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2023 brought new, old, and continued food trends. We saw Barbie pink pasta, nostalgic feel-good classics and unshakable global cuisines. Diving into 2024, we look forward to new, fresh flavours. What big foodie trends are going to drop in 2024? Let’s dive into the insights.

Health

It’s been many years since IGD identified ‘health’, ‘convenience’ and ‘indulgence’ as the three key drivers of innovation for food and drink (Grocer). Health is becoming increasingly important to consumers with gut health, bone health and blood sugar proving popular, driving retailer’s product development. Marks and Spencer aim for 70% of total food sales to come from healthier foods. The retailer is supporting customers who want to make healthier choices that are right for them, with no compromise on taste, quality, or convenience. Recently Marks and Spencer announced a collaboration with nutrition-science company ZOE with the launch of M&S Food x ZOE Gut Shot in their pledge to promote gut health.

Taste The World

With 92% of UK consumers eating world cuisines in the last three months (Mintel), the need for new cuisines continues, driven from street food vendors. Although consumers are looking for new, authentic flavours, there’s also movement towards well-known flavours focusing on Mexican, with a new lease of life. According to Kantar, Tex-Mex and Italian lines delivered the most volume growth within the cooking sauce category, up 5.8% and 0.7% respectively. Mexico isn’t just influencing Brits food choices. Mintel states how Mexico is inspiring London’s nightlife. Ía De Los Muertos is fast becoming a key date in the calendar for London’s high-end establishments. Take the London Cabaret Club. It’s running a themed show at weekends, inspired by Romeo and Juliet and set in rural Mexico. It will be complemented by Latin American food and drink options including pollo a la parilla – a chicken dish with spices – and pineapple-based dessert delícia de abacaxi.

Classics with a Twist

In 2023, more people were going back to basics and sticking to what they’re familiar with. Nostalgia is a powerful attribute in food and drink, engaging consumers on an emotional level and providing them with a feeling of certainty and comfort. The desire for comfort and familiarity remains strong and an element of nostalgia continues to be a powerful purchasing factor with 65% of UK consumers enjoying products that remind them of their past (Mintel). Moving forward to 2024, different from nostalgia, due to an added twist, newstalgia is a concept which pays homage to the past by creating something new with something borrowed.

Bold Experiences

In 2024, hybrid working will continue to be the norm for many. Although people won’t have time to cook all their meals from scratch, the desire for homemade lunches and dinners will remain. Consumers are seeking bold flavours, with Waitrose adding that Brits love for hot sauce led to a different kind of heatwave when their sales rose by 55%. 2023 saw trends of ‘swicy’, the hybrid of sweet and heat proving popular in products such as the social media phenomenon, ‘hot honey’. Why not combine a third flavour, salt. Introducing, ‘‘swalcy” (sweet, salty and spicy).

To see Dalziel Ingredients full 2024 trends report including tailored concept ideas, please email: mary.niven@dalziel.co.uk.