Pucker Up for 2025
What’s in store for food trends and the grocery industry in the new year? If you read the news too closely, it may seem a bit doom and gloom, driven by public policy such as pending tariffs, changes to our workforce, the potential return of inflation, and more.
In reality, that’s all going to hit a bit later on, and we can check back in 2026 to dig deeper.
Once the ball drops and the new year begins, it’ll be time to pucker up and get back to work, because the big trends for 2025 all are headed that way, whether it’s what we eat or what we buy.
Below are four trends I predict will shape our industry in 2025.
1. So Sour
Sour flavors, from citrus to vinegar, will become increasingly popular and grow as a core part of the dressings, sauces and condiments we prefer. Store brands can jump on the trend by prospecting for new ideas in Asian, Latin and African culinary traditions.
Sometime in 2024, we reached “peak heat” with ghost peppers haunting our shelves, as repeat buyers were few and far between. But the real switch to sour is driven by changes in demographics and the search for new flavors. Increasing diversity in the marketplace — from the Americas, Asia and Africa — all bring more shoppers who are used to more acid in their food, whether from citrus or vinegar.
Kombucha rode this wave into a nearly $3 billion segment in the refrigerated beverage category. The center of the store is next.
2. Fish Lips
The growing realization that some aquaculture producers are intensively using antibiotics to farm fish and seafood will gain more consumer mindshare, leading many to reconsider whether eating fish is really such a healthy choice. Awareness has been growing for several years, especially with intensifying news coverage of the Food and Drug Administration rejecting a growing number of shipments of imported seafood for containing antibiotic residue, notably in shrimp, which remains America’s most popular seafood choice.
This means that we need a new take on sustainable seafood, which is the only kind that most stores now sell. However, most of the certifications that our industry relies on don’t ensure that fish and seafood is antibiotic-free (although all wild seafood always is).
[RELATED: Seafood Category Gets New Sales Hook]
We have a chance to build trust, and drive sales, by going beyond certification and asking our suppliers to make sure that the farmed seafood they provide is produced without antibiotics. Then we must market to customers that our seafood is indeed antibiotic-free.
Extensive consumer research conducted by my firm, Changing Tastes, has found that for consumers who know about antibiotic use in aquaculture, it’s one of the top reasons that they won’t buy fish and seafood. With a little work, we can knock down that barrier to purchase and increase sales in the seafood department.
3. Welcome Back
The workforce is heading back to the office, driven largely by return-to-office mandates. With this, we’ll see more grabbing more on-the-go meals from restaurants and on-site foodservice.
Grocery knows how to compete for every one of those meals, but we have to get back on top of our game.
Ready-to-eat meals have been a major focus of growth in the industry. Since COVID, however, we’ve lost a little of the magic as we shifted toward comfort foods and away from an ever-growing and frequently rotating set of flavors that makes people want to come back almost every day. Not to mention the strong appeal of the very quick service that comes from having everything set out in a much more expansive format than any restaurant can offer.
That’s what the “take lunch back to work” crowd is seeking.
Pizza, sandwiches, fried chicken and sushi for lunch are here to stay, along with the deli and salad bar. However, it’s time to spice up the mix and rotate the choices a lot more often (and also make them more sour, of course).
Further, to get ready for the lunch rush, checkout times need to speed up to pre-COVID standards, including dedicated checkout for customers buying meals to go so they aren’t held up by shoppers with full carts.
4. Bringing Dinner Home
Americans are cooking less than ever, but that doesn’t mean we’re eating alone. The changes in habits and demographics during COVID means that younger shoppers want to cook less than ever, but at the same time are doing more shopping. 2025 will see more buying of meals for two (or more) to bring home.
Grocers have the chance to win dinner back from restaurants, including restaurant meal delivery services and pickup business, by offering dinners for two (or two adults and two kids).
Just like restaurants flip the menu and service for lunch and dinner, 2025 will see moving from lunch for one to dinner for two. The current format and promotions around offering up individual meals for one needs a refresh, as the decades-long trend in cooking less now means we are spending more than half of our food dollars to have someone else do the cooking – and choose the recipes and ingredients.
So, pucker up and buckle up. There’s lots of change in store for 2025.
