If you don’t know this, you haven’t been paying attention to this blog: anyone in the food business knows that side dishes are, well, meals these days.
Especially with Millennials, who take snacking to new levels. Now there’s a study to tell us what we know.[1] Hard economic times, the need for convenience or just dressing up meals assembled at home (the new “cooking”), snacks are in the spotlight. The top trends in sides are:
- Seasonal: consumers want fare that’s in-season, both for freshness & sustainability.
- Grow Your Own: anything grown in the back yard or the local community is popular.
- Roasting: meet the new grilling, with fried definitely out.
- Potatoes: not your grandmother’s kind, but healthier (non-fried) versions and especially sweet potatoes.
- Rice: whole grain rice blends are turning up in fancy risottos, along with black, red rice and other varieties.
- Regional flavors: whether for nostalgia or a belief in authenticity, regional favorites are being discovered and re-discovered.
- Roots: root vegetables were once the Winter staple, but are being sought out by cooks for their robust flavors and cheap price in hard economic times.
- Ethnic: anything ethnic in side dishes is now on target.
- Less is more for protein: meat portions are shrinking and even morphing into sides.
- Color:whether it’s purple cauliflower, purple potatoes, or purple corn, consumers want brightly-colored fruits and vegetables believing they have the highest levels of antioxidants and phytonutrients.
[1] Source: The Food Channel, CultureWaves, Mintel International, and the International Food Futurists in a study sponsored by McCain Foods USA.
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