The FDR team has taken a look at our food/beverage trend predictions made in 2017 and updated them to reflect where we are at in early 2023. The trends cover everything from Asian flavor trends in the USA to restaurant menu trends. Take a look…

International Flavor Trends In The USA Then And Now

Prediction: Asian Ice Cream

We said: Pictures of snow ice with boba, rolled ice cream, and pastel-colored mochi ice cream are filling up our social media feeds and making our mouths water. Read the full ice cream trend story in the blog post on foodanddrinkresources.com. (By the way, this linked-to blog post on Asian ice cream is the most popular page on the FDR website.)

2023 update: Google Trends tells us that

  • Japanese “mochi” has continued to creep up since 2016
  • Thai “rolled ice cream” peaked in the summer of 2016 and 2017 (and has leveled off since then)
  • Taiwanese “snow ice cream” was only mildly popular until the summer of 2021 when it saw a breakout search interest. We can thank TikTok and other social media for that. Videos of homemade snow ice cream have become pretty popular.

But it doesn’t take Google search data to prove that Asian ice cream has become more popular. In only a five-mile radius of the Food & Drink Resources (FDR) offices, we have several fun ice cream shops like SNOWL and Milkroll Creamery.

Prediction: Khachapuri

We said: Khachapuri is a Georgian (country, not U.S. State) dish of bread, cheese, and eggs. It’s a lot like American-style pizza or cheese bread with an egg on top, and it is delicious.

2023 update: The khachapuri food trend is a fun one to watch on Google Trends. You can see in the chart below that the dish was gaining interest in early 2016, but its popularity just kept ticking up until early 2022 when it peaked. We think its popularity may partly be a result of Oui Melrose in Los Angeles. Their menu features eight khachapuri dishes including some East Coast American-inspired varieties like cheesesteak and Maine lobster.

Other Georgian, Russian, and Armenian eateries are popping up elsewhere, too, including Portland and DC. We hope the trend continues.

Prediction: Seaweed

seaweed-food-trend
Pictured: Dried Seaweed

We said: Seaweed really is the new kale, or at least we are counting on it. Seaweed is sustainable and versatile. Seaweed is also used to create Kombu, a traditional Japanese flavor enhancer made from dried kelp to create dashi, a soup stock. In the United States, kombu is becoming popular for its wonderful umami taste.

2023 update: Seaweed is more popular at the grocery store, but not because it replaced kale. Take a look on the snack shelf and you’ll find dozens of roasted, crispy seaweed snacks in sea salt, teriyaki, and sesame flavors.

The terms “seaweed,” “kombu,” and “nori” (dried seaweed) did show some growth on Google Trends since 2017, and we do see some mention in food industry news, but nothing proves that it has or is about to take off in the United States. If anything, many of us are still working to get the word out about the food’s appeal. Click here to learn about an Oregon seafood event with this intention.

Entree Predictions Then And Now

Prediction: Pasta Is Still So Back In

We said: The October 2016 issues of Food Network Magazine, Food & Wine, and Bon Appétit all featured pasta dishes on the cover. When we wrote that carbs were cool in 2016, we didn’t know how long they’d stay that way or that the fervor would continue as a 2017 food trend. Thank goodness. We love it.

2023 update: We still love it. In fact, we talked a little bit about pasta’s perseverance in our 2016 food trends update, but it’s worth adding that TikTok pasta creations and inflation are also contributing to pasta’s continued trending-ness. Even though the cost of noodles has gone up considerably, it’s still a cost-effective and versatile food to prepare. Plus, there are lots of gluten-free and veg-laden pasta varieties making it accessible to almost everyone, including restaurant brands on a budget.

Prediction: Meatless Entrees

We said: Many restaurants and manufacturers are presenting meatless entrees to satisfy their environmentally-conscious and health-conscious diners. Plant-based protein is essential on 2017 menus.

2023 update: This one is a no-brainer. Plant-based meats like those from Impossible Foods are now ubiquitous. We can’t necessarily say the same thing about the sustainable protein trend we predicted, but we are getting closer to what we predicted about eating crickets and offal.

Ingredient Trends Then And Now

Prediction: Jackfruit

We said: Jackfruit is becoming a very popular substitute for meat. The fruit is huge and shreddable, which makes for a fantastic yield.

2023 update: Jackfruit is now an official darling among vegetarians and vegans in the Western world. You can find a number of jackfruit-meat-replacement products from prepared wings to canned fruit. Researchers are confident jackfruit will see strong growth in the next 10 years, too.

Prediction: Dragonfruit

2017 food trends
Pictured: Sliced Dragonfruit

We said: Dragonfruit is the new acai with its powerful antioxidant content. Dragonfruit is native to Mexico and Central America and is a “night-blooming climbing cactus.” Sounds lovely, right?

2023 update: The Google Trends chart for dragonfruit looks a lot like the above chart for jackfruit except the jumps upward start later in 2018. Dragonfruit is especially popular in juice and tea. In fact, some are calling dragonfruit the “flavor of the year in 2023.”

If you’re interested in dragonfruit growing and distribution, this recent article from The New York Times is worth a read.

Prediction: Especially Dark

black-rice-trend
Pictured: Japanese Black Rice

We said: It starts with vegetables all different ways—smoked, charred, dark roasted—and continues to other dark foods like black rice.

2023 update: While we love the idea of black rice on the plate, this trend hasn’t taken off like we anticipated. Google Trends shows peaks in 2010 and 2014 but from 2015 onward its popularity seems to have remained consistently low. Perhaps black rice a/k/a forbidden rice a/k/a purple rice won’t go mainstream anytime soon. However, we do enjoy seeing the different recipes on food blogs – like this one – and magazine profiles of the food – like this one.

Prediction: Seeds

We said: The National Restaurant Association named protein-rich seeds as one of its Top 20 Food Trends this year. We agree. Flax, chia, hemp, pumpkin, nigella, and sunflower seeds are showing up everywhere in restaurants and grocery stores; the seed trend is growing in 2017.

2023 update: It’s still true. You can find seeds in alternative dairy, snack foods, bread, and breakfast foods like oatmeal, granola, and acai bowls nowadays.

But is it revolutionizing the culinary world? No.

Is it welcomed by those on plant-based or other health-conscious diets? Certainly.

Cooking Trends Then And Now

Prediction: Souping

We said: Instead of smoothies nowadays, it’s all about fruit soups. Even dragonfruit soups! Served cold and made mostly of pureed fruits and chunks of fruit, these soups make a nice dessert. Look for them popping up on menus throughout the country.

2023 update: A chilled tomato and stone fruit soup sounds delightful for a summer meal on the patio. However, beyond a few recipes, there is very little information about fruit soup trends that we can find. This food trend prediction from 2017 appears to have fallen flat.

Prediction: Flavored Butters

We said: Chefs have long created their own compound butters to simplify recipes. Look for more prepared flavored butters in retail now, too.

2023 update: Butter is back. We can eat fat again. Turns out, it’s something the body needs (in moderation of course). This awareness on top of the butter board trend and growth of compound butter CPG brands, like our friends at Epicurean Butter, means that butter of all flavors is becoming more commonplace in the consumer market.

Drink Trends Then And Now

Prediction: Sparkling Water

We said: The LaCroix craze isn’t going anywhere.

2023 update: This is a trend prediction we talked about in both 2016 and 2017. The surge was big partly because sparkling water is often used in lieu of sugary mixers in cocktails. Plant water in cocktails and low-alcohol cocktails have continued to trend pretty hard, too. (Keep reading for more on sober spirits.)

Prediction: Crowlers

We said: For years, many have taken home their favorite microbrews in a glass container called a growler. Now, these same brewers are canning beer in what has been cleverly coined a “Crowler.” (Can meets growler…get it?)

2023 update: Crowlers did become more popular at breweries, especially during the COVID years when to-go alcohol orders kept many restaurants and breweries afloat. Crowlers are recyclable, cheap to make, and the consumer doesn’t have to remember to bring them back every time they want a refill.

We’d like to add…that canned alcoholic beverages of all kinds are commonplace in 2023. Need we remind you of all those flavored seltzers? And the canned wine options, too!

zero-proof and low-ABV cocktails

Prediction: Teatotalism

We said: More and more restaurants are adding mocktails to the menu that go beyond Shirley Temples. Think alcohol-free gin and rose-scented iced tea instead.

2023 update: We are writing this article in January, a time when “dry January” articles and social media posts abound. Most of these articles feature recipes for fancy concoctions meant to trick your mind into thinking you are drinking alcohol when it’s really just juice. That level of sugar doesn’t jive for many, which also explains why many celebrities have attached their names to alcohol-free, low or no-sugar CPG beverage lines, some of which are even sold in cans (like we talked about in the entry above).

Back in 2017, we predicted a sober spirit trend, but it’s turned out to be a far bigger than we anticipated. Many local restaurants and bars are getting extensive coverage for their unique approach to mocktails. There are even sober bars opening up in big cities across the US. According to an article from Business Insider, sober drinks have become an industry segment of their own.

“Consumers have picked up on the growing non-alcoholic beverage market, too. Non-alcoholic spirit sales nearly doubled in 2022, according to Nielsen IQ data, far surpassing the sales increases of non-alcoholic wine and beer.” – Business Insider

Cuisine Trends Then And Now

Prediction: Nikkei Cuisine

We said: We cringe when we hear “fusion.” It’s so…1990s. However, it adequately describes the strong restaurant concept trend toward Nikkei cuisine. Japan and Peru have a long cultural history between them, which has resulted in a melding of ingredients and techniques.

2023 update: We indeed have better words for fused cuisines nowadays. We especially like “chaos cooking” (as described in this article on DenverPost.com). Yes, Nikkei is found in the fine dining space throughout the world, not just in Peru where it began. However, it does not appear to be mainstream. Yet. We’ll keep waiting.

Read this article in Food & Wine about Sen Sakana, a Manhattan restaurant doing Nikkei right.

Prediction: Shawarma

We said: Shawarma refers to a style of Arab meat preparation. It is often lamb, chicken, beef, or a mix that is grilled on a spit. Coming near you!

2023 update: Love a chart that shows strong upward growth. Google Trends data for shawarma is interesting, especially seeing how it is so popular in Michigan. This is likely due to the large population of people who have relocated from Middle Eastern countries to the Detroit area. There are several national shawarma restaurant brands we have our eyes on including The Halal Guys, which has a location in Aurora, Colorado, not far from FDR’s office.

Prediction: Elegant Retro 1960s Cuisine

We said: American culture in the 1960s was defined by war, rations, TV dinners, and…elegance. We’re talking Beef Wellington and Beef Bourguignon. In 2017, many local restaurants started to include such items on their menus, too. (Read about it here.)

2023 update: According to Google Trends, these elegant beef dishes continue to be popular today. Others in the industry are confident retro foods will be gaining popularity in 2023 still. Take a look at this article from In The Know. We like this line from Chef Brian Hatfield, Surveyor at Thompson Washington D.C.: “I think that the trend in 2023 and beyond could be seeing more throwback flavors, simplified techniques and emphasis on executing that comfortable nostalgia with sustainable quality ingredients.”

We also need to take this opportunity to pat ourselves on the back for nailing this trend prediction. According to Google Trends’ Year In Search Report, “Beef Stroganoff recipe” was the most searched-for recipe in 2017. See the full Google report here.

Snack Trends Then And Now

Prediction: Cheetos For The Young Ones

We said: What will grab this generation by the horns? What item do young people have the “hots” for? Cheetos!

2023 update: In 2017, Taco Bell, Burger King, and others—even popups—were tying Cheetos into the menu to attract those millennials. (Check out these Cheetos recipe suggestions from FDR.)

This might be one of the most dramatic Google Trends charts we’ve seen. It proves consumer interest in Cheetos was at a serious high in the summer of 2016.

It doesn’t seem that Cheetos went mainstream on the menu, but culturally, the snack continues to pervade. Though, it’s not just Cheetos. Takis are very popular. Some chefs/artists are even displaying their own take, including Chef Jenner Tomaska at Chicago’s Esmé. (Please click here to see. The video of the cheese puff extruding process is one of a kind.)

Prediction: Global Appetizer Trends

We said: Given how international tastes are a strong food trend these days, we thought it only appropriate to see how global flavors are landing in appetizers. Read the full article on the appetizer trend here.

2023 updates: International flavors on American menus are not going away. It’s not a trend anymore. It’s an expectation.

Diners want flavors that are both familiar and new. Satisfying and challenging. It’s not enough to just offer burgers and salads anymore. Restaurants must provide interest. That’s a fact.

Trends That Didn’t Make The Cut

Some of our trend predictions from our original article didn’t make the cut for this 2023 update. For instance, we thought live fire cooking and incense on the table would become more mainstream. We also thought that Oko Nam Yaki (savory Japanese pancakes) would appear on more menus. But…there’s not much data to report on either.

There’s also this article we wrote about brunch cocktails in 2016. There’s no doubt that brunch has become more popular in recent years (it’s not just an east coast or west coast thing anymore), and with it, morning cocktails, too. However, that’s an analysis all its own.

Last, but not least, there’s pie. We love pie. But the data is noisy and it was tough to pin down pie’s trendiness in our research. However, this article from Food & Wine has us optimistic that pie could take center stage soon.

Our Research Methodology

The FDR team observes the menus in culinary centers such as New York, Los Angeles, and even Denver/Boulder and Dallas and Houston. We also look to industry associations and research organizations such as Mintel, Technomic, and others that we linked to throughout this post. FDR’s own consumer research arm provides insights from our onsite focus groups, CLTs, and other tests, too.

We also look at Google Trends, a Google tool that provides analytical data of top Google search queries across various regions and languages. We recognize this data is not bulletproof but it does provide insights we find useful.

Thanks for stopping by and reading the Food & Drink Resources blog. Here we talk about food trends, culinary innovation, and the work of our team.