Ube yoghurt, and even Ube munchkins.
The expiry date of the Ube might happen soon, however, if we run out of things to turn purple!
Cookies
The humble cookie has also made a dramatic transformation from a traditional snack into an artisanal creation. And it’s easy to see why! It’s easy to bake, made with a few ingredients. These creations provide a canvas for further improvements and designs, making them an easily customizable treat and the trends from 2019 show: Cookie ice cream sandwiches, Cookie shots, Brookies, even Champorado cookies represent the apex of cookie innovation.
Many, however, can agree that there really is no match to a simple chewy, buttery cookie, whether to give as a gift to a friend or to a loved one or to eat it with coffee on a rainy day. Even though this trend has already made its entry, it has endured and has yet to see signs of slowing down for this year.
Condiments and Dips
If there is one food trend that is probably making a more subtle creep into the mainstream, it’s the arrival of artisanal-type condiments and dips. While not a main dish in its own right, a flavorful condiment can make or break a dish. A good dip imparts wonderful flavors into what was just a single-flavored food.
Online food entrepreneurs have already taken the chance to make products such as Garlic mayo dips, Guacamole, Cheese dips, Chutneys, Atchara, Bagoong, Hummus, or even flavored butters, chocolate spreads, and peanut butter!
The possibilities are simply made endless with the proper flavor-packed sauce. In fact, you may complement your own food lineup by making your own flavorful dipping sauce.
The food trends of 2020 must be understood as only a grander part of the constant change in the world and a keen entrepreneur or aspiring cook should also be aware of changes as they happen. Nevertheless, understanding how trends take off and make an impact is key pushing the art of cooking beyond its boundaries. Check out the different food trends on TippyMart and satisfy your cravings!