What to Expect in the World of Food in 2024

Everything Caesar, ranch’s ascent, buckets of buckwheat, and so much more. Here’s what to expect in the world of food this year.

Every year, food industry professionals prepare their forecasts for the future year’s culinary trends. These forecasts have different degrees of success—sometimes they’re right on, sometimes they’re nowhere close—but they always offer a wealth of information about what’s going on in the food industry and how it could play out in the coming year.

We developed our own list of the food trends we anticipate to see (or continue to see) a lot of in 2024 after taking notes during 2023 and studying several of the 2024 food trend prediction lists from firms like Datassential and Mintel. Many of these developments indicate that health is a rising concern for many Americans. There are also pantry staples with a twist, traditional dishes that have been reworked, and plenty of snacks to look forward to.

Zero Booze (and Barely Boozy) Beverages

These days, more and more people are choosing to live an alcohol-free life or drinking less alcohol for many reasons, including the many health benefits. There are no signs that this will slow down in 2024, as new zero-alcohol and low-ABV drinks keep coming out. There are more bars and restaurants than ever before that serve drinks with spirits that don’t work with alcohol. Gone are the days when juice, soda, and virgin piña coladas were the only non-alcoholic drinks you could get. The best thing about non-alcoholic drinks becoming more famous is that they make fun accessible to everyone, which is something we can support.

Buckwheat

This coming year, buckwheat will be everywhere. In the United States, buckwheat is becoming more and more famous, even though it’s not a new crop by any means. Buckwheat is a plant with edible seeds, like quinoa. It’s often thought of as a grain. It works great as a cover crop and helps the land stay healthy. Buckwheat is a gluten-free superfood that is full of protein. As if that wasn’t enough good things to say about it. Wheat can be turned into flour that is used in many foods, like pancakes and soba noodles.

Ranch

The question you may be asking is whether country has ever not been popular. Ranch sauce and popular snacks like Cool Ranch Doritos have been around for a long time. But it looks like everything ranch-related is going to get even bigger in 2024. In their 2024 trend report, Datassentials says that spicy ranch will become very popular. This is something they were already aware of before Taylor Swift’s “seemingly ranch” ranch dressing went viral. We think that standard ranch sauces will become less popular in 2024. Instead, new ranch tastes like spicy ranch and Chick-fil-A’s avocado lime ranch dressing will become popular. We think there will be more ranch ideas as well.

Caesar Salad

In 2024, Caesar salads without romaine lettuce will be very popular. When it comes to different Caesar salad bases, kale and asparagus seem to be becoming more and more popular. A great radicchio-based Caesar is on the menu at Agi’s Counter in Brooklyn, a small restaurant with Jewish and Eastern European influences. We personally like this style. In 2024, we can’t wait to see how people change up the famous salad. From veggie Caesar salads to chicken Caesar salads, there are a lot of different ways to make this dish.

Tamarind

Since 2000, McCormick & Company, a well-known spice company, has been announcing its taste of the Year picks. Most recently, they chose tamarind as the taste to watch in 2024. There is a pod fruit called tamarind that has seeds inside a sour, tangy juice. It is already very famous in South Asia, some parts of Africa, and Latin America, but it has taken a while to catch on here in the U.S. McCormick says that things are changing, though, and the tamarind is now taking over. Tamarind is very flexible and can be used in both sweet and spicy foods. McCormick’s thinks that sour and acidic tastes will still be popular in 2024, and tamarind is a great example of this.