Kale lollies

Food(ie) trends in 2014: from savoury yoghurts to burger bots

The future of food includes kale ice lollies, smart knives and egg-white crisps, according to trend analysts. But will savoury yoghurt and edible soil ever catch on? The Guardian takes us on a weird, whacky and wonderful tour of some cutting-edge, food and foodie trends and developments.

It is a blustery winter morning in Mayfair, London, and 100 or so well-heeled representatives from the advertising and retail worlds are huddled in a lecture theatre at the Royal Institution. This is the future of food, according to Stylus, an “innovation, research and advisory firm” that scours global markets to pinpoint the most influential emerging trends for companies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Bacardi and Hotel Chocolat.

Edible QR codes
Harney Sushi, a restaurant in San Diego, has attempted to tackle the problem that 52% of Californian seafood is supposedly being mislabelled, by devising edible rice paper QR codes. Using smartphones, diners can call up detailed information about the provenance and global stocks of the fish they’ve ordered.

Interactive cocktail lounges
Logbar in Tokyo issues customers with iPad Minis upon entry. The menu is on the tablet, which you can also use to communicate with other drinkers and view, “like” and order what they’re drinking. You can even invent your own cocktail and add it to the menu, earning a 50 yen (about 30p) commission when someone else buys one.

Burger-bots
Momentum Machines‘ robot churns out 360 gourmet burgers an hour, chopping all ingredients as it goes so that everything is fresh, fresh, fresh. Orders can be customised, too. You want a patty of one-third pork and two-thirds bison? No problem.

Smart knives
Another Electrolux Design Lab contender is a knife that can check levels of harmful bacteria, pesticides and nutrients such as sugar, vitamins, protein and fat in the food it cuts. It also emits negative ions to help keep the food fresh.

Food tattoos
A Spanish company has developed laser tattoos for fresh produce, which can safely apply logos, provenance details and even QR codes on to fruit and veg. So long, irritating and un-eco stickers.

“Health” chocolate
With an increasing number of well-off older people wanting to stay fit, bigging up the functional properties of products is considered a good business bet. Expect to see more along the lines of French fruity chocolate Wellness Cacao, probiotic Ohso bars and IQ “superfood” chocolate.

Kale lollies
Nothing, it seems, can stop the march of the kale evangelists. Next summer, forget Magnums – it’s all about the kale ice lolly.

Egg-white crisps
IPS (Intelligent Protein Snacks) contain protein, half the fat of regular crisps and fewer carbs, too. No mention of salt levels, though.

Savoury yoghurts
Carrot, tomato, parsnip and beetroot yogurts are a thing in New York. Milk from grass-fed cows and naturally sweet vegetables seem a winning combination – it can’t be long before it comes to the UK….

The Guardian: Read the full article