The new buzzword for the U.S. food landscape is optimization. Although that doesn’t sound yummy, per se, it is actually quite satisfying. It speaks to foods becoming more efficient in terms of nutrition, delivery system, safety, digestion and more. New food trends, like the way of all trends these days, come from a basic desire—to improve all aspects of the human experience.
The new brainfood: Nootropics
Foods that are healthy for your brain are rapidly gaining popularity, according to Food and Drink Resources. There’s buzz around functional ingredients categorized as nootropics: Drugs or supplements that promise cognitive benefits and enhanced brain-health. From the nootropics of yesteryear—eggs and dark chocolate—to MCT oil, adaptogenic herbs, clarity-charged mushrooms, Data Essentials says 2018 saw 300+ product launches mentioning nootropics.
Collagen in food
In the past couple of years, collagen has started appearing more in foods and drinks, in everything from protein bars to matcha powder to dietary supplements to coffee creamers. According to Marketwatch, by 2025, the collagen market will supposedly be valued at $6.63 billion. In 2018, U.S. consumers were expected to spend around $122 million on collagen products. Collagen has broken out of the skin, hair and nails improvement box and is now thought to enhance athletic performance and potentially reduce injury.
Part of collagen’s newfound appeal is early research suggesting a link between collagen consumption and better ligament and joint health. Now meat bars are adding collagens of grass-fed beef and cage-free poultry. Other bar manufacturers, catering to vegetarians, are adding grass-fed collagen to their nutrition profile. Look to see more and more companies featuring added collagen or, often more accurately, collagen-boosting ingredients. According to Data Essentials, 2018 saw the launch of 3000 + food products featuring collagen.
Going with the grain
The hunt for grains that don’t deplete the soil is always on the mind of agriculturists, especially in light of increased drought worldwide along with repercussions of climate change. Almost all the grains we consume are annuals, meaning they have to be replanted every year, which requires tilling the soil and losing a bit of topsoil. Perennials, on the other hand, which regrow every year, can actually build topsoil.
Enter the new love child of The Land Institute, a nonprofit agricultural research organization. This year marks a bigger rollout for Kernza, the fruit of cross-breeding annual wheat strains with its perennial cousins, wheat grass. Kernza is the branded name for this new intermediate wheat grass. In 2017, early adopter General Mills’ Cascadia Farms signed an agreement to purchase some of the Kernza, saying its sweet and nutty taste lends itself particularly well to cereal and snacks. Look for Kernza Krunch coming soon to a cereal aisle near you.
First comes kale, then comes Celtuce
Thanks to two outbreaks of E.coli in romaine lettuce this year, there’s room for a new star in the world of greens. Enter celtuce, a Chinese lettuce known for its big stem and slightly bitter leaves. Celtuce goes by many names, including “stem lettuce,” “asparagus lettuce,” or “celery lettuce,” or, at Chinese grocery stores, as wosun. Non-Chinese chefs have experimented with it in the past five or ten years and many hail it as the new kale.
Butter you up
Butter by whatever name you call it is a staple of global cuisine. Now even more on point because of the prevalence of low-carb, high-fat diets, butter pride is becoming a thing. According to Whole Foods, alternative fat sources will start to boom in 2019, especially MCT oil (a type of oil extracted from coconut oil), coconut butter and lots of and lots of ghee, a clarified butter that has been used in India and Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years.
Look for artisanal butter on burgers, in coffee, and a wide variety of butter bombs, including chocolate truffle-style desserts. And according to Data Essentials, butter mentions on the menus of U.S. restaurants are at an all-time high of 64 percent in 2018.