4 Top Food Trends of 2023

Now that 2022 is ending, it’s predictions time again.

Global food and restaurant consultancy Baum + Whiteman takes a deep dive in its latest food and beverage trends forecast – tapping pistachio as the nut of the year and exploring the possibilities of a potential recession.

Here are some of the report’s highlights:

Trend #1: Growing impact of artificial intelligence

Beyond robot servers or cooks, look out for AI’s growing impact on dining. Presentation-wise, there’s more intrigue with how the Artificial Intelligence Image Generator creates different images and styles of food. The result is something between fantasy and reality, like these donuts by Israeli developer Omri Feinstein.

As for operations, machine-learning AIs will serve more as restaurant managers. They will perform tasks such as determining the quantity of produce to chop based on the day’s weather, fielding phone calls, and shifting a dishwasher to the veg prep station.

Trend #2: Rise of private dining clubs

Expect a boom in ultra-luxurious members’ clubs and restaurants that are “public” in name only,” such as mansions converted into clubs, and NFT restaurants with steep joining fees. These clubs aren’t the traditional collegiate ones like Harvard and Yale, but food-and drinks-centric venues geared for those who can shell as much as $500,000 for membership – plus a hefty monthly payment on the actual food, drinks, and services.

At Aman Hotel in New York, only hotel guests – who pay the starting daily rate of $3200 – can wine and dine in its lobby bar and restaurants. Sure, the hotel offers an alternative for non-residents, but that comes at $200,000 for the hotel’s private club. There, members get access to their concierge services and amenities too.

Trend #3: Popularity wanes for plant-based foods

The market has spoken. With about a 10% drop in supermarket sales of faux meat by volume in the last year, and the stock price for Beyond Meat plummeting from $108 to roughly $12, people are cooling to plant-based food.

Among the reasons include price, taste, growing skepticism about the claimed health benefits, and, more importantly, the complex labels – which indicate that these are highly processed foods.

But don’t expect the green trend to end. Plant-based chains are still launching and attracting long lines, and dozens of alternate protein manufacturers are receiving billions in funding.

“Hybrid meats” combining cultured meats and plant-based faux ones could be the game changer. With their ‘health halo’ and taste closer to the real thing, these hybrid proteins might help revive people’s interest in plant-based food.

Trend #4: Pickup over delivery

Expect more people to pick up their food as inflationary fears and delivery fees continue to rise.

For the push factor, the delivery app experience is wonky for some. With delivery people picking and choosing which customers to prioritize based on certain apps’ signaling of generous and lousy tippers, some may even find their orders getting snubbed altogether.

As for the pull, fast cas restaurants and chains improve their efficiency by building more pickup lanes and pickup-only stores, so customers save time and money by as much as 30-50%.

Also, let’s not forget surge pricing, especially when the delivery fees match the food. As more companies put this dynamic pricing to the test, don’t be surprised by the consumer backlash and an even quicker shift to the pickup lanes.