With the run-up to New Year well underway, T K Banerjee lists the trends for the year 2019

Food is the ingredient that binds everyone together and there is no denying the fact that a delicious meal can lift our mood like nothing else.

This year our social media feed was flooded with delightful treats right from charcoal lattes to mirror cakes, from aloe vera making it to every meal option possible to people adapting plant based diets for staying fit. But with the run-up to New Year well under way, it leaves us wondering what’s in store for our 2019 food trends.

With the power vested in their taste buds, the experts have listed down their prediction for the popular food trends.

Pacific Rim Flavours

Yes the movie was great and so are the flavours. Fruits, especially berries, made it to our list of daily consumables in some or the other form this year. The year is all set to see a fresh influx of colourful fruits, including guava, dragon fruit and passionfruit, in our grocery list.

These fruits are known to be high in fibre, rich in Vitamin C and anti-oxidants and help us maintain low cholesterol and boost heart health.

Snack Time Upgrade

Termed unhealthy for quite a while, food experts predict that 2019 will give an upgrade to snacking with an array of treat options available to the customers.

While cheese will continue to be the favourite, especially prosciutto and aged mozzarella, gluten and GMO free snacks made from blue potatoes, beetroot, turnip and the like will find a place in our kitchen cupboards in the coming year. Tasteful and guilt-free binging will set the snacking trend. Commenting on the same, food historian Pushpesh Pant added that, “the vegetable chips are one of the best ways for binge snacking. While we are used to the artificial flavoured ones in the market which are high on salt, GMO-free chips make for the healthier option for all our snacking needs. The flavours and the colours of the snacks make for both a visual and tasty treat.”

Vegetable Proteins

With people trying to adopt healthy living as their top priority, vegetarianism will still be the talk of the town in 2019. Foods like legumes, seeds and tofu that are high in protein and derived from vegetable will be seen on the menu for the health-conscious generation. They are also a good option to replace the meat on our plates without affecting the balance of our diet.

Merry Time Mocktails

With more and more people opting for non-alcoholic beverages, mixologists predict fruits, flowers and spices making it to our drinks in 2019. An easy to adopt trend, the fusion makes up for some of the best flavours and room for experimentation.

Fabulous Fats

Once considered to be a reason for increase in cholesterol and weight, fats are officially the in trend for the coming year. With chefs and food experts realising the benefits of ghee and coconut oil, healthy fats will grace the grocery shop shelves in 2019. Their natural properties ensure that they do not mix with any other oil and that factor makes them a healthy alternative to the already available ones in the market.

Algae Alternative

Algae is the new popular oceanic food trend for 2019. These are powerhouses of  vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins K and B, zinc and iron, along with anti-oxidants that help protect your cells from damage. Algae is definitely one of the most sought-after snacks in the coming year.

Regional Flavours

Food lovers love to experiment and try out new cuisines. Keeping the tradition alive, African cuisine and flavours, especially from the eastern part of the continent, are expected to be the talk of the food industry in the coming year. Watch out for a variety of spices, marinated or sauces from Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Frozen Delights

Frozen yogurt has ruled our taste buds for a while now but the coming year will see the addition of an array of new flavours to this list. Consumers will get to taste the crazy combinations like avocado, hummus, tahini and coconut water for frozen treats. Ice creams with savoury swirls of cheese will also be a popular choice in the coming year. As good as these sound, we hope they live up to the promise of taste as well.

Oxi Frying

While healthy fats will see a comeback in 2019, air frying or oxi frying will also be a preferred way of cooking. This gives us the option of using minimal oil as air frying is considered a lot healthier, especially for frying snacks and even non-vegetarian food items.

Eco-Conscious Packaging

Experts believe 2019 will not only see a change in the food trends but also packaging in the food industry with a focus on being more sustainable. So there would a rise in environment-friendly packaging as well as an increase in the selling/purchasing/use of steel straws as an alternative to plastics ones, mason jars to avoid plastic containers and the like.

(The author is the Operations Head of a food company.)