About our Guest Author…
Charlotte Gould is a freelance consultant specialising in marketing strategy and emerging trends in the food, beverage and QSR sectors. Having previously worked in-house for Costa Coffee, KFC and Krispy Kreme in both marketing and commercial innovation teams, Charlotte now spends her time with emerging brands looking to find their niche, helping them to discover the “next big thing” whilst creating products and campaigns their customers love & improves their profitability.
Here’s Charlotte’s take on what we’ll all be talking about in 2023…
Sustainability was one of the key themes of 2022, and that will only be amplified over the coming year. We’re seeing an evolution of a more conscious consumer – more discerning than before… So what does the food landscape of 2023 look like?
Climate Positive
From the carbon neutral movement comes the evolution – carbon negative (or ‘climate positive’ to make it extra confusing!). Restaurant group Hawksmoor achieved their commitment to be carbon neutral by 2022, but companies are now looking to actively remove more carbon than they produce. It will soon no longer be enough to just be off setting their carbon emissions – although there’s no denying that’s still a great starting point.
It’s a Date!
We’ve seen a movement away from supermarkets dating produce in a bid to get consumers to challenge the freshness of the food in their fridges and to use their own judgement if it’s safe to eat – before deciding whether or not to throw it away. This mind-shift change towards waste reduction in the home has also sparked an influx of creative recipes sweeping across social media for tips and tricks on how to use up food that is ‘on the turn’… and it goes way beyond using soft bananas in banana bread! Consumers are quickly realising that the benefits of waste reduction are twofold – not only is it good for the planet, it’s good for the purse too!
No Meat? No Problem.
As veganism evolves beyond ‘just a fad’, huge developments have been made in the food industry to improve taste, texture, quality and nutritional benefits. It’s no longer a case of choosing a bland nut roast or opting for the one vegan option on the menu; from tempeh to pea-based protein, supermarkets have been rapidly expanding their ranges and 2023 sees the restaurants following suit. At the recent Restaurant & Takeaway Show in London Vegan Restaurateur & alternative meat producer Louis Blake predicted that we will see a shift away from exclusively vegan or vegetarian restaurants as leading operators find ways to make their core dishes accessible to every customer through the use of alternative proteins.
Regenerative Grains
We will see a movement towards better farmed, drought resistant crops and heritage grains. Expect to see more millet, amaranth, and heritage rye on shelves and menus, and growth in the alternatives field too with more pulses, legumes and beans as protein bases. One brand we are loving in 2023 is Matthews Cotswold Flour – who are not only long-established experts but have ranges which can be filtered by organic, stoneground, and regeneratively farmed. And did anyone spot Humble Crumbles’ berry spiced crumble with a wild farmed flour crumbled topping this Christmas? More of this please.
Something Odd in your Quality Street Tin?
Who noticed it? Quality Street – one of the most loved chocolate tins of Christmas – made the step change away from their iconic cellophane wrapped treats to more environment friendly packaging paper wrappings. Independents have long since led the way when it comes to responsible packaging, but could this be the year that some of the big giants open their purses and make the leap to benefit our planet? Nestle made one of the first moves towards paper packaging with their paper based smarties share bags earlier in the year, and we expect more will follow in 2023.
If you’re interested in working with Charlotte to up your own strategy and innovation in 2023, click here to connect with her on LinkedIn…
