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Godrej's 2023 Food Trends Report: Discover the Ultimate Guide to Culinary Delights!

Gastronomic insights from over 200 food connoisseurs, restaurant owners, renowned chefs, and influential bloggers

21 Apr 2023

Get ready to indulge in the ultimate foodie's delight with the Godrej Food Trends Report 2023 - a collector's edition bound to tantalize your taste buds! For six years running, Godrej has been publishing this annual report, packed with insights from over 200 culinary experts, celebrity chefs, restaurateurs, and influential bloggers. This year's edition features an all-star lineup of food personalities, including Chef Ranveer Brar, Chef Vikas Khanna, Chef Shagun Mehra, Pooja Khanna, Zeba Kohli, Chef Pooja Dhingra and Kunal Vijayakar, to name just a few.

So, why wait?

Dive into the GFTR 2023 and discover the hottest food trends of the year, straight from your favourite food gurus!

Here are the top 12 food trends Indian culinary experts predicted this year:

India will be recognized as an atlas of food

The world has historically perceived Indian cuisine as a monolith. This notion has been gradually dismantled over the last decade with a growing realisation that culturally, India is more a continent than a country, with as many cuisines as there are dialects. 2023 will see an unprecedented rise in global interest towards India's culinary plurality and prodigious ingredient diversity. 

Nostalgia will be a powerful proposition

With the siege mentality of the pandemic still impacting people, 2023 will see Boomers, Millennials, and GenZ seeking comfort in nostalgic foods, flavours, and brands. Expect nostalgia-invoking propositions in classic and re-invented avatars on grocery shelves, in offerings from home chefs and small businesses, and on house-party menus. Retro-themes will also inspire restaurant décor, packaging, merchandise, digital collectables, and content across

Collaborative pop-ups will see greater proliferation

2023 will see diners spoilt for choice, with restaurants offering a milieu of exciting concepts and menus through creative collaborations within and outside the industry. In addition to providing an immersive and educational experience for diners, restaurants will use these pop-ups to test new ideas, concepts, themes, cuisines, and formats, within existing and emerging markets.

Individual 'creator brand-driven' experiences will grow

All through the pandemic, F&B practitioners and creators nurtured communities that appreciated their creativity and philosophy towards their craft. In 2023, these communities of fans will seek interactive experiences that revolve around the practitioners and others like them. This is probably the best time for creative individuals with unique culinary concepts, menus, and stories to build a brand around themselves, through content and experiences.

Pan-ready, high-flavour snacks will be sought after

2023 will see snacks re-invented in a number of avatars to suit varied demographic and dietary requirements. Convenience and taste will be driving factors, with consumers gravitating towards options that require the least distance between pan and plate and strike high notes of flavour. Offerings with novelty value such as local Indian ingredients, and regional flavoured frozen kebabs and snacks will be attractive and satiating.

 

Demand for sauces and condiments will grow exponentially

The quest for flavour that is driving the snack segment will also drive similar demand and innovation in the sauces, dips, and condiments segment. Accompaniments that elevate snacks and bring zingy variety to meals will proliferate store shelves and in kitchen cupboards. They will also be carried home from travels to add global nuances to meals at home. The easy, fun factor they add to meals will also inspire content creation amongst creators and food media

Traditional oils will be hot!

We will see a resurgence of traditional fats over international options in daily consumption, driven by the rotation of oils for health and the exploration of regional cuisines, specifically the role traditional fats play in local flavour profiles. In 2023, the average Indian home will stock up on a greater variety of regional fats for daily use wilfully differentiating by application and cuisine.

 

Interests in yoghurts and whey-based beverages will grow

The value beverages add or subtract from the diet will drive increased interest in mindful consumption. Yoghurt and whey-based/enriched beverages offer protein-rich, probiotic alternatives that are also accessible to those with lactose intolerance. Expect these options to multiply across the dining out and in-home segment and also attract the teetotaling health-conscious consumer.

Demand for culinary knowledge and skills will grow

With positive and significant growth projected across segments of the food industry, be it dining out or dining in, health, beverage, food travel, food studies, or sweets and desserts sectors, hobbyists and professionals alike will invest serious time and resources into broadening their knowledge and skill sets in specialised areas to prepare themselves for future projects.

Exotic mushrooms will be everywhere

An increasing number of players will expand the world of mushrooms beyond the ubiquitous Button to encompass locally-grown fresh mushrooms like Oyster, Portobello, Shimeil, Enoki, Lions Mane, and more. Expect to see them featured as exotic, clean, plant-proteins, and welcome flavour and texture alternatives to paneer and tofu on vegetarian, vegan, and plant-based menus to excite diners and home cooks in 2023.

Desserts with healthier claims will be in demand

Sweets have been heading the healthy way for a while now. 2023 will see consumers and diners increasingly gravitating towards mindful portion-controlled indulgences made with good-for-you ingredients like natural sweeteners, millets, and more. Individually-portioned sweets will be preferred for flexibility of options in group settings. Sweets - especially single-portion offerings- will also cross over into snacking.

Indian-made artisanal cheese will be in the spotlight

Dairy-rich India has been a well-primed market for cheese. Supply chain disruptions accelerated a steadily growing segment of small and artisanal cheese makers across the country. Existing players expanded their scope while hobbyist cheesemakers became professional. All of this will drive focus on locally made cheese and shine a spotlight on indigenous Indian cheeses such as Topli paneer, Kalari, Churrpi, and Bandel.

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Godrej Food Trend Report