Whole Foods Market is more than just a grocery store with a plethora of healthy food options for the health-conscious shopper. They’re also known for discovering the future of food and stocking their store shelves with the latest CPGs trends before you can find them anywhere else. Remember that fancy milk alternative called oat milk? Whole Foods was one of the firsts to carry the frothy beverage. Each year 50 of Whole Foods’ local foragers, regional and global buyers meet with culinary experts to compile up-and-coming consumer and grocery trends. So when Whole Foods released its top 10 food trends for 2020, we couldn’t help but share these findings and let you know that all these trends can be found on RangeMe. The links below will take you directly to products or searches on RangeMe for the given trends.

Here are the top 10 food and beverage trends you won’t be able to ignore in 2020, according to Whole Foods Market:

Regenerative Agriculture

The world is changing and so is the environment. As consumers become more aware of the effect their food has on the environment, farming and grazing practices are becoming more popular to cater to new consumer demands. Some foods are now produced to improve biodiversity and increase carbon capture for the purpose of positively impacting the environment.

Explore the trend: Conduct a keyword search for regenerative agriculture or biodiversity goods when searching for products on RangeMe, or browse the Sustainability Collection which features brands with sustainability certifications and approvals.  

Flour Power

Whether you’re interested in catering towards the gluten-free baker or someone looking for a new cooking adventure, expect fruit and vegetable flours to be the newest addition to flour alternatives. 

Explore the trend: Retail shelves and pantries will soon be stocked with cauliflower flour, acorn flour, chickpea flour, and even sunflower flour

Foods from West Africa

If you like the rich, earthy dishes filled with superfood ingredients, you’re in luck. West African flavors are popping up everywhere in food and beverage. Some ingredients from the nations include tamarind, millet, teff, moringa, and more.  

Explore the trend: Check out this all-natural tamarind tea and moringa puff snack. You can also discover similar products by using the “Origin” filter and Ghana or other countries. 

Out-of-the-Box, Into-the-Fridge Snacking

Snacking, what once was indistinguishable from preservative-packed foods, like chips, pretzels, and protein bars meant to last a lifetime will take on a new meaning in 2020. Look out for snacks that drop the preservatives and live in our fridges such as pickled vegetables, drinkable soups, mini dips, and hard-boiled eggs.  

Explore the trend: Skip the pantry to find these grab-n-go smoothie options or meat and cheese snacks

Plant-Based, Beyond Soy

Plant-based meat is no stranger to consumers, however, these proteins are known for containing soy. But that’s changing– more and more plant-based proteins are kicking soy to the side and replacing it with innovative blends such as mung beans, hempseed, and pumpkin, that have similar textures to the real deal. 

Explore the trend: Discover mung bean products or other alternative plant-based snacks. 

Everything Butters and Spreads

If you can think it, it probably could be made into a butter. Look out for new kinds of butter beyond your typical peanut butter such as watermelon seed butter and pumpkin butter. 

Explore the trend: Other spreadable options on RangeMe include hazelnut butter and a variety of chickpea butter flavors. 

Rethinking the Kids’ Menu

More and more kids are being introduced to more adventurous foods that are healthier for them. Such snacks include non-breaded salmon fish sticks, umami flavored snacks, and other bold flavors and alternative ingredients. 

Explore the trend: Find products for the kids by using the keyword search for cauliflower pizza crusts, add in the “organic” filter to find products like organic overnight oats, or see how many parents like this gluten-free, non-GMO birthday cake granola found on RangeMe. 

Not-So-Simple Sugars

As consumers continue to shun sugar they are looking into other forms of sweeteners. Syrupy reductions from fruit sources and starches are adding new and unique flavors to your traditional baked goods.

Explore this trend: You can find all kinds of sugar-free alternatives such as Swerve Sweetener on RangeMe or at your next ECRM Program. 

Meat-Plant Blends

Not ready to ditch meat altogether? That’s okay you can still get the best of both worlds. Butchers and meat brands are keeping up with the plant-based craze by adding vegetables to their meat products.

Explore the trend: Check out options for burgers made with mushrooms or search alternative meat-plant blends by using a keyword search.  

Zero-Proof Drinks 

Get ready for unique nonalcoholic drinks that are dominating the beverage space. There will be a variety of recreated classic drinks that embody traditional cocktail flavors coming to the market soon. 

Explore the trend: Find the next batch of cocktail alternatives for your store from the mixed, not stirred selection on RangeMe. 

It looks like 2020 is going to be a big year for creativity when it comes to putting a modern twist on traditional foods. If you were inspired by these trends, get ahead and start your search for new products that match the above criteria on RangeMe.  

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Newsroom. (2019, October 21). Retrieved October 23, 2019, from https://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/news/whole-foods-market-predicts-top-10-food-trends-for-2020.

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