Food trends of the last decade

Every year prognosticators try to guess what the next year’s food trend will be. We recently saw that vegetable yogurt and watermelon juice are two of the foods to watch in 2017. How well those predictions actually play out is another story. Looking back at the last decade, Nation’s Restaurant News reports on which foods actually increased in the diets of US consumers.

Given the focus on healthy eating in blogs and cookbooks, you’d probably guess that at least one vegetable would show up on the list. You would be wrong. Kale and quinoa aren’t included, but instead you’ll find foods like pizza, chicken sandwiches, and pancakes.  “The real foods and beverages of the decade are those that have increased the most in American diet,” says Harry Balzer, vice president of the consumer research firm The NPD Group, author of the report. Those foods are generally easy to make and serve. 

Pancake consumption grew 5.3% from 2004 to 2014, and poultry sandwiches are up 8.3% in the same time period. Even though more people are eating meals at home, they are opting for Simple, fast dishes that allow them to keep up with their hectic lifestyles. The biggest winner over the last decade was yogurt, which was up 12.5%.