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T
he winter issue of Specialty Food magazine
is typically where we look at the trends
expected to influence the industry for the
next 12 months, be it flavors and ingredients, or
developments in how and where consumers are
shopping.
Unfortunately, waves of COVID-19 are still
rampant and sticking close to home will continue
for the foreseeable future. The pandemic has caused
major shifts in food preparation and consumption,
evident in most of the trends we discuss in this issue.
Several of the SFA Trendspotter panel's
picks for the top trends of 2021 (p. 22) revolve
around COVID-19 and its implications. The new
normal means preparing meals and snacks at
home, often as the whole family continues to
navigate school and work under the same roof day
after day. Not only are many center-store pantry
categories experiencing the COVID boom but
experimentation and engagement in food prep may
be one of the few bright spots of this bleak time.
Excitement and discovery consumers once
found in restaurants or through travel has been
curtailed because of lockdowns and economic
concerns. The home kitchen is the new place to
seek out ingredients and recipes that will stave off
meal monotony. Restaurant-quality condiments,
cooking sauces, and cocktail mixes are in demand
as are ingredients that will bring global flavors to
everyday dishes. According to Acosta data in our
feature, Pandemic Trends Carry Into 2021, p. 15,
sales of premium and super-premium packaged
foods are up across households of varying income
levels as consumers look to replace some of their
restaurant dining at home. On top of that, several
products are coming to market that are selling
whimsy, from maple syrup with edible glitter to hot
chocolate bombs, adding what the Trendspotters'
dubbed "eatertainment" to mealtime.
In fact, food has been a point of connection
throughout these long months. Social media has
become part entertainment, part resource with
everything from Zoom dinner parties, to Instagram
quarantine-meal shots, to YouTube breadmaking
lessons. This is true across age groups: Emerging
platforms like Twitch, a live video streaming
service, and TikTok, a short-form video sharing
app, both skew toward Gen Z and younger, and
food-related videos are surging in both. Case in
point: Chile Gushers, something I only know about
because my 11-year-old niece saw it on TikTok and
informed me it was a trend we should write about.
You can read more on p. 12, but in short, these
chile candies are a take on traditional Mexican
confections that are finding new life in the U.S.
thanks to a post gone viral.
As we head into 2021, it's looking very much
like a significant number of consumers will
continue to cook at home, at least until restrictions
on restaurant operations have ended. Products that
keep meals interesting, video and recipe content,
and meal kits sold at retail or by restaurants
depending on off-premise sales can all help them
have some fun while doing so.
WINTER
editor's letter
Denise Purcell
Editor, SFA Specialty Food
dpurcell@specialtyfood.com
COVID'S IMPACT STAYATHOME
'EATERTAINMENT' AND SOCIAL MEDIA COOKING
