Food Trends for 2025

The new year is here and it’s the season of fresh beginnings and cheer! Mood-enhancing mocktails, vegan fish, dirty soda, and egg flights are soooo last year. Keep reading to stay one step ahead and ride the delicious wave of food fun rolling in for 2025!

Rare Roots

Plant-powered foods continue to trend, but koji-based meat is an exceptionally well-done endeavor! Koji, a type of fungi, may be the new kid on the deli meat block, but it has been traditionally used across Asia for thousands of years as a starter when producing fermented foods like miso and soy sauce. Fungi are considered kinfolk to animals, so they make the perfect meat substitute. A little confused? Think of it this way...fungi and animals are siblings, while plants and animals are cousins, scratch that...a quirky second cousin you only see at family reunions.

Koji provides a natural umami flavor, and its roots mimic animal muscle fibers, making it the ultimate plant-based protein for bodegas and delicatessens. This faux meat product boasts an impressive protein content of 7 grams per 2 ounces, matching that of traditional cold cuts.

Got Mylk?

Fun Fact: Did you know that “mylk” is used to refer to dairy alternatives?

Soy, coconut, rice, hemp, cashew, and oat milk are udderly popular with those looking for a dairy substitute, but there’s even moo-re on the horizon!

• Pea milk is made with yellow pea protein, water, sunflower oil, thickeners, vitamins, and minerals.
• Pecan milk is made with water, pecans, cane sugar, minerals, and inulin (a prebiotic that may be used to enhance natural sweetness and texture).
• Potato milk has been offered as a dry powder made with potatoes, cassava, natural flavors, and minerals. It has recently been marketed as a liquid beverage made with water, potatoes, sugar, pea protein, rapeseed oil, natural flavors, and vitamins.

Having trouble milk-ing up your mind? All these options can support a balanced diet, but if you’re looking for a dairy doppelgänger, we recommend pea milk as it has similar protein, calcium, and vitamin D content.

Botanical Beverages

It’s the hour of the flower! 2025 will bring even more tea, water, and bubbly juice infused with blossoms. Wind down after a long day with a brew boldened with light herbaceous sweetness. Seed more convincing? Petal-powered elixirs are not just aesthetic, they provide nutrition too!

• Rose

• Inhalation of rose has been proven to reduce pain from menstrual cramps.
• Oral intake of rose extract has been proven to reduce absorption of carbohydrates, and the rise of glucose after eating.
• Rose extract is approved by the FDA as a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) substance. Please limit consumption to no more than 1 teaspoon per day. Speak with a healthcare professional if you have concerns about potential interactions with medications.

• Dandelion

  • Dandelion root and extract are associated with a reduction in LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides

• Butterfly Pea (Asian pigeonwings, Clitoria ternatea)

• • Fun Fact: Butterfly Pea has been tested as a natural additive to enhance breakfast cereals, imparting a vibrant blue hue.
  • Rich in anthocyanin and fiber (62 grams per 100 grams of flower)

Not always wanting to enjoy a restaurant prepared floral beverage? Read this resource before preparing your own at home.

Sensory Swap

Life’s too short to be bland! In an effort to reduce the public’s sodium consumption, food manufacturers are increasing their use of sensory modulation magic that will help us savor the flavor. By stimulating our senses, food can increase our perception of saltiness. Fun, right? Stay on the edge of your seat for some snazzy new prepackaged goodies or unleash your inner chef by incorporating these fun meal prep tricks at home!

• Taste: Umami, spicy, tangy, and sour flavors
• Smell: Natural scent of cheese, bacon, ham, beef, sardines, and herbs
• Sight: Foods on black plates, brown foods paired with vibrant green and red vegetables
• Touch: Coarse and grainy texture
• Sound: Crispiness and crunchiness

Speaking of a fresh start...have you seen our updated website?

We heard your feedback and have updated our website to help you better understand the impact of our meals! But don't worry: our service is staying exactly the same, and we'll continue to cook and deliver the medically tailored meals you know and love right to your door!

Until next time, here’s to a well-balanced year, inside and out!