“SupermarketGuru” Predicts Top Food Trends for “Game-Changing” 2012

Americans love their foods, and this, according to Phil Lempert, founder of Food Nutrition & Science and CEO of The Lempert Report and SupermarketGuru.com, “has built a foundation for what may be one of the most exciting—and game-changing years in the food world.” For more than 30 years, Lempert has predicted food trends for the upcoming year. His top 10 trend predictions for 2012 include:

1. Food prices. Continued price increases based on environmental conditions and higher costs of fuel, feed, packaging, food safety, and increased demand for export. Shoppers will shave costs by revising recipes to use less meat and seafood and more non-meat proteins.
   
   
2. Group dining. The rise of food blogs and food trucks has built a foundation for group food experiences, and it is all about connection, conversation and a sense of community.
    
3. Baby boomers. This generation will control 52 percent of the total $706 billion spent on groceries by 2015, and, as they age, they are increasingly interested in foods and beverages with health benefits.
    
4. Farm to fork. Shoppers have become increasingly interested in knowing where their food comes from, thus 2012 will focus on the producers, farmers, and ranchers.
   
   
5. Mobile checkout. Shoppers are using their mobile devices and QR coding for price comparison, scanning, and couponing. In 2012, mobile checkout will be added to this list of mobile apps.
    
6. Ethnic food. Food trucks are replacing gourmet and specialty stores as the channel to experiment and discover new food experiences—especially ethnic food trucks manned by descendants of the ethnic cuisines and cultures who share the heritage and romance of the food with their customers.
    
7. The male shopper. It is all about “dad,” family, and husbands helping out at home. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 41 percent of men are now cooking at home—double that of 2003.
    
8. Xtreme home cooking. With continued pressure on the economy more people will eat at home to save money, with these everyday cooks priding themselves on making the most for the least.
    
9. Sugar reduction. With the new dietary guidelines recommending reduced consumption of added sugars, this will be the greatest of 2012 health claims, along with revisions to the nutrition facts panel that indicates whether the sugars are added, occur naturally, or are a combination of the two.
    
10. The sound of food. With people judging food freshness and readiness by sound, multisensory perception will be one of the new “food sciences” with psychologists and scientists joining forces to create and influence the sounds of foods to convey freshness, taste, and even health attributes.