NEW FOOD TRENDS: WHAT RESTAURATEURS NEED TO KNOW

Where did the food on my plate come from? How was it prepared? Does my meal fit in with my food philosophy? More and more people around the world are thinking about their nutrition, eating habits and enjoyment. Read on to find out about food trends like snackification and flexitarianism and how they are affecting our society's food culture—and what this all means for chefs and restaurant owners.

Restaurateurs and chefs are at the centre of all of this ... and it can be scary. But it doesn't have to be. There is huge potential in the growing significance of food. Plus, despite media reports of growing numbers of restaurant closures and the age-old problem of finding staff, industry sales in Germany grew year on year from €30 billion in 2011 to over €39 billion in 2017. Statistics portal, Statista, predicts further growth, reaching €45 billion by 2023. The out-of-home market is growing in the USA, too, with sales of $560 billion in 2017 predicted to rise to over $627 billion by 2020.

We advise restaurateurs not to try and have their fingers in all of these pies! Specialising in one area makes sense, economically and otherwise. You can find ideas for how to apply all this in our article on ‘Food service concepts – how restaurants, bars, and cafés are pulling in the crowds.’

In layman's terms: if meat is not the centrepiece of someone's meals but they are not vegetarian or vegan, they are flexitarian. When flexitarians do eat meat or fish, it has to be high quality and organic. According to the online portal Statista, around 5% of Europe's population are flexitarian and in the USA it is 6%. In Asia and Africa, flexitarians already account for 16% of the population. Flexitarians are motivated by the health benefits of their diet, and combating factory farming and its negative impact on the environment.

Greenpeace calculates that livestock farming causes around 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions globally. They also thought increased meat consumption is harmful to health. The German Nutrition Society (DGE) recommends a meat intake of just 300–600 g per week. Yet, in Germany, average per capita meat consumption is around 700 g per week. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued official advice to eat less red and processed meat due to the increased cancer risk. Flexitarians have therefore found the right and sustainable route towards better health and protecting our environment.

The figures may seem small at first glance but, despite that, vegetarians and vegans are definitely responsible for the plant-based boom within the food industry. When we consider efforts to improve animal welfare on farms and to reduce the CO2 emissions caused by livestock rearing, it is clear that vegetarianism and veganism have earned a special place as a sustainable trend within the food service sector—and most businesses have already adapted. Together with organic produce from the local farm and made into local specialities in the kitchen, it is the key to reaching an ever-growing target market.

The ‘Future 50 Foods’ report was published in 2019 by Knorr and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It identifies 50 foods which are sustainable, provide the human body with everything it needs and are tasty, too! Many foods on the list are good old favourites like spinach, lentils, watercress, red cabbage, amaranth, and walnuts—but it also contains some lesser known options like wakame seaweed and orange tomatoes.

Restaurant owners can also make impactful, sustainable changes in how they procure and store their food. They should avoid single-use plastics and minimise the waste they produce.