Food predictions for 2022

After two years of living through the pandemic, we have seen so many trends and growth in the food and drink sector – people have been trying their hand at cooking restaurant dishes, baking up a storm and experimenting with new ingredients, but what’s on the agenda for 2022?   

We’ve pulled together a list of the top food and drink trends we think will flourish and grow in 2022, so keep a look out for them! 

Granted, plant-based food has probably been on the list of food predictions for the last few years. However, this year, it is more about the rise of plant-curious eaters rather than the rise in vegans and vegetarians. These are people who don’t want to give up meat entirely but are willing and interested to try plant-based equivalents. Shops are already preparing for this rise with Tesco revealing a target of a 300% rise in vegan meat alternative sales, committing to selling more plant-based sausages, burgers, and products designed to emulate meat than ever before – we don’t think they’ll be alone! 

As awareness for animal wellness and environmental concerns in the food production industry grows, people are beginning to take more notice of the quality of their meat, dairy products, eggs and even fruit and vegetables, rather than just looking at price or availability. People are moving towards quality over quantity. Waitrose found that 70% of surveyed customers acknowledged that the carbon footprint of their food was important. This is likely down to people realising that they can make small lifestyle differences to help tackle climate change – a topic that will only continue to grow in popularity in 2022 and beyond. 

Who’d have thought 2022 would be the year of the mushroom? But it does make sense, mushrooms are a great meat-free alternative, full of vitamin D, and they have meaty and hearty flavours to them that are a great canvas for flavour. There are so many exciting varieties of mushroom to use, and you can even buy mushroom powder to season your dishes.  

We didn’t know what they were at first either. A ghost kitchen is a restaurant with no seating options to dine in at all, it’s purely for food deliveries. Due to the growing demand for takeaways as a result of the pandemic, there are more and more ghost kitchens appearing as people have come to expect any food they want to be delivered at any time of the day. Even TikTok is jumping on this trend, they are planning to launch 300 kitchens in the US next year, delivering TikTok-branded foods inspired by viral TikTok trends. We wonder when this will hit the UK?!  

There are many reasons people are moving towards drinking less alcohol and exploring non-alcoholic drinks. It could be wanting to lead a healthier lifestyle, giving up the booze after an indulgent Christmas, or simply being inspired by a taste for high quality soft drinks. It is thought the pandemic has accelerated the non-alcoholic drinks trend, with people’s usual routines upended. In fact, Bacardi identified non-alcoholic drinks as one of the most dynamic sectors of the drinks market, with the category receiving more interest than any other globally for the second year running, and the growth is set to continue into 2022. 

We just thought we’d leave this one here…… 

A creamy and flavoursome alternative milk that takes half the land it takes to grow the equivalent amount of oats, so definitely look out for this one in 2022!