Culinology - March 2020 - 14

FLAVOR trends

Frito-Lay North
America predicts
spicy flavors like
gochujang (pictured)
and cayenne will
trend during the year.
Photo credit:
Adobe Stock©oilslo

14 |

said Sian Cunningham, marketing insights
and strategy specialist with Kerry North
America, Beloit, Wis.
In January, Kerry published its 2020 US
Taste Charts and identified "sensorial" as one
of its trends. Sensations identified included
cold foam, plant protein, boba pearls, sprinkles, Cheetos, souffle and lotus seed.
"Souffle pancakes have a gorgeous presentation; they are jiggly in nature and have
a fluffy, cloud-like texture," Ms. Cunningham
said. "It adds to that multi-sensorial experience.
"Cheetos has reinvented itself as a coating
for products in other categories. It's another
example of a nostalgia with a twist."
In Yelp's 2020 trends forecast, the company identified "elevated breakfast" as a trend
in 2020. Examples of the trend cited included
souffle pancakes, a Japanese culinary trend.
In September 2019, searches for souffle pancakes rose 156%, according to Yelp.
The pancakes are made with the same
ingredients as traditional pancakes, but
feature egg whites that are beaten to form
a meringue mixture that gives them greater
fluffiness than traditional pancakes.

Taste the adventure
From the taste of a Cuban sandwich to the
irresistible spice of a Peruvian aji pepper, consumers can expect to see a growing selection
of products inspired by global flavors on retail

Culinology | MARCH 2020

shelves in 2020, according to The Kroger Co.,
Cincinnati. Millennials are driving the trend by
prioritizing travel more than previous generations. In 2019, the average millennial (ages
21 to 37) planned to take roughly five trips
throughout the year, including more international trips (2.7) than both GenXers (2.0) and
Boomers (1.5), the American Association of
Retired Person's 2019 Travel Trends Report
said. The trend is expected to grow in the
decade ahead, as both millennials and their
Gen Z counterparts explore the globe and
return home with new global foods, flavors
and cooking styles to share with family
and friends.
In early 2019, Yelp forecast there would be
a jump in consumer interest in Korean cuisine and Korean barbecue during the year.
The company is forecasting it will be a "top
cuisine" in 2020, with dishes like tteokbooki,
a fried rice cake format, trending. Tteokbooki
is a stir fry concept featuring the fried rice
cake combined with boiled eggs and scallions. Other variations may include seafood or
short ribs.
DoorDash, the San Francisco-based restaurant delivery company, analyzed orders
from January 2019 through November 2019
and surveyed more than 1,200 customers to
track the years' most popular food items and
forecast upcoming trends.
More than 95% of customers told
DoorDash they use food to explore other
cultures, and 30% said they typically eat five
to 10 different cuisines per month. Mexican
food was the most popular cuisine ordered
in 2019, increasing by 314%, according to
the report.
Half of the top 10 most popular items ordered throughout the year were associated
with Mexican cuisine. Burrito bowls took the
No. 1 spot, followed by chicken tacos. Bean
burritos, taco salad and nachos were also
among the top 10 delivery order items.
American food was the second most popular cuisine, followed by Chinese, Italian, Thai
and Indian. DoorDash predicted Thai food
will be the "next big thing" in delivery in 2020.
Customers who were introduced to Thai food
for the first time in 2019 ranked it as the top
new cuisine they discovered.
Kerry's US Taste Charts breakout different
product categories into four buckets, including mainstream, key, up and coming, and

Culinology - March 2020

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