10 Food Trends In 2023 That Will Change Everything

Want to look into the future? Well, no need to wait with these 10 Food Trends In 2023 That Will Change Everything. All You Can Do Is Drive-Thru As trends continue towards ordering takeout instead of dining at the actual restaurant, fast-food chains have begun tweaking their decades-old dine-in strategies to meet demand. While pickup orders are more popular than ever, one particular chain is betting on the speed and convenience of the good old-fashioned drive-thru, even if this drive-thru isn't old-fashioned at all. In June of last year, Taco Bell opened a trial kitchen in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, called Taco Bell Defy, and in 2023, it is indeed defying all aspects of a traditional sit-down restaurant. The futuristic two-story building uses a hybrid elevator and conveyor belt system to have food travel between both floors and out to customers. And those customers are all on the other side of the window because the entire Taco Bell is drive-thru only and looks more like a tollbooth than a taco joint. Taco Bell Defy features four sprawling drive-thru lanes, fully digital menu boards, and separate pickup lines for third-party pickup and mobile pickup orders. With no dining room inside or even a walk-up kiosk, the experience is truly contactless as long as you have a vehicle to get through it with. Otherwise, you might have to hitchhike your way to your order. Eco-Friendly Packaging The food that comes from your favorite eatery isn't the only thing that's due for a change in the years to come. The bags, boxes, cups, and tubs it's packaged in are in the process of getting overhauled. This process isn't exactly new as the good folks at the Golden Arches spurred on a change back in 1990. At the time, the clamshell burger packages McDonald's used for everyone's quarter-pounders were made of polystyrene foam. The production of the material was found to be hazardous to the ozone layer and a problem once it hit landfills. Public outcry forced a change from the restaurant since they accounted for over 2% of all polystyrene usage and production across the United States back then. While 2% doesn't sound like much, it equated to 10 million discarded burger boxes a day, which added up to 3.5 billion of them each year. Today, recyclable cardboard replacements are the new normal for burger buffs. So, over 30 years later as 2023 rolls on, so does the process of improving takeout packaging. Plastics are a major issue since they're not biodegradable, which means they never decompose for reuse and can end up with a lifespan of more than two centuries. Due to their environmental impact and inability to be recycled, plastics and foams continue to be eliminated from restaurant use in things like cups and cutlery. And next on the docket is that suckable plastic straw that delivers delicious milkshakes and soda to your taste buds. While there's no nationwide federal mandate against pesky plastic straws, as of October last year, 28 different states have officially banned them in favor of paper or reusable alternatives. Today, every part of the food packaging system in the service industry is being re-examined, and new options are constantly surfacing for materials, including rice, oat, and corn-based substitutes. Before you know it, you'll be able to eat your DoorDash order and the box it came in, too. Delivery Domination McDonald's is widely recognized as the godfather of modern fast food by innovating a cookie-cutter production line system, but they weren't the first to offer customers the convenience of on-the-go service. One of McDonald's early slogans, buy-em-by-the-bag, is eerily similar to White Castle's buy-em-by-the-sack marketing tool they debuted way back in 1927, when they became the first food establishment to offer paper bag carry-out. And in 2023, the whole concept of take-out food continues to evolve beyond the original brown bag lunch. The advent of third-party delivery companies has revolutionized the way food gets from a restaurant to your door, and provided avenues for establishments that don't have in-house delivery drivers a way to provide that convenience. Through frontrunners like Grubhub, DoorDash, and UberEats, gig delivery companies raked in a collective $22.4 billion dollars back in 2021, and those numbers can only be expected to increase into 2023. In response to having those companies take a cut of their profits, however, restaurants and chains have released their in-house delivery apps to compete with the expanding market. No matter which app you choose, expect doorbells across America to keep getting a good workout. First time here? We deliver new videos every day, so hit that subscribe button and never miss out. Thanks! Taking take-out to the next level While Taco Bell is catering directly to drivers, one other chain's modernization attempts is at least still letting customers inside the building. Wendy's has introduced a new strategy to help modernize their restaurant experience for the new influx of digital ordering and pickup. The concept is officially named Global Next Gen, and the company was quoted as wanting a sleek and modern standard for all of the new designs. The first of these locations is planning to open in Ohio sometime during the spring of this year and will include forward-thinking concepts to help streamline both the take-out and dine-in sides of Wendy's for the digital age. And in the interest of going green, each of these fancy new locations will be newly energy-efficient to help decrease costs as well as decrease their carbon footprint. Global Next Gen locations feature separate pickup windows and parking spaces for delivery drivers from places like Grubhub or Uber Eats so that their specific orders don't clog the drive-thrus or the lineups inside. So, much like the Taco Bell method, they'll be geared towards mobile orders from both couriers and customers. But if you still feel like sitting inside with a cool frosty, don't worry, you still can. It's Cool To Be Cold Forget the pumpkin spice latte, in 2023, it might be cold brew coffee that baristas are recommending. Coffeeholics from coast to coast have been ditching their hot morning cup of joe for a crisp, chilled take on the breakfast beverage. From Starbucks to Dunkin' Donuts and everywhere in between, cold brew coffee might be in line to be the new king of caffeine. Even McDonald's got into the chilled coffee game, selling iced coffee as part of their McCafe line. A Starbucks press release last August noted that chilled coffee beverages made up three-quarters of their total United States sales in the third fiscal quarter of last year. And like most trends for 2023, it's been percolating for some time now. In 2017, the cold brew coffee market accounted for approximately $166 million of market sales. Just four years later, that total U.S. market value ballooned to over $1.2 billion in 2021. Projections look for the market to have a total five-year market share increase of $1.37 billion by the time we get to 2025. If people keep downing all that cold coffee, the numbers will surely keep going up. Waste Not, Want Not The fast-food industry continues to rework its sales and production models to take advantage of modern digital efficiencies, and that trend is expanding to fine-dining restaurants and even household kitchens. With efficiency and waste management in mind, trends like farm-to-table cooking and root-to-stem cooking are becoming extremely popular. With the farm-to-table movement, carbon footprints are reduced by eliminating unnecessary steps in production and transportation. And with root-to-stem, parts of foods that would previously be thrown away are being repurposed to be used in other dishes. It's estimated that restaurants across the USA create upwards of 33 billion pounds of food waste every calendar year. Supermarkets are even worse, contributing 43 billion pounds of wasted food each year. And even on the home front, a household of four typically throws away almost $3,000 of usable food annually. So, keep doing your part by finishing every single stray french fry from the bottom of the takeout bag. Produce Meets Pasta A new trend as it relates to pasta might have you doing a double-take the next time you enjoy your favorite Italian dish. While traditional pasta made from refined wheat flour is still popular, several alternatives have popped up over the last few years. Heart-healthy versions made from whole grains have claimed some of the market share, while the gluten-free movement brought rice and corn-based plates of pasta to the mainstream. So, as the market gets more creative, plant-powered pasta is now expanding at a rapid rate. These different varieties spring up for different reasons, whether it's simply something new and exciting, or designed for special dietary restrictions, or as a way of getting more veggies into every meal. Whatever the case, interesting pasta ingredients like pumpkin seeds, cauliflower, and chickpeas are becoming widely available, and there are even spaghetti squash spaghetti and zucchini strip noodles, aka zoodles. Have a look at your next lasagna, you might just be surprised. Avocado Oil Everyone's heard of the avocado toast trend, but this fruit is, again, slated to do big things in 2023. In its liquid form as avocado oil, the green goodness is becoming a popular mainstay in homes, restaurants, and everyday packaged goods at the grocery store. From a kitchen perspective, refined avocado oil has a higher smoke point than other plant-based cooking oils because it doesn't start to burn until it hits 520 degrees, which gives it a wider variety of uses. It's also high in monounsaturated fats, which are great for heart health, so it's become a healthier replacement for things like sunflower oil and canola oil. It can already be found in mayonnaise, snack foods, and margarine for the heart-conscious consumer. So, move over guacamole, cooking oil is the new avocado craze. Functional Foods An ongoing trend is all about maximizing the benefits of food consumption, and at the forefront of that idea is the concept of functional foods. These specific eats provide positives like nutrition, fiber, and vitamins alongside being tasty. So, these foods aren't just about fun and flavor, they also provide health benefits. Picture things like yogurt, which is great for breakfast, but also a source of probiotics. They can also include things like tuna, which is considered a brain-friendly food, or dark chocolate, which is a sweet dessert but also packed with antioxidants. As sales of functional foods increase, manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon by increasing the nutritional value of their current products, like probiotic-rich salad dressing and yogurts with added fiber. As functional foods gain popularity, your next meal might not just be delicious, it might also be nutritious. Plant-Based Popularity The biggest and boldest change coming for 2023 isn't exclusive to the purchase of a new wall calendar and has been on a steady rise over the last few years. From 2015 to 2018, the number of consumers in the United States who identify as vegans increased by a staggering 600%. In 2017, Grubhub reported selling almost 200% more vegan dishes than the year prior, and in 2020, supermarket sales of plant-based meats grew by 152%. While the rise of plant-based alternatives can only continue in the year ahead, it can also be traced back much further when smaller startups popped up across the USA that grew into brands we know today, like Lightlife, Morningstar Farms, Eves, and Worthington. It took a few decades to catch on, but in 2002, Burger King became the first American fast-food chain to sell a veggie burger coast-to-coast. And nearly two decades after that, they introduced the Impossible Whopper as their plant-based meat alternative. But by then, they were playing catch-up as other brands like Beyond Meat had popped up on the menus of almost every fast-food chain in the country, from KFC to Chipotle and Carl's Jr. to White Castle. There are a few different reasons for the meteoric rise of meaty non-meats, but like most major changes in people's food consumption, health and dietary benefits might top the list. As the popularity of alternatives increases, feel free to skip the salad and go straight for the meaty main course. Even if it technically only tastes like meat. Take a bite out of more great videos. Just tap or click. Leave us a comment, hit that subscribe button and ring that notification bell.