Top 2018 Food Trend Predictions & Where to Find Them

It’s time to push aside the Poke and Unicorn Frappuccino’s and make room for new food trends in 2018! Eater has compiled an extensive list of the top projected food trends in 2018, and we are excited to share our take on them.  Below we have listed just a few of the projected trends and where you can find them!

Vegetable Entrees: This is predicted to be a huge trend in 2018 as multiple sources including Nation’s Restaurant News and The Daily Meal have included veggie centric entrees in their projected trend list. Specifically, vegetable-centric fast-casual chains are expected to be increase in popularity. This is great news for us here at Zapwater, as we are so excited to be working with America’s Largest Vegetarian Fast-Casual Chain, Veggie Grill, in the opening of their first Chicago store.

Healthy Single Serve Snacks: Self recently reported on dietician’s picks for the top food trends in 2018. Most notably, the article mentions the rise of healthy single serving snacks, as they’re easy to grab on the go and limit your portion intake automatically. Some of our favorite healthy single serve snacks include Safe + Fair’s Non GMO cookies and grahams and Nothing But The Fruit’s fruit bites containing no artificial preservatives, artificial flavors or refined sugars. 

Regional Mexican: Restaurant and hospitality consultant company, Andrew Freeman & Company, reports that new takes on dishes specific to one of Mexico’s 31 states are expected to be trending in 2018, as chefs take deeper dives into the cuisines of our neighbors to the south. Chef Pablo Salas of Pueblo, conveniently located inside Latinicity in Block 37, has done just that through creating homage to everyday Mexican home cooking and putting a contemporary twist on foods from his hometown of Toluca, Mexico.

Cinnamon Buns: Grubhub has recently made predictions for food trends in 2018 through analyzing their Annual ‘Year In Delivery’ Report.  One of the dishes they forecasted for popularity in 2018 happen to be cinnamon buns with a 74% rise in average monthly popularity. Let’s face it, every Chicagoan knows that the best cinnamon buns in Chicago can be found at Ann Sather located in Lakeview.

Image via Food Network