It is just as important for food development teams and marketing departments to know what trends are on the rocks, as to what trends are rocking. We have put together a list based on several industry sources as to what hot trends in recent years appear to be cooling off in 2016.
1. Gluten-Free Foods – Formerly in the Top 20 Trends according to chefs responding to Nation’s Restaurant News (November 12, 2015), gluten-free foods have fallen to position 45 among diners and it is expected to keep dropping.
2. Kale – According to the National Restaurant Association (November 12, 2015) and other sources such as Mashable (December 6, 2015), kale’s popularity has fallen off considerably, by as much as a 10% decline from 2015 to 2016.
3. “Buy Local” – There is a lot of conflicting information on “Local,” or “Hyper-Local.” While “Local” is desirable among shoppers and diners, it may not be sustainable as climates are changing. Instead, think “Bioregions,” where successful growers may pick up and move to better growing conditions in other regions. (Forbes Food & Agriculture, November 15, 2015)
4. Sweetened Yogurt – According to Food Business News (October 19, 2015) we may be seeing a shift from sweet to sour and more assertive tastes as we head into 2016. Food such as sweetened yogurts could begin to show a decline.
5. Skim Milk – Ironically, nutritionists are finding that low fat foods often stimulate people to eat more sugary foods. Whole milk, in moderation, is preferable to high quantities of sugary dairy concoctions. (Wall Street Journal Interview, November 11, 2015)
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6. Coconut Water – In the past few years we have seen everything coconut from juices to desserts. According to Mashable (November 9, 2015), coconut water and its many variations is now going out of favor.
7. Quinoa – The National Restaurant Association trend survey for 2016 indicated that the quinoa grain, wildly popular in the past few years, is expected to show a fall-off in dishes (as reported to Mashable).
8. GMOs – Despite all of the public relations put out by producers of GMO seeds in 2015, Technomic’s Take: 2016 Food Trends (October 26, 2015) shows that consumers are still wary of GMO’s and in many states there is a call for strict labeling.
9. Crackers and Tortillas – While obviously still very popular, Celebrity Chef Mareya Ibrahim is seeing a decline of foods with processed flour, such as crackers and tortillas, to favor flours made from sprouted grains (PR Newswire, November 3, 2015).
10. Hypermarkets – According to industry expert, Phil Lempert, the huge hypermarket, that tried to be everything to everyone, is giving way to smaller, local chains which is almost a return to the old-fashioned neighborhood supermarket (Phil’s 2016 Food Trend Forecast, November 19, 2015).
CLICK HERE to check out the Top 10 Food Trends for 2016 from Around the Web
