Trend alert!

Happy New Year my lovelies! At the beginning of each year, I look at what food trends experts are forecasted and my inbox is overflowing with predictions for 2020.

So, let’s see what the New Year is offering us. Bord Bia is looking at consumer trends and is projecting that food on the go is to gain even more popularity in 2020 but with healthy alternatives rather than the greasy burger or flat ham and cheese sandwich. I'm still not sure why large fast food chains are reporting record growth over the last few years though! But it does seem that consumers are looking for healthier options with Uber and Deliveroo reporting growth in the food delivery area with more and more restaurants joining the home delivery companies.

In the US it is even predicted that some food businesses will concentrate completely on home deliveries in shared kitchens rather than running a café or restaurant.

On the diet side of things, flexitarians are on the rise, which is a good thing in my eyes. Having a more balanced diet with less meat but more vegetable-based meals can only enhance our wellbeing. The low carb diet keto is also forecast to grow by 5.3 per cent by 2024. I haven’t looked into this relatively new diet yet, so can’t give an opinion on it, but one will be coming soon.

The new superfood for 2020 is brussel sprouts which is said to be very similar in nutritional value as kale - Irish growers will be happy to hear that! Chefs will hopefully come up with some nice ideas on how to make these little green balls tasty. Could there be such a thing as tasty brussel sprouts?

Fermentation is here to stay in 2020 and chefs like Bryan McCarthy in Greenes and Rob Krawczyk at Chestnut doing some very creative work with their pickles and as Japanese cuisine is traditionally rich in fermented foods, Ichigo Ichie is the place to look out for. My Goodness in the English Market is selling fermented cabbage and kimchi in jars that you can return for a discount on your next purchase. Eating more fermented food is good for your gut and overall health and recommended by food professionals across the globe.

Something to look out for are low-alcohol drinks. Seedlip is one of the first non alcoholic gins and they have managed to re-create the gin flavour. It’s not cheap, actually it has the price tag of a medium priced gin, so you won’t want to get ‘drunk’ on it.

Have you ever wondered who comes up with these trends? Who decides what a trend is? So why don’t we just create our own trends?