While no one could have predicted Food and Dining the worldwide pandemic, toilet paper shortage, and mini pancake cereal craze that appeared in 2020, these 21 trends are sure to start popping up on plates in 2021.
If you’re like us, you’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of 2021. What a year it’s been. As the sun sets on 2020.
And who better to tap for projected dining trends than some our nation’s top tastemakers: The chefs, restaurant owners, registered dietitians, culinary school instructors, grocery product managers, and bartenders that set the stage for foods we line up for (masks on and at a distance, please), follow on social media, and what we cook for our families at home.
What’s in store for 2021, you ask? A lot—and like everything in life of late, it’s going to look very different from any pre-pandemic predictions. Here’s what 17 of our nation’s top food experts can tell you about dining trends to come.
Healthy-ish Cocktails
“Consumers are reaching for more alcohol-free spirits, low-calorie alcoholic beverages, and boozy versions of popular healthy beverages ahead of 2021. Hard kombucha is up 320 percent in searches across the Instacart marketplace and searches for brands across the hard seltzer category were up 519 percent from last year. Homemade craft cocktails have been popular in 2020 with the work-from-home crowd. We’ve seen sales for trendy alcohol-free spirits boom, increasing by 195 percent year-over-year. Perhaps consumers are looking to turn over a new leaf in 2021 with tasty, guilt-free libations.”
A Return to Comfort
“Instead of chefs and restaurateurs struggling to find an exciting new ingredient or outlandish new promotion, 2021 will focus on getting back a sense of balance.