Food & Beverage Trends in 2020

Looking to eat healthier in 2020? Food and beverage manufacturers are enhancing food and making it even more flavorful for every dietary need. Here are five trends that will be even more popular this year:

Plant-based Craze

Some of the 100% plant-based meat products leaders include Impossible, Beyond Meat, No Evil Foods, Schouten and Gardein. They continue to develop more products in 2020 including plant-based meat balls, sausage and crumble for tacos.

Butchers and meat brands won’t be left out of this vegetarian and vegan “plant-based” craze in 2020. More meat-eating consumers will swap a traditional beef burger for one with 30% plant-based ingredients, to achieve healthier benefits including less fat and cholesterol when compared to USDA data for regular ground beef.

Chefs across the country have been providing these types of burgers through James Beard Foundation’s The Blended Burger Project, a movement that strives to make the iconic burger “better for customers and for the planet” by blending in at least 25% fresh mushrooms. Guests vote for their favorite chef’s burger. The 2019 winning chefs include Meredith Manee, Ritz-Carlton’s Burger Shack, Kapalua, Kapalua, HI, Justin Medina, Playalinda Brewing Company – Brix Project, Titusville, FL, Robert Repp, Hops at 84 East, Holland, MI, Eric Rivera, Vintage Year, Montgomery, AL and Jacqueline Sampson, Pompano Grill, Cocoa Beach, FL.

For the health-conscious home chefs, adding onions, spinach, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes and other plant-based ingredients to meatballs and burgers is healthier and better for your budget.

Hard Seltzers

Following the craze of the hard seltzer summer of 2019, forecasters predict this area to grow even more in 2020. Americans spent 210% more on hard seltzers from the previous year, according to data from Nielsen Holdings.

New to enter the market is Hecho, a first-of-its-kind tequila beverage in a can. Made with just two ingredients – carbonated water and 100% Blue Agave Tequila Blanco from producers in Tequila, MX. Hecho is a clean, gluten-free ready-to-drink craft cocktail with zero sweetener and no artificial flavoring. Best of all it is under 100 calories.

Non-dairy beverages

Almost every nut is now made into a milk beverage, including almond, sunflower, walnut and cashew. For 2020 these non-dairy alternatives will continue to be used to make cheese, yogurts and ice cream.

In 2019 a new non-dairy milk alternative surfaced – oat milk. It will continue to soar, becoming one of the hits of the year for morning coffee and cereal. Now this vegan beverage is enhanced with nuts and seed proteins by OATH Organic Oat Milk, giving this beverage 15 grams of plant protein. Delicious spices and botanicals give this beverage additional health benefits to boost metabolism and enhance mood.

Drink one of these flavored oat milks as a breakfast replacement, or as a healthy snack after a workout. Freeze OATH milk for an ice cream treat in the afternoon or evening.

OATH is offered in four flavors including an Indian Rose Oat Milk enhanced with almond and pumpkin seed protein. This oat milk made with Indian Rose, saffron, fennel and nutmeg offering 16 grams of plant protein and 8 grams of fiber.

Other upgraded flavors include Matcha Chai Oat Milk with pumpkin seed protein and Golden Turmeric Oat Milk made with almond and pumpkin seeds.

For chocolate lovers, enjoy Double Chocolate Oak Milk with almond protein producing a boost of energy and endorphin releasing drink. This creamy full-bodied beverage is made with rich organic cacao infused with organic vanilla beverage. It has 15 grams of plant protein and 10 grams of fiber per serving. This can also be served warm for soothing hot chocolate or freeze for a rich chocolate ice treat.OATH is organic, vegan, kosher, ethically sourced and never made with gums, dairy, soy, gluten, processed sugars or GMO’s.

Interesting Butters

Grab and Go healthy snacks including seed butters will continue to be popular. Look for watermelon seed butter and pumpkin seed butter year-round in 2020. Nut butters beyond cashew, almond, and peanut will now include macadamia nut butter and even chickpea butters. These creamy vegan spreads are ideal with veggies, to spread on toast, crackers and bagels.

Many brands are looking to either eliminate the use of palm oil or promote a responsibly sourced palm oil certification with less impact on the environment.

Justin Gold’s company Justin’s creates new varieties of protein packed nut butters that taste great, especially when he covers them in chocolate. His one-of-a-kind grinding process merges high-quality nuts into naturally delicious butters offering pleasing taste, texture and nutrition.

Some of his new products include Coconut Almond Butter, Cashew Butter Covered Cashews, Almond Butter Covered Almonds,Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups, Dark Chocolate Cashew Butter Cups, Classic Cashew Butter,Maple Cashew Butter and Cinnamon Almond Butter. They are great for lunch boxes, hikes, and after a workout to give you a boost of energy.

Fun Flours

Since more people are experiencing stomach and digestive issues, see a rise in grain free and gluten-free products throughout 2020. Unique flours are entering the market making baking easier for at home cooks. Brazil’s yuca root flour and teff flour used for Ethiopian dishes will become even more popular this year.

Now in the freezer section at Costco and retail grocery stores, Brazi Bites is a gluten-free cheese bread that was featured on ABC’s Shark Tank. It’s different than any type of cheese bread in America, because it is made with non-gluten tapioca flour, made from a South American yuca root. It’s mixed with eggs, milk and fresh cheddar/parmesan cheese.

Cauliflower Crust

More products are being made with cauliflower for people with celiac and certain food allergies. A company named ‘feel good foods’ makes frozen and ready to pop-in-your-oven food and snacks made with cauliflower crust. These chef-inspired products include eggrolls, taquitos, empanadas and potstickers. They can be found at Von’s, Sprouts, and Albertsons.

Pizza restaurants will continue to offer cauliflower pizza crust, and more restaurants will continue to make cauliflower rice. Plantpower makes cauliflower sandwich thins, as a bread alternative, and according to a spokesperson at Trader Joe’s, they sell cauliflower pancakes and gnocchi, Kung Pao tempura cauliflower, riced cauliflower, mashed cauliflower, frozen rainbow cauliflower and cauliflower pizza crust.

Bon Appétit!