Cuisines
This trend is all about the global flavours and cuisines consumers are enjoying.
With limited international travel for most of this year, consumers have been seeking adventure through food. As well as reaching for well-established global favourites, consumers are exploring less familiar cuisines. We expect this will continue, as over half (52%) of UK consumers said they’ll be open to being more experimental with their food choices than they were before the pandemic began*.
We expect to see an interesting range of cuisines on menus. New additions to our trending cuisines are below…
Middle Eastern (growing trend):
Well-established and not new to our 2021 trends list, this cuisine continues to grow in popularity. It lends itself particularly well to plant-based foods, and chefs are coming up with innovative dishes that enhance the well-loved Middle Eastern flavours such as harissa and zhoug.
Global cuisine (growing trend):
We are increasingly seeing familiar dishes made up of flavours, spices and condiments from the global larder. Ingredients such as nduja, miso, sriracha and kimchi are no longer contained within their origin cuisines, but are used across a range of traditional dishes.
Regional Chinese (new trend):
Chinese has been a well-loved cuisine in the UK for quite some time, but more recently we’re seeing a move towards Regional dishes and ingredients, giving the food a real authentic feel. We expect to see more dishes using Cantonese cooking styles, spicy sichuan flavours, and regional dishes like Shanghai dumplings, hand-pulled noodles and steamed bao.
Flavours of South East Asia (new trend):
Consumers are moving beyond the traditional Thai green curry and exploring regional Thai dishes. They’re also discovering flavours of Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. These cuisines combine fresh plant-based ingredients with aromatic flavours, giving them a ‘light and healthy’ feel.
Caribbean (new trend):
Jamaican ‘jerk’ flavour is not new, but we’re increasingly seeing it applied to a variety of foods well beyond jerk chicken. Jerk rabbit, pork belly and burgers are all dishes we expect to see more of.
Korean (new trend):
The Korean cuisine is all about the ingredients and flavours. We’re seeing more Korean flavours being used, as well as an increase in Korean dishes on menus too. Fire chicken, fried chicken wings and Korean garlic bread are just a few examples.
Sources:
*Bidfood consumer survey, April 2021, (1,000 UK respondents)