Food Trends to Look Out For
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This article discusses the new and coming food and health trends that will rule the scene in 2022, with a special focus on local Texan food producers.
It took a global pandemic and some profound disruption to daily routines for us to alter the way we eat, sleep, and, basically, function. As a result, our food consumption and flavor preferences changed as well, inevitably transforming our shopping and eating habits.
Americans have had a wake-up call of sorts when it comes to food and nutrition, and we are having to rethink what appears on our plates. More sustainable, flavorful, and local food reigned in 2021 as “immunity-boosting”, “gut-friendly”, and “flexitarian-diets” remained some of the highest searched food terms on the internet.
2022 will see an expansion of the new normal; mindful eating, zero waste recipes, home cooking, growing your own food are no longer ideas unheard of.
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for health and nutrition in 2022 and so, TexasRealFood lines up some widely trending foods about to take off. We even take it a step further and let you know where to catch them locally in Texas!
Healthy Life Vs Long Life
The time in our life when we are disease-free and pain-free is really what people are aiming to extend. The aged misconception that our metabolism begins to slow down in our twenties no longer exists, and more people are willing to incorporate lifestyle changes to enhance health standards. Thus, enter a renewed focus on life-enriching practices like functional nutrition, cupping, chiropractic therapy, and more.
Additionally, 2022 is calling to reduce your LDL levels, support healthy blood glucose, and reduce chronic inflammation. To aid this, physical activities will shift towards healthspan-promoting exercises like muscle building, strength training, and HIIT, while mood-boosting routines like forest bathing continue to become more popular.
Functional Nutrition for the Win
Ever got your bloodwork in, and the doctor tells you, “everything looks normal.” But you still can’t rid yourself of that fatigue you feel all day. Functional nutrition is coming to find out exactly why your headache won’t go away. There’s no way a painkiller deficiency caused that headache for you to be given one. There must be a root cause for that headache. Functional nutrition is not about treating a specific symptom, nor is it concerned with a person’s label, such as fibromyalgia, IBS or arthritis. Rather it deals with identifying the source of imbalances that created these sets of symptoms and diving deep into why your body doesn’t function at its optimal best.
In 2022, we will look towards non-conventional yet effective ways to address those discrete and lingering aches and pains. Recovering from long COVID-19 symptoms will also lead to more patients needing in-depth analysis into why they suffer from certain symptoms long after recovering from the virus. Niti, a functional nutritionist from Back2Basics, Irving, helps you understand more about the importance of nutrition in maintaining optimal health.
Burnout is not Welcome
Gone are the days when meeting deadlines took precedence over health and wellness. Dealing with the emotional and mental anguish of a seemingly never-ending pandemic, we finally have had enough. Sure, we can’t run from the things that stress us, but we can support our bodies to handle burnout better! Next year, you will see an increased demand for adaptogens such as ashwagandha, maca root, and functional mushrooms. These nutrients help our bodies negate the detrimental effect of stress and are known to boost motivation, support energy and reduce fatigue.
Indulge with Moderation
Let’s admit it; we snacked like there was no tomorrow during COVID-19. Savory snacks, cookies, and ice cream-snack sales surged as we brushed crumbs off our pj’s and worked off the couch. But a conscious few also looked at a chip with curiosity and wondered if any came without the post-snacking guilt. 2022 will continue to see the rise of ‘healthful snacks’, as small-scale producers strive to give locally made, small-batch, freshly prepared, minimally processed snacks to our community. So, go out into the new year and ditch the Frito Lay. Instead, refine your snacking game and try K's Kitchen for some amazingly crunchy kale chips!
Vertical Farms and Indoor Gardening is Going Up, Up, Up
Indoor gardening has been trending for a while now, but pandemic-driven shortages convinced us that the time to grow our food is now. Hydroponics, aquaponics, backyard gardens, people have turned towards gardening in huge ways and in 2022, this trend will get even better.
Did you know that perennial herbs are straightforward to grow indoors? So even if you can’t cultivate a full-scale veggie patch, you can always look into indoor gardening and have fresh herbs ready for your cooking!
Check out some perennial herbs you can grow indoors, and join the modern indoor farming trend!
What’s Better than Flavor with Function?
We’ve long known that herbs and spices make our food more flavorful, but it took us a deadly virus for us to understand that the very same spices can boost our immunity and fend off ails and illnesses. Ingredients such as cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, basil, thyme, sage and rosemary, used in traditional medicines for centuries, will continue to shine in the kitchen next year. Make golden milk with fresh turmeric or add a five-spice mix to a nourishing broth. Either way, spices will be your friend in 2022.
More Functional Sparkling Fizz and Less Buzz
With millennials and Gen Z-ers dabbling in ‘drysolation’ during the pandemic, a new line of beverages offers elevated taste and sophisticated cocktails minus the buzz. Sparkling drinks are creating quite the noise because of the recent healthy lifestyle revolution. However, Kombucha is not the only healthy bubbly drink in town. 2022 will bring with it more probiotic sodas, prebiotic tonic waters, and other fizzy functional beverages. Drinks such as hard kombucha and packaged tea enhanced with beer-strength alcohol are also taking up market share. Non-alcoholic spirits are booming in 2022 and sales are expected to increase by at least 35 per cent by 2023. Are you looking for some non-buzzy drinks in Texas?
But consumers aren’t cutting alcohol completely. So here are some seasonal beverages for that perfect holiday vibes.
Levantine Cuisine
Touted as arguably the healthiest cuisine, Levantine food is taking over in a big way. Consumers are intrigued by Mediterranean tagines, Greek spanakopita, stuffed and baked phyllo pastry, Turkish kebabs and koftas, and the famed Arabian Hummus. The Levantine cuisine incorporates rich and nutritious ingredients such as seeds, extra virgin olive oil, molasses (how long does molasses last?), ferments, ancient grains, protein sources like fish and chickpea, and antioxidant-rich pomegranates and okra are integral elements of their dishes, and this is why this style of food will outshine others in 2022. If you don’t want to miss out on this food trend, hop on here and find these Levantine restaurants in Texas!
CBD
There was a time when cannabidiol wasn’t on the mainstream radar. Brands didn’t want to invest in it, retailers weren’t interested in carrying products on their shelves, and consumers were, at the very least, wary of CBD infused goods. Cut to today, interest in CBD products has seen an upsurge, thanks to the growing demand for healthy foods and CBD’s claimed benefits for mental health and wellness. Interestingly, CBD products are moving away from the health food shops, and into drinks and food products, so it is certainly an area worth exploring for fine food retailers. Stores are across the state selling tinctures and topicals. Much of the sudden spike in popularity is thanks to a Texas law that legalized hemp, the plant from which CBD is derived.
But this explosion of general inclination in CBD comes with a warning.
Anyone can sell CBD in Texas. And because of relaxed labeling and licensing policies, it is advisable to investigate thoroughly the brand you source CBD from. Custom Botanical Dispensary and 1937 Apothecary are two reputed Texan brands you can pick clean and trusted CBD products from!
Online Grocery Shopping and Food Delivery
Like most industries, the food segment was hit badly due to the pandemic. Many eateries were shut down, yet many more were saved from the brink of closure thanks to their quick thinking. COVID-19 has made the ability to deliver take away and have an accessible online order system of prime importance. Many diners have been saved by putting extra focus and introducing takeaway concepts. We believe it is necessary to survive in the food industry in 2022.
The Cooking Robots are Coming
The wave of robots and automation in the dining industry is by far the latest and the most exciting food trend we are looking out for in 2022.
While automation or the practice of using robots in the food industry is not brand new, it wasn’t until the pandemic that the food service industry started to look closely towards working robots.
La Duni, an American Latin restaurant in Texas, has introduced robots to serve and welcome guests. Coqueta, the host assistant, helps you to your table. Alexcita, the beverage runner, brings you your bottle of beer. And Panchita, the food runner, serves food at your seat.
We will see a greater push for automation from the food sector in the coming year, particularly in quick service outlets, where speed, quality, and consistency are important. There is definitely scope for automation across the board to cut down tedious and repetitive tasks, like food prep, so restaurants can focus on more value-added services, like producing new dishes.
More Ghost Kitchens
Ghost kitchens evolved directly from the pandemic when dining-in became a challenge, but they are here to stay, it seems. 2022 will see the continued emergence of ghost kitchens throughout Texas and the entire country. Ghost kitchens, or cloud kitchens like the Chicken Salad Shoppe, are basically restaurants without a dining room. However, they do physically exist. You can find them inside an existing restaurant or in a commercial kitchen close to hotspots in town. Most ghost kitchens sell their food via delivery. Restaurateurs connect with third-party companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash, who pick your food from a ghost kitchen and drop it off on your doorstep.
Are ghost kitchens the future of restaurants? Well, yes and no.
Consumers crave delivery food from local eateries, and ghost kitchens can fill that need. But ghost kitchens cannot substitute the in-person restaurant experience where people interact and enjoy a space outside their home.
Which food trends do you think will be raging in 2022? Drop in a comment and let us know!
While we're on the subject of ghost kitchens, how about the topic of ghost towns? These are 8 Texas ghost towns you can visit with your family. They're surprisingly not as scary as you'd think.
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