Trend alert

Whole Foods Market predicts the 10 hottest food trends for 2020

Whole Foods Market has released its guide to 2020's hottest food trends.

Photo courtesy of Whole Foods Market

Ghosts and ghouls are already sharing shelf space with turkeys and Santas, but there is one bigger indicator that the retail calendar is now moving at breakneck speeds. Trend reports, once a media mainstay of the pre-Thanksgiving week, are now starting popping up well before Halloween.

At least in the food world, it’s a welcome change. After all, the coming holiday season is a whirlwind of entertaining. No one wants to be caught serving last year’s legumes with this year’s must-eat meat substitutes.

As usual, Whole Foods Market is ahead of the charge with its fifth annual roundup of upcoming culinary trends. Compiled by the company’s buyers and resident buyers, it provides a roadmap into chic holiday dining and beyond.

Regenerative agriculture
Though the phrase may be new to the foodie lexicon, the various farming practices under the regenerative agriculture umbrella have been around for hundreds of years. As part of an overall movement toward transparency, savvy shoppers are now wanting to know if farmers use techniques that enrich soil, aid biodiversity, and improve watersheds. Brands are following suit, whether they make tortilla chips, cheese, essential oil, or wine.

Flour power
In 2020, wheat flours will be as passé as Uggs and Juicy Couture. Instead, bakers will be using alternative flours made from ingredients like teff (the grass traditionally used in Ethiopian injera), cauliflower, tigernut, or banana. These “super” flours add a protein and fiber oomph to the average muffin — and taste delicious no matter what.

Foods from West Africa
The iconic flavors of West African cooking are undeniably electric and shaped modern American cuisine. By all means, diners should happily dip fufu in peanut soup and enjoy the smokey sizzle of jollof rice. What they shouldn’t do is diminish the culinary heritage of hundreds of millions of people by labeling it a mere “trend.”

Out-of-the-box, into-the-fridge snacking
With the assortment of salty chips, deceptive nutrition bars, and pressed cheese logs available at most stores, it’s no wonder snacking has such a bad name. But Whole Foods says the category will soon see a renaissance in the refrigerated section. Think hard-boiled eggs with savory toppings, pickled vegetables, fresh dips, and drinkable soups. Even bars are getting fresher with the addition of raw fruits and vegetables. All of it is a boon to customers who get hangry in the afternoon.

Plant-based, beyond soy
Soy you later. The vegan staple is taking a back seat to creative alternatives in the upcoming year. The trend is especially taking hold in the supplement aisle where mung bean, hempseed, pumpkin, avocado, and golden chlorella are subbed in as a way to avoid the common allergen. Meat alternatives and and classic condiments are also getting into the act. Why bust out the Kikkoman when you could have Ocean’s Halo organic no soy soy-free sauce?

Everything butters and spreads
In the future, only goobers will dip their paws in a jar of crunchy Jif. Watermelon seeds and macadamias are being made into newfangled spreads. Even chickpeas are taking a break from hummus. The trend is partly being driven by the paleo and keto crazes, but there is also environmental impact as brands eschew the use of ingredients like palm oil that can cause pollution.

Rethinking the kids’ menu
Kids may be driving JoJo Siwa’s career, but when it comes to food, they have a much more sophisticated palate. Fermented, spiced, and umami dishes are no longer off the table and alternative flours are reshaping pasta. And while chicken nuggets and fish sticks may always be popular among small fries, now they are organic and made without breading. Babies are also becoming epicures with wild caught salmon and pea basil puree pouches. Maybe it’s all those repeat viewings of Ratatouille.

Not-so-simple sugars
Like flours, sweeteners are getting a makeover as syrupy reductions from monk fruit, pomegranates, and coconut take the baton from agave nectar, stevia, and honey. For a deeper, molasses-like flavor, bakers can try concentrates made from sorghum or sweet potato. And coffee drinkers looking for a cup-to-cup, non-glycemic replacement for regular sugar can try Swerve, a product that combines erythritol (a common sugar alcohol food additive) with ingredients from fruit and root vegetables.

Meat-plant blends
A Depression-era idea is finding new currency with home cooks bulking up burgers and meatballs with a variety of veggies and grains. Though Americans first adopted the practice as a matter of economy, today the trend is being guided by the benefits of plant-based diets. Adding mushrooms and other “fillers” to meat cuts fat and cholesterol and sneaks in additional nutrients — all without sacrificing the beefy taste.

Zero-proof drinks
Carbonated or not, nonalcoholic beverages can often seem flat. Now, a new generation of booze-less sippers is borrowing distilling techniques to give the market some buzz. From zero-proof “liquors” to beverages infuses with botanicals and hops, today’s mocktails are just as spirited as their more spirited cousins.

trends

Eco Warrior News

Dallas restaurants doing amazing little things for the environment

Southwest Airlines

Cute bamboo cup from Southwest Airlines

One unfortunate legacy left by the pandemic has been a huge increase in the use of plastics — setting back progress that was being made pre-pandemic.

Plastics are bad. They harm everything they touch: the environment, health, food security, and economies. But they're convenient, subsidized, and in some cases necessary.

Before the pandemic, a growing awareness had started to snowball regarding the negative impact of plastics, particularly plastic straws and single-use plastic containers — and it was significant enough to make the plastics industry very nervous.

"In the two years leading up to the pandemic, the public backlash against plastic was a major concern for industry leaders," says a story about plastics and the pandemic in The Guardian. "As a corporate executive remarked during an industry event early in 2019: 'We need to get the image of plastic in oceans out of the public’s mind. Otherwise, we could lose our social license to operate.'"

But then the pandemic came along, igniting mass hysteria about contagion, and suddenly, bans on single-use plastics that had been in the works were reversed in countries around the world: North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

“Overnight, plastics went from public enemy No. 1 to consumers asking for everything to have as much packaging as possible and to be single use," said one gleeful analyst for Shell Oil, who are a major plastics player.

The urgency of the plastics situation remains invisible to most people, lined up at the drive-thru for their coffee or Chick-Fil-A, piling up nearly 250 pounds of plastic waste every year. (That's what the average American amasses — more than any other country.)

But there are brave, pro-environment efforts being made by Dallas companies and organizations, big and small.

La Casita Bakeshop cup Revolutionary compostable cup at La Casita Bakeshop.Facebook

Dallas efforts
The Dallas restaurants and organizations listed below have taken steps to fight waste, even though it costs them money.

Plastic Free Lunch Day is November 22
Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services will participate in Plastic Free Lunch Day on November 22, to help reduce the amount of single-use plastic in school cafeterias.

Plastic Free Lunch Day was started by middle school students in Brooklyn. The initiative was such a success that it was adopted by all New York City public schools in 2022. The concept has since spread to public schools across the country — including Dallas ISD, which was the first in Texas to participate, when it joined up in 2022.

It creates an opportunity to educate students and the community on ways to positively impact the environment, including skipping plastic. Dallas school cafeterias will replace the plastic items they regularly use during lunch with biodegradable alternatives. (Plastic cutlery, cups, and straws will be available upon request for the crybabies.)

Southwest Airlines bamboo cup
Southwest Airlines Co., the Dallas-based airline, has introduced a new bamboo cup for inflight cold beverages, and a wood stir stick in place of a plastic stick. The airline expects the new items to reduce its inflight single-use plastics by more than 1.5 million pounds annually.

In July 2024, Southwest transitioned to a paper overwrap for its napkins made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials — fully eliminating plastic from this service item. The airline is making an effort to eliminate single-use plastics from inflight service by 2030.

La Casita Bakeshop compostable cups
La Casita Bakeshop, the award-winning bakery and cafe operation, recently debuted fabulous new cups that are 100 percent compostable, soil- and marine-biodegradable, breaking down naturally after 90 days. and are made from natural materials.

"We are always trying to find ways to be more environmentally friendly and this is a big way we can," they said in their post announcing the new cups. "We just want to be proud of our paper trail and being a restaurant it's hard to do that."

Smoothie King biodegrable cups
Smoothie King, the Dallas-based smoothie chain, previously used styrofoam cups, but began testing a biodegradable cup in 2019. They now offer it as the default choice. They're using Vio Foam, specially made cups that biodegrade 92 percent in four years. They'll still accommodate whiny selfish customers who insist on getting a plastic cup instead, but their Vio foam cup not only helps the environment, it also keeps their smoothies cold a little longer.

Kate Weiser Recycle Box Program
Kate Weiser, the Dallas chocolatier, sells its gorgeous eye-catching bon-bons in a variety of boxes, from 4 pieces all the way up to 35 pieces. (OK, they'll sell them individually, too, but who goes to a chocolate shop and buys a single chocolate?) They have a program where you can bring your empty box to the store and get a refill and get 5 percent off. (Weiser amusingly calls it a "secret hack.")

Dude Sweet Chocolate freezer packaging
Dude Sweet Chocolate, the Oak Cliff chocolatier, has a next-level campaign in which they will accept cold-ship packaging you've received in the mail and re-use it. Say, for example, that you ordered an 8-pack of ice cream pints from Double Rainbow in San Francisco, and it arrived in a box with freezer packs and a foil liner. You can drop that packaging off at Dude Sweet's factory location at 1340 Inwood Rd., and they'll re-use it in one way or another when they're doing shipments of their chocolate.

Note: Whether you're putting it in the blue bin or the gray bin, your plastic is not being recycled. The best course when it comes to plastic, especially single-use plastic, is to not use it at all.

sustainability