SPECIAL:
THE FUTURE EDITION
LEARNING TO FUTURE PROOF
The time lapse for something to be introduced on a limited level to being adapted on a more mainstream level is pretty standard, according to Kostyo. “That’s about how long it takes for something to go from a few fi ne-dining menus where it’s perceived as a unique, interesting, ‘cool’ option to trickle down to more independents, for the supply chain to catch up, for major brands to do their due diligence and so on before the average consumer sees it on the menu at their favorite burger chain,” he explains.
Some indicators make a trend more likely to take off , He adds. “Flavor is an example – they have a much easier path to growth because they can be used in a much wider range of applications,” he says. And to the initial point that not all future trend predictions are true, no trend is inevitable. Cultural or macro trends can impact what we eat – as we saw with the pandemic, notes Kostyo. “And no trend exists in a vacuum. As soon as we say something is trending, there will be brands and companies that will have a stake in the opposite happening and will try to disrupt that growth.” An example of this could be the meat
industry formulating a response to a seemingly unstoppable trend of plant-based meat alternatives. Although Kostyo is keen to emphasize that no one has a crystal ball, being able to see what’s coming down the track is more important than ever. That’s according to Laura Lentz FCSI, design principal of Culinary Advisors in Maryland. “Never before have I experienced a time where it was a critical as it is these days – with things changing post-pandemic and in reaction to our technological revolution,” she says. “While we are all tracking and measuring performance as it changes, there is very little history to support our new normal.”
Scraping data from influencers Staying in touch with the wider industry and talking to people is how Lentz ensures she has a good idea of what to expect next – and plan accordingly for foodservice projects that are built to last several years into the future. “I attend conferences and industry events; it is so important to
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hear directly from clients and I always ask how our projects are performing for them.” She also has a few ‘live’ documents she adds to every time she hears about something new. “There is so much stuff out there that having a method to remember it all is critical,” she says.
One technology that has proven successful at predicting trends is Trendspotter, an artifi cial intelligence platform by taste and nutrition intelligence company Kerry Group, that works by scraping data from infl uencers. “Trendspotter reads and processes millions of raw posts from Instagram and extracts food and beverage related products, fl avors and ingredients every 30 days,” says Avinash Lal, marketing, consumer insights and analytics director, adding that the technology is implemented in 60 countries worldwide. Using this method, he says, Kerry picked up matcha as a new upcoming fl avor for beverages or red berries as a key component in desserts and summer beverages over the next six to 12 months. “We then utilized this with our other insight piece on Art of Taste where we explore what is happening at a
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