The food experts at Deliveroo have been using trends, insights and data to predict what's going to take off in the restaurant world in 2020. From gazing to drama, see below for the trends taking the food scene.
Vegan-ish
This month, Deliveroo reported that vegan orders had increased by 330% over the past two years. Largely promoted into mainstream consciousness by charity Veganuary, the plant-based food movement has taken the world by storm this year, with hundreds of thousands of people around the world pledging to live a plant-based life for the whole month of January 2019.
Grazing(snacks pictured)
Gone or the days of three meals per day, according to Deliveroo's order spikes, customers are breaking the mould more than ever before - eating at up to six different meal times. Customers are also ordering mid-sized portions and snacks to keep fuelled throughout the day. In the winter months, snacking increases by 74%. Wednesday is the day where Brits snack the most, followed by Thursdays; on Monday Brits are most likely to keep to the traditional three meals a day.
On fire
One of the oldest and most primitive methods of cooking, and it's making a huge come back. The 'char' flavour has been trending for the past few months, with its smokiness and woody depth heightening the natural taste of the ingredients it coats.
Street food for everyone
Street food is consumed by 2.5 billion people each day worldwide, and in a selection of cities around the UK we are lucky enough to have an area housing an array of independent partners each offering their own authentic dishes to customers.
The new salad
Top five ingredients we can expect to see in salads are:
Ferments - such as lacto fermented sauces and miso - to add depth of flavour.
Unusual grains such as teff, freekeh to replace the ubiquitous quinoa.
Unusual nut butters in dressings & dips, like sunflower seed.
Underused produce like swede, which tastes amazing shaved raw, and seaweeds, such as dulse.
Dehydrated vegetables that add texture.
No or low alcohol
No longer reserved for designated drivers, consumers are becoming more strict in a healthy body = healthy mind way of living. For many years, we've dabbled with diets in a bid to be more healthy and lose a few pounds, but the rise in low or no alcohol drinks is largely down to our headspace, rather than weight loss.
Fresh pasta
Fresh pasta restaurants are opening up all over the place. Flash back ten years, we were dining on boil-in-the-bag pasta sauces (no complaints back then, sure) but recently restaurants have been upping their game and taking the UK pasta scene to a new level.
Theatrics
2020 will bring more twists and surprises in the art of cooking next year. Theatrical elements have been steadily on the rise over the past few years, in an attempt to add that memorable WOW factor to every bite we have. Gen Z, in particular, are all about experiences. They would rather spend £100 on an exciting evening at a show-stopping restaurant than buy an expensive item of clothing.
Balancing to be sustainable
2020 is the year of balance. A lot of trends outlined by Deliveroo's food experts fall into this bucket, and it's no surprise. Consumers are breaking habits, experimenting with new lifestyles and trying new food options in an attempt to live more happily, more responsibly and more sustainably.
Instagrammable, again
For a couple of years #foodporn has been making the public shudder and the novelty of 'gramming our grub wore off, but with 2018 and 2019 providing us with a refreshing digital detox - we're back and we're ready to post pictures of our food.
For more detail on these trends, go to Caterlyst's Restaurant Sector, then Trends in the right hand column.
