How to Apply 2020 Food Trends to Your Business
Make 2020 Food Trends Work for You
In our article, Food Trends for 2020, we revealed the latest food trends on the rise. Now that 2020 is here it is time to adapt and learn how you can apply these trends into your business! Whether you run a restaurant, concession stand, grocery store, café, etc. these trends can help your business succeed!
Healthy and Portable Snacks
Snacking is reshaping how consumers eat. In 2020, consumers are seeking functional, healthy snacks that can satisfy their hunger on-the-run. A snack that does this is popcorn. Your business has the opportunity to offer your consumers a portable, delicious, and healthy snack with popcorn. According to Medical News Today, popcorn is high in fiber, contains protein, is low in fat and sugar, and contains no cholesterol when it is prepared correctly. Gold Medal offers Organic Monster Mushroom Popcorn® and Organic Tastee Pop® Premium Popcorn. Your health-conscious consumers will appreciate these popcorn options. Gold Medal also offers other light and healthy varieties including clean labels and vegan varieties.
For more ways to add healthy options to your business check out this article.
‘Bright and Bold’ Food
Bright and bold food is another food trend to apply to your business this year. Consumers are now wanting foods to not only taste good but be ‘Instagram-friendly’ as well. This means that consumers want food that is bright, bold, and attractive enough to post a picture of. If your customers want bold and bright food, then give them that! You can add color to several food options. If you sell popcorn, be strategic in which flavors you pick to display and sell. Choose flavors that make the popcorn bright or bold colors. Flavors like rainbow, spicy mango, and blueberry popcorn will sure catch your customer’s eyes. You can also enhance regular popcorn as well as use Color Only Candy Glaze Corn Treat Mix- No Flavor. This corn treat mix comes in eye-catching color options such as yellow, red, and blue. You can also use Color-Pop Salt on your popcorn products. Color-Pop Salt creates fun hints of color rather than full-blown coatings that will give your corn a color boost.
Be strategic with the color on your cotton candy well. Pick Flossugar flavors that will dye your cotton candy bold colors such as green, blue, and red. You can also add color to your waffle, funnel cake, frozen treats, and fudge products as well.
Mocktails
Happy hours are going to look a little different in 2020. Instead of alcohol, mocktails are the new staple. A mocktail is a non-alcoholic mixed drink. According to Google Trends, over the past year, online searches for the word “mocktail” have gone up 42% and the phrase “non-alcoholic” 81% across global searches. But what does this mean for your business? According to Forbes, bars are finding that “offering dedicated non-alcoholic drinks brings an entirely new revenue stream.” Mocktails give bartenders the opportunity to serve up delicious drinks to customers who want the experience of going out minus the effects that come later. Be a part of this trend and offer mocktail options for your customers. Gold Medal has several recipe ideas to get you started such as Mojito Mocktail and “Tequila” Sunrise. Check out our Fun Foods Recipes page for more ideas. Adding these drink options will not only add more fun to your business but help your menu appeal to all audiences.
Rethinking the Kids’ Menu
The kids’ menu is going to see some new additions in 2020. Say goodbye to chicken fingers, hot dogs, and mac and cheese as the only things on kids’ menus. Instead, upgrade your kids’ menu with more adventurous foods such as bubble waffle tacos, bubble waffle nachos, PB&J waffles, pizza bubble waffles, or grilled cheese bubble waffles. Your kids will love the unique texture and flavors that these bubble waffle products are.
Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to your kids’ menu. Other restaurants and food brands are upgrading their kids’ menus to include items such as non-breaded salmon fish sticks, organic chicken nuggets, and pasta made from alternative flours.
Sour Foods
Sour flavors are in! According to Flavor & Trend Forecast for 2020, THP is predicting that consumers will crave sour foods. Why not add sour flavoring to your products? For example, add sour flavoring to cotton candy. Cotton candy Flossugar flavors such as sassy apple, leapin lime, sizzling lemon sour, and razzleberry sour will give your cotton candy the sour kick it needs. The Flossugar flavor, sizzling lemon sour, is Gold Medal’s most sour flavor!
Sour flavors can also be added to Sno-Kones® too. Sno-Treat Flavors such as sassy sour apple, sour cherry, and sour lemon will sure take your customer’s taste buds for a ride. You can even add Gold Medal’s Sour Attitude® to make sure there is a sour twist. Using the Sour Attitude® can double your menu offering by using only one product. Customers will love the mouth-watering, sour twist that it gives to any sweet treat.
Finally, use shake-on Savory Flavors such as salt and vinegar and wasabi on popcorn to satisfy your customer’s sour and tart tooth.
Coconut Everything
In 2020, expect to see coconut everything, such as oils, products, flavors, snacks, and more. But how can you add coconut to your business? If you sell popcorn, consider using white coconut oil when popping. If you sell hot beverages, add coconut mocha to your menu. This warm drink will add a tropical touch to your drink menu. For the hot summer days, satisfy your customers with coconut shave ice flavors such as blue coconut and tropical coconut. Finally, you can add other coconut products such as coconut water, coconut-based snacks, coconut ice cream, etc. to your menu, store, or concession stand.
Plant-Based Products
Expect to see plant-based menus in full bloom this upcoming year. Benchmark predicts that many people will make the conscious decision to make a dietary switch into the “plant-based ecosystem.” This means plant-based food alternatives to replace meat and dairy will become popular. If your menu contains meat products such as hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. consider adding or swapping out for plant-based products. Providing customers with both options will help your menu cater to a wide audience. Don’t forget to promote that your menu includes plant-based products! Customers will eagerly come running to try the latest food trend!
Ready to start adding these trends to your business? Or want to create your own? Gold Medal’s concession specialists are here to help! Get started by locating your nearest Gold Medal Dealer!