Waitrose food trends report reflects a major shift to thoughtful shopping

What’s your idea of a fancy topping for crumpets? For me, it’s melted cheese and baked beans. But chefs like Yotam Ottolenghi and Marcus Wareing favour lobster and cockle butter.

Or so says Waitrose in its latest annual Food & Drink Report, published this week. Hifalutin recipes for crumpets from culinary influencers have led sales of the teatime favourite to rise 27% this year, the high-end grocer claims.

Its list of the hippest products and behaviours in grocery (based on sales data, web searches and a poll of 2,000 shoppers) will be a thought-provoking read for retailers and manufacturers – many of whom will have their own ‘best of 2019’ lists confirmed. Let’s face it, who didn’t foresee the rise of seaweed? Searches for ‘aonori seaweed’ are up 127% on waitrose.com, says the supermarket. That’s not surprising given the raft of recent NPD, particularly in snacking, that has made use of the oceanic delicacy.

For some in the national media, Waitrose’s hot tips have been a subject of amusement. At least one local BBC radio station took time to chuckle about “posh crumpets”, while The Sun brayed about “wacky-coloured orange wine”. The Telegraph, meanwhile, felt it necessary to entreat readers not to sneer at “seacuterie”, a fish-based reimagining of charcuterie (octopus salami, swordfish ham and so on).

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However, many more news reports saw beyond the comic potential of tahini, cheese & onion crisps, seaweed and celery juice (all of which are on the up), to recognise the raft of sustainable, mindful and healthier trends in Waitrose’s report.

Eco-friendly packaging, concerns about animal welfare, cutting out meat and materialism, taking more time for others, drinking less booze: all trendy and getting trendier, apparently.

Again, none of these are especially surprising for a year in which people have, arguably, paid closer and better attention than ever to the wellbeing of their bodies, brains and planet.

What is eye-opening is how seismic the shift to such thoughtfulness has been, if Waitrose is to be believed. Just two years ago, the grocer’s annual trends report largely concerned itself with on-the-go breakfast, one-pot meals, Japanese “dude food” and price savviness – giving only token space to food waste and plant-based.

So while the design industry waits excitedly for Pantone to announce its colour of 2020, we can be certain that grocery’s will be green. Let’s celebrate the fact with a glass of celery juice (from a bio-plastic bottle, of course).