The 10 Food Industry Trends in America

Updated on December 4, 2023

While sales of past trending products stabilize and continue without much buzz, other innovative products are starting to make headlines and end up becoming the stars of the Food and Beverage sector in the United States.

Among the products that are booming in America are water lentils, buckwheat, meat and fish substitutes, and more generally plant-based foods. Visit the page dedicated to Food Trends 2024 to find out where food product sales are headed in the American market: https://exportusa.us/food-trends-usa-2024.php.

Article originally published on December 6, 2021

New culinary trends are emerging for the coming year, and as always, the United States reaffirms itself as a pioneer of innovation. Let's discover how American consumers will eat according to Whole Foods

Among the new food trends coming from America, we have indoor farming, reducetarianism, soil-friendly grains, new superfoods, and record growth in the mocktail category

The last two years have caused a profound disruption in the daily lives of people worldwide, who, in seeking new daily routines, have established new habits, finding a new balance in their lives. In the United States, the impact of the pandemic on consumer purchasing habits, already defined as the “new normal”, is one of the factors that have significantly contributed to shaping new trends in the food and beverage industry. These new trends are moving towards an era of awareness and values and a shift towards local consumption. Hence the growing demand for environmentally friendly foods and the focus on the “zero waste” consumption model, reduced alcohol consumption, or “drysolation”, which remains a consistent choice among Millennials and Gen Z, as well as reduced meat consumption, not only as a health choice but also to protect the planet. More generally, even in America, there is a search for all those foods that support well-being, to which consumer products and brands will have to adapt.

What will fly off the shelves in US supermarkets in the coming months, and what will become a must on American consumers' tables? Here is the selection from the product experts team at Whole Foods in the annual ranking of food & beverage innovations that will be the stars of 2022
 

1)    Urban Gardens Made in the USA

Defined as urban agriculture, it's a trend that has grown steadily since Whole Foods pioneered in 2013 by launching a collaboration with the American farming company Gotham Greens, which has made salads and vegetables grown in “rooftop” greenhouses, with minimal environmental impact, its trademark. And right from the Gotham Greens greenhouse, installed on the roof of Whole Foods Market, in Gowanus, come the zero-mile herbs and lettuce that fill the shelves in the vegetable department of the large organic supermarket. In the field of indoor farming, significant strides have been made in America, moving from hydroponics to aquaponics, to mushrooms grown above supermarket aisles, to fresh products grown by robots. The growing demand for environmental sustainability and technological innovation has allowed indoor farming to transition from utopia to reality, as well as a true necessity for the future, now that American consumers are also increasingly demanding locally and sustainably grown products.
 

2)    Yuzu

Yuzu is a citrus fruit widely used in Japan, Korea, and China, which is about to take the American culinary scene by storm. It looks like a mandarin, but with a very sour taste and intense aroma. It is said to be a hybrid between a mandarin and a Papeda fruit. Due to its acidity, it is rarely eaten as a fresh fruit. The peel (also sold in powder form) and Yuzu juice are mainly used in making vinaigrettes, mayonnaise, and hard seltzers, but surely we will soon see many other products flavored with this fruit on American supermarket shelves. It is also used in chefs' kitchens, who love to add it to cakes, vegetables, soups, and fish to give personality to their recipes. Yuzu is one of the new wellness fruits, already destined to become a star in the superfood category. It has antioxidant properties, is rich in vitamin C (it contains about three times more than a lemon), and polyphenols.
 

3)    Reducetarianism

Just like the latest trend among the younger generations in the United States seems to be moderate and conscious alcohol consumption, thus drinking less or drinking better by choosing low-alcohol drinks, similarly, a new group of consumers is emerging whose watchword is less meat. It is precisely with the hashtag #lessmeat that this new dietary style called reducetarianism is characterized. Founded by Brian Kateman, a researcher in the Department of Ecology and Environmental Biology at Columbia University, it involves a diet that appeals to those who are not yet able to completely eliminate animal products from their table (as vegans and vegetarians do), but still choose to minimize meat and fish consumption. By combining health with an ethical choice, they seek to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from animal production, and the only (little) meat allowed must be strictly high quality and come from animals pasture-fed with grass, or eggs from free-range hens, to save animals from the cruelty inflicted on them in intensive farming.
 

4)    Hibiscus

If dried hibiscus flowers (from which karkadè is derived) have been used for centuries in infusions and teas, highly appreciated for their refreshing and antioxidant properties, with a slightly tangy flavor, today US producers aim to expand the range of products with which to combine the sweet and sour taste of hibiscus. From jams, yogurts, and desserts to the functional beverage world, which perfectly complements this plant high in vitamin C and capable of providing a beautiful warm pink hue to drinks.
 

5)    “No-buzz” Cocktails 

In terms of beverages, for 2022, in America, “buzz-less” cocktails, meaning those with very little alcohol, will be all the rage. Drinks designed for Millennials and Gen Z, who during the pandemic have immersed themselves in their “drysolation” (the reduction of alcoholic beverages), have seen a surge in the sale of mocktails: non-alcoholic versions of their favorite alcoholic cocktails, prepared with spirits that have a refined taste similar to liquors but with little or no alcohol. So, feel free to enjoy alcohol-free gin, vodka, and rum in a rapidly expanding market, where choosing to stay sober doesn't mean sacrificing the pleasure of a well-made cocktail.
 

6)    The New Agriculture: Soil-Friendly Grains

More companies are producing grains using good agricultural practices and processes that optimize soil regeneration. In the United States, crops like Kernza, a perennial grain developed by the Land Institute in Kansas, which only needs to be planted once and fights drought and climate crisis, are gaining traction. It tastes like rye and is grown in Minnesota and Wyoming, but also in other states where it is used to make beer. In America, there is a radical change in approach to agriculture, with a constant search to go beyond classic grains (wheat, rice, and corn, etc.) and obtain more resilient and sustainable species that, with less resource expenditure, could become the crops of the future.
 

7)    Sunflower Seeds

In America, for about a decade, sunflower seeds have been used in elementary school cafeterias as an alternative to peanut butter, thanks to a greater awareness of nut allergies. But the small seed is making its way beyond school snacks and is ready to appear as a key ingredient in crackers, ice creams, butter, creamy cheeses, and protein bars next year. A trend set to explode in the healthy snack category and innovate this market segment, where the exclusive use of sunflower seeds, no longer mixed with peanuts and various nuts, will make this new type of product the ideal snack, especially for those with food allergies, who today in the USA represent millions of consumers.
 

8)    Moringa 

Moringa is a medicinal plant considered one of the most powerful on the planet. With its numerous beneficial properties, strong anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and tissue-protective actions, it has all the characteristics to become the superfood of the moment in the USA. This small tree, which can be consumed in all its parts (leaves, fruits, flowers, and roots), has been used for centuries in India, Africa, and South America, where it is better known as the “tree of miracles” or the elixir of long life. Its leaves contain 7 times more vitamin C than oranges, 4 times the protein of yogurt, 4 times more calcium than milk, 4 times more vitamin A than carrots, 4 times more chlorophyll than wheatgrass, and 3 times the potassium of bananas. Rich also in B and K vitamins, iron, omega 3, 6, and 9, and the full range of amino acids required for human needs, a rare feature among plants. Thanks to this high nutritional profile, it is used in malnutrition combat programs by the World Health Organization. The most used form of moringa is powder derived from dried and crushed leaves, although it is edible in all its parts, including roots, flowers, and fruits. In the United States, it is gaining ground as an alternative to matcha, but it will also revolutionize flavors in the kitchen. It can be found in powder form, used as a spice in rice, soup, or side dish recipes; added to smoothies, sauces, and baked goods, or as an ingredient in frozen desserts, protein bars, and packaged cereal mixes.
 

9)    Functional Sparkling Beverages

In the United States, traditional sugary sodas as we know them are progressively losing ground, making way for increasingly healthier alternatives that have to meet a super all-in-one product standard. The new generation of sparkling drinks, which Whole Foods has redefined with the term “natural effervescence”, in addition to being tasty to drink, will have a whole new formula, with nutrients, strictly sugar-free or low-sugar, and enriched with ingredients that provide additional health benefits. The category of functional soft drinks will be a mega-trend in 2022, and alongside the kombucha, we will find a more varied offering of probiotic sodas and prebiotic tonics, for example, capable of promoting gut health and boosting the immune system. According to KPMG Insights, the global market for functional beverages (vitamin, nutritional, probiotic, fiber, and collagen-enhanced) will reach $2108 billion by 2024.
 

10)    Turmeric

Turmeric is much more than just a curry ingredient; it is one of the spices with the most anti-inflammatory properties around, also known as the “golden spice”, used for centuries in both traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda. While dietary supplements and turmeric lattes or “golden lattes” are not new in the United States, in 2022, we will see it featured in many new packaged food types, including plant-based ice creams, cereals, and sauerkraut.