Welcoming the New Year with a bang, the hospitality sector is alive with fresh ideas and innovation to delight customers over the coming months. To support menu development and shape business strategies, we’ve explored the key culinary trends on the horizon, from the latest social media conversations driving consumer demand, to the next international flavours to try and the increasing need for allergen-friendly options.
Getting Spicy!
Those looking to explore authentic spices should look no further than hawaij and black lime – two spices currently taking America by storm and will most likely head our way soon. Hawaij is a classic Yemeni spice blend and works in sweet, savoury, and beverage applications alike. Meanwhile, black lime offers a tangy, smoky twist, which is perfect for stews and marinades.
“Our residents often favour traditional British cuisine, but we add an element of excitement through regular themed events like Caribbean Day and Indian Curry Day, which introduce diverse ingredients and global flavours. Asian dishes, especially Korean, are a popular trend, and we’ve successfully added items like katsu chicken curry, bao buns, and gyoza through resident tasting sessions,” comments Matt Goodman, Catering Manager at The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society.
“Despite a preference for traditional menus, we consistently seek resident feedback and input through catering surveys and menu development sessions, ensuring all preferences are considered and allergies accommodated. For instance, we adapt trendy dishes like chicken katsu to meet dietary needs such as dysphagia by modifying ingredients and preparation methods.”
Allergens – The modern-day epidemic
Over 150million Europeans suffer from chronic allergic disease and current predictions estimate that by 2025, half of the entire population of Europe will be affected. “We have seen an increase in requests for halal, gluten-free, and dairy-free options over the past few months,” says Pavel. “We are committed to integrating these dietary preferences into our menu to ensure that all our customers feel comfortable and have a wide range of delicious dishes to choose from while dining at UBA. We have also noticed a growing demand for vegan dishes, so we are working on adding more sophisticated plant-based options to our menus.”
Not only does it make sense for operators to cater for this sector of the market to ensure they are accessible by the broadest consumer group as possible, it also helps with their visibility online too. Increasingly, websites listing allergy and intolerance friendly restaurants are appearing, helping consumers search for suitable locations both locally and nationally.
One to watch – Government identified junk food:
In 2024, the government laid out a list of foods it considers to be junk foods, and new laws set to be introduced in 2025 will see adverts for these items banned online and on TV before 9pm. A survey by YouGov has revealed that 16 of the 33 identified items, are not considered junk food by most Britons. These items include muesli, granola, porridge oats, rice cakes, fruit juice, frozen yoghurt, crackers, breakfast cereal, and smoothies.
Porridge oats (amongst other items) have been contested by the public, and after clarification, it has been revealed that food categories on the list that are not high in fat, sugar or salt would not be subject to any restrictions. While this largely affects the grocery sector, what is interesting is how foods that were originally healthy, have been distorted to become unhealthy. As such, there is a lesson to be learned to really pay attention to ingredients – you can easily turn a healthy dish into an unhealthy one.
Social media trends – what’s the buzz?
With social media being such a powerful tool in the creation and adoption of trends, it would be foolish to ignore it as a rich source of intelligence to guide menu strategies. Brandwatch, a consumer intelligence agency, recently analysed more than 179 million global online conversations to discover what’s hot and what’s not.
Based on discussions found online, Brandwatch has revealed that bowls are the most talked about trend. With their origins in Hawaiian poke bowls made with raw fish, bowls offer a myriad of opportunities for operators to use aesthetics to enhance the dining experience. Social media conversations rate rice bowls as the preferred meal for dinner, poke bowls as a lunchtime favourite, and smoothie bowls as the go-to choice for breakfast.
Visually stimulating and instagrammable, bowls have been taking social media by storm for the best part of 6 months and looks set to continue for some time to come. Check out this example by The Avocado Show, a restaurant in Amsterdam, where they creatively served their vegan poke bowls using avocado halves as the bowl itself.
Chain Reaction
As disruption to our food supply chain becomes more frequent, the hospitality industry will need to encourage more consumers to try new ingredients and flavours, and right now Asian food is topping the trend charts.
From Korean hotteok and Vietnamese banh mi to Japanese onigiri, Chinese jianbing and a burgeoning interest in Cambodian cuisine, we expect consumer interest for Asian cuisine to get stronger and stronger. “I’ve noticed a resurgence of spices and chillis, like hot honey,” says Eran Tibi, Founder and Executive Chef at Kapara and Bala Baya. “I’ve also noticed Kafir lime leaves are back in the limelight, which were always ‘trendy’ back during my days working for Ottolenghi – I love the fragrance they can add to a dish and visually they are so vibrant.”
Asian flavours are not just about food. Gen Z is diving into the world of Filipino coffee, pandan iced coffee and coconut milk coffee, and it’s not stopping there. “One popular trending ingredient we’ve incorporated into our menus is matcha, both in our matcha tiramisu and Matcha Dragon cocktail – both beautifully combine traditional flavours with modern twists,” says Pavel Baranovs, Head Chef at UBA.
