3 Food Trends You Need to Know
By Rieva Lesonsky
The food biz is vast—and it’s hard to keep up with what seem like constantly shifting consumer demands and other trends. Adweek magazine recently published an article, “8 Food Marketing Trends You Need to Know About Right Now.” Here’s some of what they mentioned; for the rest, read the article.
- Authenticity. The magazine says, “Consumers are demanding more morally conscious, real food…Consumers want to know exactly what they’re eating and where it’s from.” If you lie, consumers will quickly expose you and spread the word via social media.
- Child’s play. Cooking and kids is hot, as evidenced by a plethora of cooking shows on TV featuring kids (about six on Food Network alone). You don’t have to be in the food business to take advantage of this trend—kid chefs are scooping up cooking merchandise designed specifically for them. Adweek notes there are “cooking magazines and summer camps for tweens and teens.”
- The hotter the better. Last year it was Sriracha, but of course consumers are on the lookout for the next “hottest” flavor. Adweek says there’s a good chance it will come from Southeast Asia or the Middle East, and cites Technomic, a research and consulting company that says the next “in” flavor could be “ghost pepper, sumac, turmeric, sambal, dukka or gochujang.”
