The beginning of January marks a fresh start, a clean slate, and new opportunities for consumers to reveal their purchase (and dining) habits. True signs of a new year: predictions upon predictions flooding your inbox. Market research firms, restaurant professionals, food writers and other industry leaders compile lists based on qualitative and quantitative data to share with the masses. While we of course put together our own predictions, we went a step further and curated the top trends from the most popular prediction lists for 2018 to procure this mega-list. There were some repeats and at least a few outlandish ingredients, but still enough common threads to bucket these trends into a few different groups. Here’s our ultimate compilation – don’t forget to check back throughout the year and let us know if you’ve witnessed any of these trends or have incorporated them into your innovation strategy.

Plants:

1. Plant-based foods
2. Vegetable carb substitutes
3. Non-meat in meat formats
4. Cauliflower
5. Pistachios
6. Sweet potato
7. Olives
8. Persimmon
9. Functional mushrooms
10. Ube
11. Algae
12. Black garlic
13. Seeds
14. Figs
15. Super powders
16. Moringa
17. Tart cherry
18. Shishito peppers

Meat:

1. Slower growing animals
2. Bespoke butchers
3. New cuts of meat
4. Heritage-breed meats (bred over time to develop traits that help them adapt to their environment)
5. Meatballs

Health:

1. Alt-sweet (sugar reduction)
2. Greater grains/Ancient grains
3. Self-care cuisine
4. Puffed & popped snacks
5. Cannabidiol
6. Cannabis cuisine
7. Slow dough
8. Good gut health
9. Mct Oil
10. Collagen
11. Nootropics

Kids:

1. Healthful kids’ meals
2. Ethnic inspired kids’ dishes
3. Gourmet items in kids’ meals

Global:

1. Ethnic condiments
2. Ethnic spices
3. Ethnic inspired breakfast items
4. Authentic ethnic cuisine
5. Street food inspired dishes
6. Peruvian cuisine
7. African flavors
8. Georgian wines
9. Hispanic cheese
10. Hawaiian cuisine
11. The new Jewish deli
12. Deep feast from the Middle East
13. French revival
14. Filipino Cuisine
15. Pandan
16. Umami
17. Labneh
18. Naan
19. Nontraditional bread

Tech-Savvy:

1. Virtual restaurants
2. Self-pay (at fast casual)
3. Colorful foods
4. Goth food

Environmental:

1. Creative use of waste
2. Sustainable seafood
3. Vegan & Non-GMO
4. Natural wine (biodynamic)
5. Upcycled products
6. Product labeling 2.0 (transparency 2.0)
7. Root to stem

Sweets:

1. Thai rolled ice cream
2. Nontraditional filled donuts
3. Brown butter

Beverages:

1. In-house distilling
2. Royal tea
3. Tea Time (& tea flavored items)
4. Rose water
5. The other bubbly
6. Whey
7. Kolsch
8. Spiced coffee

Bold/Complex Flavors:

1. Fizzy flavor (citric acid)
2. Uncommon herbs
3. House-made pickles
4. House made condiments
5. Pepper
6. Salt curing
7. Floral flavors
8. Hot sh*t

Breaking the Barriers:

1. Eggs benedict across day parts
2. Mac & cheese outside the box
3. Tacos all day, out of their shell