2006 - 2020: what's happened, how has it changed, what defined these years, what does it mean for the future? We took on the huge task of dissecting the past 15 years of trends across food and beverage and compiled our findings into our recent E-Book which provides as huge insight and a valuable resource in providing a clear map as to where we are in the evolution of food & drink.
We've pulled out three years from the book to remind ourselves of what what happening at that time, as well as giving you a feel for what you can expect from the book.
2006 - Let's start from the beginning. The Pantone of the year is Sand Dollar, Oxford Dictionary's word of the year is 'Bovvered' and it is the year where molecular gastronomy created new textures, formats and techniques making kitchen an exciting place to learn.
Comfortably one of the biggest trends of 2008 was small and sharing plates becoming big news. The concept works for both the consumer, who's able to try a greater variety of dishes in one sitting and the restaurant who can feasibly increase their margins.The love for small plates was indeed fostered by our love for global cuisines, with the popularity of Mexican and Scandinavian food (amongst others) bringing a sharing-style ethos to eating.
Discover 2008 in full detail over in the 15 Years In Food & Beverage Trends E-Book.
2013 - Pantone of the year is Emerald, the UK's most influential chefs include Gordon Ramsey, Jason Atherton, Nigel Slater and Yotam Ottolenghi and it's the year that the Cronut was invented by Dominique Ansel and his New York Bakery.
We saw Chia become our seeds of choice due to their enviable health benefits; we were introduced to the inaugural Free From Awards, the industry's only award recognising "free from" foods; we saw Coca Cola introduce their hugely popular marketing campaign 'Share a Coke' which saw bottles labeled with 150 of the most popular names at the time; and German retailer Lidl trialled healthy checkouts whereby chocolate and crisps were replaced with health-promoting snacks.
Discover 2013 in full detail over in the 15 Years In Food & Beverage Trends E-Book.
2019 - More recently, 2019 is the year we see Coral land as Pantone of the year, a year full of political wrangling over a divisive Brexit which led to a change of Prime Minister in the UK as well as an unexpected General Election - yes this was only two years ago!
The year kicked off with a Veganuary campaign bigger than ever, setting the tone for another year of growth for plant-based eating, one where vegan became commonplace in QSR outlets such as KFC, Byron and Leon. Alongside vegan and plant-based, sustainability continued to become a more common talking point with growing concern over these 12 months on food waste in particular. This prompted supermarket Morrisons to introduce their Too Good To Waste box which saw them sell items at the end of their shelf life that were still good to eat.
Other noticeable events in 2019 included the limited edition Taco Bell Hotel, Whole Foods launching a smaller convenience store concept in New York, and fire cooking come to the fore over the summer with smoke and char being two words that succinctly sum up cooking in the summer of 2019.
Discover 2019 in full detail over in the 15 Years In Food & Beverage Trends E-Book.
When asked for feedback on the book, one of our recent customers said: "[It is] an excellent summary of the culinary and food trends compiled in one e-book makes it an invaluable resource!"
The E-Book costs £25, of which £24 goes to the TFP Foundation, a worthy and great cause we're proud to support. Click here for an 8 page sneak peak of the e-bookor if you want to purchase and download the E-Book in full, click here.