What Are the New Food Industry Fads?

While these are nothing new, portable foods continue to be a food industry trend. Providing convenience for our 'on-the-go' society is a must and consumers continue to spend their cash on handy packaging that allows them to skip portioning themselves and simply grab something out of the kitchen, throw it in their bag and go. The cost of the packaging drives up the cost of these pre-portioned gems, however the convenience continues to beat out the cost and consumers keep this food industry trend going.

Whole Grains
Our more health conscious society is driving many food industry trends, the rise of whole grains is one of the biggest. The 3 biggest things whole grains promise are better heart health, satiety and weight-loss. These grains contain fiber to fill you up, thus help you to eat less. Food companies are not only putting whole grains in cereal and bread, but you can find them in yogurt, pasta, tortilla chips, and even in fruit smoothies.

Probiotics
Probiotics are micro-organisms that live in the human intestinal tract, also called 'healthy bacteria', these intestinal friends are also found in certain foods. Probiotics can be found in yogurt, milk, miso and some soy products, amongst other things. These foods are not new to the food industry, however the fact that probiotics are in these foods are being heavily marketed by the food industry. Many more yogurts that are marketed to help regulate the digestive tract have surfaced in the past year. Soy has not only been recently marketed for its probiotics, but also for its cancer preventing benefits.

Superfruits
Over the past decade food industry trends have pushed cancer-fighting antioxidants and taught us that eating a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables is most beneficial for our health. Blueberries and cranberries have been pushed as having some of the highest levels of these cancer-fighting miracles. Just like other trends, the food industry is always seeking the next biggest thing. As far as antioxidants are concerned, this is where 'superfruits' come into the market. Acai berries, are small berries come from the acai palm, and have been marketed not only in juice form, but also pulp and pill form. These berries are chalked full of antioxidants and have been marketed on TV and in tabloids as a miracle weight-loss aide, the latter giving it the ultimate rise in sales. Goji berries from Asia are marketed for eye health. Mangosteen fruits, also from Asia contain cancer-fighting xanthones. Goji berries and Mangosteen face strict import regulations, thus juices are where you can find this food industry trend.

Ready-To-Cook Packaging
This food industry trend, like portable packaging, is fueled by the convenience factor. Favorite foods without having to add extra ingredients, get out a pan, wash the pan and put away the pan, this is what ready-to-cook packaging offers busy consumers. Frozen foods offer steamable packages for vegetables, which not only offer convenience, but health benefits. Flavored rice that you can put directly in the microwave and not worry about sticking to the pan and have it always come out perfect is very appealing to cooks on the go. This food industry trend is wide spread, with oatmeal, pasta dinners and frozen dinners providing just some of the foods you can prepare in the package you buy them in.