The key food trends for 2021 in Australia

PreppedFRESH

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So our friends at Goodfood.com.au have pulled together the key food trends for 2021 and we are proud to be featured as driving change in the convenience category in the SMH and The Age print edition. Do those trends also apply to your country?
Need a few things to look forward to this year? Us too. The good news is there's plenty on the horizon. Not always where you'd think to immediately look, either.
From living, breathing buildings in the middle of the city and new ways to drink a home-made martini to a compelling reason to buy fish tails, 2021 could well deliver a little more than we'd hoped.

Neighbourhood dining is where the city's at​

While Sydney and Melbourne's central business districts remain quieter than restaurateurs would like, neighbourhoods are thriving

Phones out at the table​

When Kim Teo started putting QR codes on menus in 2018, many people told her the data-storing squares were dead; apps were the way of the future, especially for ordering food in-venue.

$50 is all you need to have a good time​


Michael Bascetta, co-founder of Melbourne hospitality collaboration space Worksmith, Falco bakery, Capitano pizzeria, and Bar Liberty reckons the sweet spot for dining out is at the $50 mark.

You can garden in just about anything​

We started growing more food at home than ever before last year. And this will be the year we get even more creative with the urge to produce our own food.
You can create a garden in a suitcase or a boot. You can buy a Vegepod, a portable garden bed on legs that can double as a hothouse. The only rule when it comes to what you can put a plant in is whether it gets the right amount of soil, water and sunshine. And even sunshine is negotiable these days, thanks to technology.

The Hassel is back, baby​

Is there a better sauce-catching vehicle than a spud sliced and fanned to look like a Slinky? Nope, we don't think there is. First created in Sweden in 1953, the Hasselback potato is making a comeback across the country, from restaurants such as Sydney's Ester, where it's supercharged by spud skin dashi, to Launceston's Stillwater, where it sits pretty in 'nduja butter.

2021 is the year of disruptive collaboration​

While lots of chefs dropped out of hospitality altogether during 2020, plenty have stuck with it and are forging their own paths, popping up in other people's restaurants, hosting two-night takeovers in bars and collaborating with gin, gelato and beer companies.

Life in the fast lane​

Google Trends data shows online searches for "intermittent fasting" have doubled over the past four years in Australia and continue to rise.

Take a back seat, hard seltzer. It's the year of the martini and soda​

You heard it here first. Take 30ml of your favourite gin, 15ml of your favourite dry vermouth, a dash of bitters if you swing that way, stir over ice until your mixing glass goes frosty, strain into a tall glass filled with fresh ice and top with soda. Think of it as a spritz wearing its finest business suit.

The rise and rise of plant-based everything​

Sick of seeing mince made from mushrooms in the meat section? Tired of chicken-free chook? Done with vegan mayo? Too bad. Plant-based products are only set to become more popular. The vegan ice-cream industry was estimated to be worth $US520 million ($A683 million) globally in 2019 and is expected to hit $US805 million by 2027, says Allied Market Research.

Convenience is king​

Speaking of Marley Spoon, the global company's Australian arm reported second- and third-quarter growth of 170 per cent in 2020, buoyed by lockdowns and the ongoing rise of e-commerce.

"The adoption of online, direct-to-consumer channels is up significantly," says Weber.

There are now more than 30 ready-made or cook-your-own meal delivery services in Australia, each assuring consumers they won't have to work hard for a healthy dinner.

New player PreppedFresh will launch to market in the next few weeks, also promising convenience, but with flash frozen, pre-chopped ingredients.

"Australians are hungry for the convenience meal kits tend to offer, but they can still take a long time to cook with all the preparation involved," says PreppedFresh founder Isabelle Dunn.

"Everyone likes to cook, but few people enjoy the chores of scrubbing, peeling and chopping, especially at the end of a long day."

Rather than Birds Eye-style bags of frozen cauliflower and other sides, PreppedFresh will offer a weekly starter kit with recipe cards and common cooking ingredients such as garlic, parsley, onion, pumpkin and carrot.

"I hope it can lead to a reduction in household food waste," says Dunn. "It's so frustrating when you do a weekly shop on Sunday, and your vegetables are beginning to perish in the crisper by Tuesday."

Collins is an advocate for any service that makes vegetables more accessible. "Research through COVID-19 showed Australians cooked more at home and increased their vegetable intake," she says. "That's a positive thing we really want to hang on to."

It's time to embrace the wing​


Keen for a fillet of salmon for dinner tonight? Consider using a salmon wing – plenty of flavour, and a quarter of the price.
Getting a little more savvy about the species and cut of fish we buy is the key to keeping the cost of seafood in our shopping baskets down.

Restaurant delivery is still a thing​

If 2020 taught us anything, it's that hospitality proved time and again how incredibly flexible and quick to change tack it could be. And while many high-end restaurants dropped their delivery services as soon as they were able to open the doors to welcome back customers, some have incorporated it into their business models and are reporting the demand is as strong as ever.

Local lovin'​

Coming out of the pandemic, Australians have a higher preference for locally made products that they know and trust, says Mintel analyst Jolene Ng.
 
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Hasselback potatoes are an annoyance of mine. They've been around longer than I have, and here, they're called fan potatoes or accordion potatoes. For the longest time, they were considered frumpy '60's dinner party fare that you wouldn't dare be caught serving in the hep '90's.

Then some younger generation (let's go ahead and blame Millennials, they get blamed for everything else :laugh:) "discovered" this new, cool dish called "hasselback potatoes," and now they're all the craze. 😒

I still remember my niece telling me about them, like it was some new thing I'd never heard of. I had to pop her excitement bubble by telling that, yeah, you're about 50 years too late, because your grandmom used to make those! :laugh:
 
Hasselback potatoes are an annoyance of mine. They've been around longer than I have, and here, they're called fan potatoes or accordion potatoes. For the longest time, they were considered frumpy '60's dinner party fare that you wouldn't dare be caught serving in the hep '90's.

Then some younger generation (let's go ahead and blame Millennials, they get blamed for everything else :laugh:) "discovered" this new, cool dish called "hasselback potatoes," and now they're all the craze. 😒

I still remember my niece telling me about them, like it was some new thing I'd never heard of. I had to pop her excitement bubble by telling that, yeah, you're about 50 years too late, because your grandmom used to make those! :laugh:

I discovered these about 20 years ago. I quite often still do them, I know they are one of my wife's fave potatoe.

Russ
 
In germany we have many of the trends you've mentioned, like support your locals or getting more vegan meat substitutes.
As it seems, covid-19 rules are way more strict here than in australia right now. And as we don't know for how long we have to live like this, many chefs are predicting more ghost kitchens, where cooks are preparing food in the best cost-effective way for home office worker or other people who would get a benefit when they wouldn't eat selfmade stuff, because then they need to put a lot of time and energy into learning how to cook instead of other more important activities.
Stay healthy
 
Hasselback potatoes are an annoyance of mine. They've been around longer than I have, and here, they're called fan potatoes or accordion potatoes. For the longest time, they were considered frumpy '60's dinner party fare that you wouldn't dare be caught serving in the hep '90's.

Then some younger generation (let's go ahead and blame Millennials, they get blamed for everything else :laugh:) "discovered" this new, cool dish called "hasselback potatoes," and now they're all the craze. 😒

I still remember my niece telling me about them, like it was some new thing I'd never heard of. I had to pop her excitement bubble by telling that, yeah, you're about 50 years too late, because your grandmom used to make those! :laugh:

Never had them, and I'm 67, and I'm sure Mom would have made them had she thought about it back in the day. They do sound intriguing and I would like to make them myself sometime. (Maybe she was thinking, let's just bake or roast the buggers and be done with it...)
 
Never had them, and I'm 67, and I'm sure Mom would have made them had she thought about it back in the day. They do sound intriguing and I would like to make them myself sometime. (Maybe she was thinking, let's just bake or roast the buggers and be done with it...)
I like to watch those old TV spots from the 1950's, where some company is highlighting their futuristic appliances or how to use their product in a hundred different dishes...you know, they always have things like Jell-O salad and garnishes cut into the shapes of little animals. Very kitschy stuff.

Fan potatoes always show up in those ads, with some kind of over-enthusiastic voiceover saying something like, "Today's hostess will be the talk of the coffee circle with these fun potatoes! Say goodbye to plain old baked potatoes, and say hello to these wonderful accordion potatoes, which can be stuffed, layered, and served in a variety of exciting ways! All the girls will wonder how you did it!"

:laugh:
 
PreppedFRESH, for some reason you intial comment here is not letting me copy to quote it here ... but thoughts from the other side of the world?

I applaud neighborhood dining, and in these days, SMALL neighborhoods, what with COVID and all. I do try to support my local eateries, if only by take-out.

Phones out at the table: I have never figured out those QR code things. TBH, I haven't tried that hard. As for me, I only put the phone out at the table if I am dining alone. i also never order by apps - I find the website and call directly. TBH, I also live too rurally to get restaurant deliveries sent to my home.

$50 is all you need for a good time: US and AUS currency probably doesn't match up, but in US dollars I am satisfied at $30 unless either in pricy NYC (and even there it might depend) or at a prime sushi restaurant. And, truth be told, I've dined spectacularly at $12-15 at a good quality diner.

Gardening in just about anything!: YES! Okay, my squash this last year begged seriously to differ, but I DID get a good number of edible veggies here.

The Hassel is back....: Still want to try making this. See my previous post.

2021 the year of collaborative disruption: Let's hear it!!!!

Life in the Fast Lane: I have discovered I've been doing Inadvertant Intermittant Fasting much of my current life. Brekkie at 8 or later, last meal (of one or two) at around 5 pm. (In bed around 7 pm in these dark days of winter here in my hemisphere.)

Martini and Soda: will have to try this.

The rise of plant "based" everything: I am planning on doing a taste test comparison between the two current darlings of the vegan ground "beef" world, and a package of real ground beef - Will keep all and sundry posted. The three packages are all in the freezer, and will be tested both as burgers and as small meatloaves. That being said, I have no intention of going vegan, but I do want to incorporate less meat into my diet.

Convenience is king: I don't think anything is truly new about this, at least over the past say, 40 years.
 
I like to watch those old TV spots from the 1950's, where some company is highlighting their futuristic appliances or how to use their product in a hundred different dishes...you know, they always have things like Jell-O salad and garnishes cut into the shapes of little animals. Very kitschy stuff.

Fan potatoes always show up in those ads, with some kind of over-enthusiastic voiceover saying something like, "Today's hostess will be the talk of the coffee circle with these fun potatoes! Say goodbye to plain old baked potatoes, and say hello to these wonderful accordion potatoes, which can be stuffed, layered, and served in a variety of exciting ways! All the girls will wonder how you did it!"

:laugh:
I remember all those jello ads!!! Back when I was a kid, the only way I liked potatoes was totally mashed into smithereens. So, I assume any such commercials flew right over my head!
 
Hasselback potatoes are an annoyance of mine. They've been around longer than I have, and here, they're called fan potatoes or accordion potatoes. For the longest time, they were considered frumpy '60's dinner party fare that you wouldn't dare be caught serving in the hep '90's.

Then some younger generation (let's go ahead and blame Millennials, they get blamed for everything else :laugh:) "discovered" this new, cool dish called "hasselback potatoes," and now they're all the craze. 😒

I still remember my niece telling me about them, like it was some new thing I'd never heard of. I had to pop her excitement bubble by telling that, yeah, you're about 50 years too late, because your grandmom used to make those! :laugh:
I agree, but some classics owe to be brought back!
..Like Cordon Bleu and the good old prawn cocktail - simply because they taste bloody good!
 
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