With 2023 coming to a close, we’re looking into our crystal balls (or tea leaves or pasta-themed tarot decks) to predict what food and drinks will be trendy in 2024.
Much like the weather, we’ll never be 100 percent sure of the full forecast of the year ahead, but isn’t it fun just to guess? Plus, not to toot my own trend-harvesting skills, but trends that I wrote about last year are predicted to get way bigger this year, like ube, having a way higher spice tolerance, caviar “bumps,” pickles, nostalgic dishes, and mocktail bars.
There are plenty of food trends we hope pick up speed in 2024 (or kindly fade away), and we know we’ll never quite predict them all. Think of it this way: This year already gifted us things that were decidedly not on our 2023 bingo cards, like robot waiters and caffeinated lemonade lawsuits. Plus, Grimace made a comeback (and everyone was not okay with it, clearly).
So, are we really ready for 2024? Who knows. Just be sure to save some room for these food and drink trends.
SEED TO SURF
1
Fancy Faux Fish
No, that’s not tinned crab or tuna you’re seeing here. It’s ‘s plant-based tinned “snow crab” and “whitefish” made entirely from enoki mushrooms and celery root.
Consider this the delightful, eco-conscious lovechild of 2023’s trend of Mushrooms Being Everywhere and the “treat yourself” little luxury of tinned fish, especially as consumers are reportedly flirting more and more with plant-based items. Mushroom crab cakes, anyone?
TORANI
2
Galaxy Quest
Not all of us will be able to realize our space-travel dreams, so Torani Puremade Galaxy Syrup is bringing the experience back to earth as their 2024 flavor of the year. Torani says that since “47% of Americans reported that they did at least one ‘space-related activity’ in the last year, now is the perfect time for this flavor to have its moment in the spotlight.”
As part of the development process, Torani conducted hours of market research and consulted with an astronomer to create a taste of space and the molecular structure of dust clouds. It apparently tastes like raspberries and dark rum.
3
Vinyl Bars Are Back
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Vinyl bars, while not necessarily new, sadly took a major step back during Covid, as most places turned into the town from Footloose, so to speak. Thankfully, vinyl bars all around the country are popping back up (like Le Fantastique in San Francisco) or becoming more popular (like Gold Line Bar in LA), as trend forecasters have noted that consumers are craving a bar-hopping experience in less-traditional spaces.
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LA TUA PASTA
4
Creste di Gallo Pasta
Elbows? So 1998. Bucatini? Big snooze. 2024 is reportedly all about a new pasta shape: Creste di Gallo.
Meaning “crest of the rooster” or “coxcomb” in Italian, the noodle resembles the ruffled crest on top of a rooster’s head. In pasta form, these ridges and folds are prized for how well it holds sauce, and will remind you of another popular noodle shape, cascatelli.
POP-UP GROCER
5
New Age Grocery Stores
One of the trends I’m most excited for? Grocery stores going way into the future.
Pop Up Grocer is the latest to make the chore of grocery shopping feel like an epicurean excursion. According to Aishwarya Iyer, founder of , “The consumer appetite for unique, high-quality products is reshaping the grocery landscape,” leading to a wave of “Shoppy Shops” and shopping platforms for expertly foraged wild foods (as is the case of Foraged).
COURTESY PINTEREST
6
Cafe Core
As reported in Pinterest’s infinitely-clickable Pinterest Predicts feature, Cafe Core will be a major trend you’re likely to see in your own kitchen. In the world of Cafe Core, bar carts are out and elaborate home coffee bars are in. Think: home espresso machines, chalk art, and coffee-shop-cute mugs, glasses, and stirring spoons.
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7
Pizza Vending Machines
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This trend feels like part fever dream, and part what I’d promise my class mates if they elected me class president in middle school. That being said, I’m a total fan and really hope I can have a Pizzaforno vending machine in my area very soon. Plus, even DiGiorno is testing out their own pizza vending machine prototypes to further blur the lines of their “It’s not delivery” tagline.
A-SHA NOODLES
8
Dressed Up Noodles
As I noodled around the various trend reports, I noticed one trend that was on nearly all of them, including Whole Foods’ report: upgrading your noodle game at home. Long gone are the days of simply just riffing with a packet of instant ramen, especially when you can try any of the fancier noodles at the grocery store, like A-Sha’s Galaxy Noodles, OmSom’s saucy noodles, and Momofuku’s sweet and spicy noodles.
ROW.7 SEED CO.
9
Garleek
According to ‘s Chef Ashley Lonsdale, 2024 will shine a spotlight on a new, hot vegetable: garleek, a cross between garlic and leeks that’s created through responsible seed breeding. Lonsdale predicts that garleek will become more mainstream as consumers are keen to support these types of hybrid vegetables.
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LUKE CHAN//GETTY IMAGES
10
Walk-In Reservations
Anna Altieri, the Executive Culinary Director of Spiegelworld, has maybe my favorite prediction of them all: the return of walk-in reservations.
“Restaurants are realizing that while packing your books full months in advance could be more predictable, it removes the whimsical nature of dining,” says Altieri. “I am loving the new restaurants that opt to leave a percentage of their tables open for the folks that just don’t know they need spicy rigatoni 90 days ahead of time.” As a last-minute diner myself, I couldn’t agree more.
11
Not-So-Humble Sheet Cakes
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Newsflash: Sheet cakes, and my Instagram feed, are totally very much back, baby! No longer just the humble cake shape you’d maybe expect at your grandma’s 77th birthday (or a work-organized baby shower), sheet cakes are more like…chic cakes (I’m so sorry).
APOTHEKARY
12
Sleepy Drinks
Honk-choo, honk-choo, mi mi mi mi mi. Oh sorry, I just had one of a variety of sleep-centric drinks you can now stock at your house for beddy bye time (like Apothekary’swhich features theirpowdered supplement or).
Thanks to the popularity of the viral TikTok recipe for “sleepy girl mocktails,” trend forecasters are noting how consumers are more focused (focuzzzed?) than ever on maintaining proper sleep hygiene.
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