Innovation in food products was put aside in the past two years as the main concern for restaurant industry was to keep their businesses afloat, owing it to the Covid crisis. Now, restaurants goal for 2021 is adopting a more health-centric approach for consumers as well as the planet. Its high time to fire up the innovation engine for bringing forward new, creative food products.

Many of the culinary innovations that will take place this year have a high chance of becoming a permanent part of culinary cuisines in the future. To stand-out in the competitive marketplace, restaurants need to take initiatives of product development around macro narratives of social and terrestrial care.

Britain expects to see an increase in below mentioned food trends for the year 2021.

Vegetables-rich Gastronomy:

Trend of plant-based foods and vegan alternatives for meat will take the restaurant industry by storm in 2021. Vegetables are one of the richest sources of vitamins and have various other health benefits making it a popular demand for health-conscious customers.

However, this increased popularity of vegetarian and vegan products does not translate into a switch from meat and dairy products to a complete plant-based diet by every customer. Therefore, Flexitarian diet is on the rise in which meat becomes a once in a while or weekend meal option. So, restaurants will be able to cater to the demand of a more plant-forward diet without taking all non-veg dishes off the menu.

Another reason for the popularity of plant-based gourmet is the rapid increase of environment-conscious customers. Customers are re-evaluating their diets to be more eco-friendly. Today, customers favor restaurants adopting sustainability practices; one of which offering more vegan and vegetarian options. Be sure to label such dishes on the menu to inspire confidence in customers.

Main challenges will be to imitate the taste and texture in vegan alternatives while not compromising on the nutritional value. Pasta and pizza crust made from vegetables have been quite liked by diners. Plant based fish can be seen next on the horizon which restaurants can take advantage of taking sustainable seafood one step ahead. The concern now is about offering good-quality food fast, instead of fast food.

• Switching to non-alcoholics alternatives:

Emerging health consciousness among Millennials has also caught up with older generations. More people everyday are jumping on the sobriety bandwagon increasing demand of alcohol-free drinks (Mocktails).

Cities across UK have seen an emergence of pop-up bars that only serve alcohol-free drinks meanwhile other establishments are also offering more mocktail options. Another important thing restaurants need to keep the check on is keeping the calorie count low in non-alcohol spirits so consumers can enjoy their drinks guilt-free. Sales of non-alcoholic and trendy spirits has been increasing by 195 percent over last few years.

There has been an increase in popularity of homemade craft cocktails during last year due to ban on dining-out and work from home. Customers have more profound acknowledgement for craft ingredients so, combining them into mocktails are bound to be a hit. Restaurants can offer customizable; both sweet and savory cocktails with various exotic ingredients like berries, herbs and edible flower.

Using Locally sourced food

Using locally sourced foods,have always been beneficial for restaurants but recent universal events have shown the increased importance of these for coming years. Consuming food that is not sourced locally and brought from far-flung areas using various forms of transportation increase the carbon emissions. Whereas, locally sourcing of food guarantee fresh produce of with seasonal variety.

Customers are becoming more environment conscious and support restaurants that have more sustainable supply chain. Restaurants are building their menus around locally sourced ingredients to cater to the new demand and shifted perspective of customers. Restaurants that are incorporating food sustainability in their offerings and publicizing their efforts will have greater competitive advantage in 2021. This food trend is also the driver behind increase popularity of farm-to-table restaurants.

Increased sustainable practices in restaurants are helping local farms and markets in increasing their business turnover. Their businesses are getting promoted online and by contacts from Community Supported Agriculture community. Overall, a better relationship has been created among local farmers and restaurants across UK

Using Regenerative agriculture:

Regenerative culture is on top trending when we talk about 2021 food trends. Industrial practices that are used by farmers for farming food, raising livestock and fishing are becoming more and more damaging to the eco-system. The consequences of such unsustainable practices are increased carbon footprints, deforestation, contamination of water bodies and water shortages. Animal agriculture is also on the radar of many environment-aware customers.Customers are not consuming such produce due to ethical reasons and therefore, have stopped dining-out.

To counter the environmental damages, farmers are now switching back to the good old traditional methods of farming and raising livestock. These new methods are also less intensive resulting in produce that is obtained with zero carbon emissions and sometimes these practices go beyond for environmental health by decreasing carbon dioxide present in the air. This way it becomes easier for people worried about the planetary impact of consuming meat to eat meat meals at restaurants that use produce of regenerative agriculture.