TRENDS: Street food trucks; craft beer defies recession; beefing down; iota-carrageenans

A compendium of food, dining and beverage trend information from the U.S. and the world

Reported in slashfood.com:

 ”Food trucks are here to stay. ”With the economy, many businesses are going mobile, including hardware stores. There’s a lower overhead and you are able to move to the masses. It’s a great thing if you do it properly.”

- Food Network personality and cookbook author Ingrid Hoffman recently debuted her Latin Burger mobile kitchen in Miami serving a signature burger with a chorizo and sirloin filling, Oaxaca cheese, caramelized onions, jalapenos and red-pepper mayo.

Reported by CNNMoney.com:

Beer sales dropped by 5 million barrels last year, but small brewers fared the best: Craft beer sales grew 7.2% by volume over 2008, according to an analysis released this week by the Brewers Association. The number of small breweries in the U.S. also rose past 1,500 — the highest total since before Prohibition, according to the industry trade group. Craft beer still accounts for less than 5% of the total U.S. beer market, but they boosted their retail sales by 10.3% last year to $7 billion even as overall beer sales decreased 2%. ”There was something different going on last year,” said Paul Galtza, director of the Brewers Association. “People started altering their purchase habits.” If the economy stabilizes, Galtza said he expects the trend to continue. He thinks craft brewers could enjoy a 10% volume boost in 2010. 

Reported by chicagotribune.com:

The USDA released data on food availability and per-capita purchases over the last century.  This report revealed  that Americans are cutting back on beef and milk but have beefed up on cheese and chicken. Soft-drink consumption has soared from about 15 gallons per person to about 45 gallons in the last half-century.

Reported by foodnavigator-USA.com:

An edible film composed of fat and iota- carrageenans may outperform traditional fat-based carriers for flavours, says fundamental new research from France. Microcapsules are tiny particles that contain an active agent or core material surrounded by a shell or coating, and are now increasingly being used in food ingredients preparation. The technology can be used to deliver a host of ingredients – flavours, oils, peptides, amino acids, enzymes, acidulants, colours and sweeteners – in a range of food formulations, from functional foods to ice cream.

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FOOD TRENDS: Colorado, kombucha and pupusas

This column originally appeared in the February issue of Yellow Scene magazine in Colorado

By JOHN LEHNDORFF

As a lifelong food geek, I jumped at the opportunity in 2009 to work on Eat In Eat Out, a new report focused on U.S. food and beverage trends. Here are some predictions and how they are manifesting in the Colorado market:

- Affordable remains the mantra. Discounts abound at supermarkets as well as better private label brands. Health food prices will get chopped with newcomer Sprouts joining the crowded fray. Expect continued deals (and smaller portions) from independent eateries fighting to outlive the recession as well as a bevy of Colorado-born fast casuals (think Quizno’s, Chipotle, Noodles & Company).

- Local rules for green, food safety and financial reasons. This should be a good year for artisanal cheese makers (Windsor Dairy), pork producers (Long Farms), bread bakers (Breadworks), chocolatiers (Robin Chocolates), and distillers (Leopold Bros.). Bistro menus will prominently detail ingredients’ points of origin.

- Gardening at home continues to boom using local seed (and home canning), chefs tilling their own gardens and farms (Black Cat, Colterra), and more farmers’ markets and stands. Cooking classes will fill as kitchen neophytes realize they don’t know how to cook.   

Other hot trends include:
Street food: Look for more mobile fare from the traditional taco and pupusa wagons to the chef-driven, Twitter-linked Green Gringo truck.

Kombucha: The Denver metro area is the rising epicenter for this tart fermented tea beverage. Kombucha fills store shelves locally, is on tap at Whole Foods and will be bottled soon by Boulder’s Celestial Seasonings.

Plus: anything gluten-free; upscale burger joints; lardo and salumi; and Sechuan buttons.

- Eat In Eat Out: Food trend forecast 2010: http://americanforecaster.com/