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Whole Foods releases Top 10 food trends for 2021

This year marks the sixth year that Whole Foods has released its annual trend predictions for food and beverage. While some trends look familiar and are an extension of years past, 2021’s list of up-and-coming products has also been heavily influenced by the pandemic.

“Food trends are a sign of the times, and our 2021 trends are no exception,” said Sonya Gafsi Oblisk, the company’s chief marketing officer. She said that there have been “radical shifts” in consumer behavior with at-home cooking, health and wellness and eating breakfast at home largely defining the identified trends for the upcoming year.

The 10 trends underscored for 2021 are Well Being is Served, Epic Breakfast Every Day, Basics on Fire, Coffee Beyond the Mug, Baby Food, All Grown Up, Upcycled Foods, Oil Change, Boozed-Up Booch, The Mighty Chickpea and Fruit and Veggie Jerkey.

Already, foods crafted to benefit the immune system were gaining popularity. Now, as half of the world heads into colder months and there is a global pandemic lingering, Whole Foods predicts that trend will accelerate with the line between the supplement and grocery aisles blurring further to bring foods like probiotics, broths and sauerkrauts to the top of shoppers' lists.

Breakfast too seems to be here to stay. As a large number of people continue to work at home, the most important meal of the day has taken on a new meaning with the grocery chain predicting to see pancakes on weekdays, sous vide egg bites and even “eggs” made from mung beans become popular morning staples.

Pasta, rice and salt often do not garner more than a cursory glance from shoppers looking to keep a well-stocked pantry. However, in 2021, manufacturers can expect to up the ante and reimagine these staples with innovations like hearts of palm pasta, applewood-smoked salt and “meaty” vegan soup.

Coffee is a basic tenant of many people’s routines that Whole Foods gave its own growth category for next year. The popularity of coffee continues to grow with Americans consuming cups of joe at elevated rates since 2012, according to a 2018 survey from the National Coffee Association. Now the grocery store chain expects coffee to move beyond the cup and enter categories from bars and granolas to smoothie boosters and booze.

Adults will not be the only ones updating their culinary choices next year. Parents will also bring their babies on board with portable, on-the-go squeeze pouches of baby food that are jazzed up to include a wide variety of ingredients such as rhubarb, rosemary, purple carrots and omega-3-rich flaxseeds.

And all that waste that these inventive foods generate? Packaged products that use neglected and underused parts of an ingredient are on the rise. While some companies like The Ugly Company have been around for a while, Whole Foods expects to see newcomers onto the scene such as the Renewal Mill.

Olive oil is another kitchen basic that was specifically called out in this trend analysis as an ingredient that is on its way out in favor of more adventurous oils like walnut, pumpkin seed and sunflower. These newcomers onto the scene offer at-home chefs the ability to branch out and experiment with the unique properties of alternative fats.

Whole Foods called on hard seltzer to move over. Although the category exploded once again this summer with a UBS analysis expecting the category to jump 66% from 14 million cases in 2019 to 72 million by 2021 for total sales of $2.5 billion, the grocery store expects hard kombucha to make its way onto the scene in a big way too. With a lower sugar profile, gluten-free profile and loaded with probiotics, brands like Flying Embers and Aqua ViTea have stepped up to deliver another ready-to-drink option for consumers looking for a healthier way to imbibe.

Chickpeas will also have their moment to shine come 2021. No longer relegated to falafels and hummus, these pulse proteins are moving beyond pasta and entering unexpected categories like ice cream with Peppi’s Greek Gourmet GreekFreez and the breakfast aisle with Three Wishes Cereal.

Lastly, jerky will no longer remain the exclusive domain of meat-eaters. From mushrooms to jackfruit, manufacturers are converting an array of fruits and vegetables into shelf-stable jerky snacks for those looking for a plant-based pick me up.

Whole Foods’ annual predictions are compiled based on the input from 50 Whole Foods Market team members, including local foragers, regional and global buyers and culinary experts that built this trend list by focusing on how the food industry is adapting and innovating in response to COVID-19 for a post-pandemic food world.