Every year, new trends in food seemingly appear out of nowhere and take over the world. Whether you search on Pinterest for the next new and exciting food trend or hear your coworkers discussing their dinner plans for the week, food trends keep us motivated and expand our palettes to new flavors. From unicorn drinks to avocado toast, 2018 blessed us with some delightful to downright terrible trends in food. Here is what we are likely to see more of in 2019:

Ugly produce

A clever and catchy marketing technique, ugly produce is breaking through and reminding everyone that looks truly don’t matter – it’s what on the inside that counts. Research suggests that every year, half of all produce is thrown away. The appearance of the fruit or vegetable is a big contributing factor to this, as consumers look for a perfect appearance when picking up their produce. That’s starting to change though, through subscription services and grocery stores who are encouraging shoppers that these bruised, misshapen, and even ugly fruits and vegetables still taste great and contain equal nutritional values as their most perfect counterparts.  

Air Fryers

If there were an appliance of the year award, it would probably go to the air fryer. These rose in popularity quickly in 2018 and will continue to find their way into homes throughout 2019. With tons of health food swaps and diets circulating recipe boards, air fryers provide a slightly healthier way to cook some of our favorite fried foods. The countertop appliance used hot air to circulate food, frying to crispy perfection using little to no oil.

Meal Delivery Services

Not sure what to cook for dinner? Want to try something different than the five core recipes you stick to every week? Meal delivery services are on the rise, with plenty of companies like HelloFresh and Gobble taking the thought out of preparing a meal. Choose the meals that interest you most, and you’ll be shipped all the ingredients along with instructions to prepare the meal. They are quick, delicious, and an excellent option for those who are busy or simply want to try something new!

Plant-Based foods

Plant-based milk, pasta, and tons of other food options are appearing more frequently on grocery store shelves. Retailers are taking note in this growing trend, producing tons of alternative plant-based options for the foods we love. We see this evident in Whole Foods best-selling pasta:  chickpea pasta which offers more protein and fewer carbs to traditional pasta.