From the viral deviled egg flights to videos showcasing the best ways to eat an entire cucumber — 2024 was filled with a new wave of innovative food trends.
As we begin the new year, those in the food and beverage industry are highlighting some incoming trends that they feel consumers may lean toward.
Mia Hackney, a chef assistant for Vitamix in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, said a major component of her job is to test recipes for the company, with focusing on upcoming food trends being one aspect of that process.
The Vitamix team gets together to research trends they’ve seen on social media, she said, or even just personally from their families, along with brainstorming what they’d like to see come out into the food and restaurant industry in the next year or so.
“Then we will find recipes, write our recipes, find recipes from our database from years past, and either update them or change them to make them more appropriate for the trends now,” Hackney said.
“It’s kind of like music, where you can write your own original song, but it’s going to have a lot of the same lyrics, the same kind of beat, or even some of the same instruments as other songs before it.”
After multiple rounds of testing, and getting the measurements just right, the recipes go live on Vitamix’s website for readers to view for free.
Trending tastes
“It seems people are doing spicier things,” Hackney said. “I noticed while doing research going into 2025 trends, that the spicy trend of [2024] is only growing. Hot sauce sales are only exponentially growing.”
Alongside spice, global flavors, plant-based ingredients, and meat replacements continue to be an ongoing trend, she said. Plant-based aquatic ingredients, like kelp, seaweed, sea moss, water lentils, and agar agar are on the rise as well.
“People are just becoming more aware of their own health and of the steps they can take to get to a better place for themselves and for the planet, and it’s exciting,” Hackney added. “It’s exciting to see more and more people being aware of regenerative agriculture and keeping our planet green and getting back to the place that we should have been years ago.”
Much like Hackney’s nod to regenerative agriculture, Toledo Spirits Co. is continuously striving to support the farmers and vendors it sources from.
“Personally, us driving more and more connection back to the farm, more connection back to the source of the ingredients, more connection back to the farmer … are extremely important to us,” said its co-founder, Andrew Newby. “We just released our Lowertown Apple Bourbon and it tells the same kind of story, where you know the culture of bourbon, but then it brings in local apples.”
Toledo Spirits is known for its ever-changing food and drink menus, with Newby adding that the team aims to provide “experience-driven” offerings that connect a cocktail to a particular experience — like its Grand Tour global drink menu from the fall of 2024.
“It becomes something more interesting and a more engaging way to explore spirits and explore our world without leaving the comfort of Toledo," he said. “But explore where all these different flavors and cocktails come from, and how people celebrate these things.”
Simplified cocktails are another offering that Newby said will be on the rise, adding that it fits into the theme of the “convenience trend,” which consumers are looking for. Toledo Spirits plans to develop a canned cocktail line to fit into this theme of easy and convenient drinks as well.
“We have a number of things we’re paying attention to and tracking,” the co-founder said, mentioning that the demand of lower ABV is a trend that Toledo Spirits is engaging in through its non-alcoholic and low ABV menu for January.
All of the signature drinks this month will be designed as mocktails, he said, adding “the menu includes recommended spirits to add if you want to change the mocktail to a cocktail. And you can choose a full pour or a half pour if you want to keep it low ABV.”
It’s clear that Ohio-based chefs and restaurateurs are constantly thinking ahead to provide consumers with the most timely offerings — making sure to stay a step ahead of the trends.
Recipes on the rise
Like Chef Hackney mentioned, spice is only growing in popularity, which is why she’s developed an Everyday Hot Sauce recipe at Vitamix for the at-home chef.
“What’s fun about this hot sauce recipe is that you can take the base of it, like a ratio of fresh chili peppers and vinegar and other flavorings, and switch it out for whatever chiles you like, whatever kind of vinegar you like, how salty or sweet you like it,” she said.
Since global flavors are also on the rise, Hackney also shared a lychee frozen cocktail recipe that highlights the flavor of the Asian fruit.
“We’re seeing the ingredient, lychee, out there a little bit more in desserts and flavoring for drinks, and even snacks and things like that in stores,” she continued. “We blended it with some lemon, honey, and ice, and you can either use an actual liquor, like gin, or make an herbal tea and make it a mocktail, which is another kind of trend that we’ve been highlighting, too.”
Newby said the trend of a spritz is something that continues to stick around — with its low ABV nature and ability to layer flavors.
A Sunshine Spritz recipe combines Aperol, Toledo Spirit’s Orange Tiger orange liquor, ruby red grapefruit juice, and more.
“The Sunshine Spritz is a taste of summer to help you get through the drab winter,” he said.
The year has just begun, which means another 360 days ahead of food and drink trends we saw coming, and maybe even some we didn’t see.
Everyday Hot Sauce
Yield: 32 servings
Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
8 (115 grams) Fresno chili, stemmed
4 (115 grams) banana peppers, stemmed
2 (8 grams) guajillo chile pepper [or other dried chili pepper], stemmed
12 (35 grams) garlic cloves, peeled
1 medium (75 grams) shallot, peeled
1 cup (240 milliliters) apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon kosher salt, optional
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
Carefully pour ingredients into the Vitamix container, or blender, and secure the lid.
Run the Dips & Spreads Program or start the blender on its lowest speed, then quickly increase to its highest speed. Blend for 60 seconds, using the tamper to push ingredients toward the blades.
Strain hot sauce into a clean container(s) using a mesh sieve. Seal with lid and keep refrigerated for 2 to 3 weeks. If stored in sterilized jars/bottles and sealed, the hot sauce can be kept refrigerated for up to 6 months.
Chef Hackney’s Notes:
■ This is a great base recipe for a variety of hot sauces. Use the same ratio of any chili peppers to adjust heat level. Experiment with different vinegars or try adding more (or less) honey!
■ Homemade sauces with fresh ingredients like this one are a healthy way to add a punch of flavor to dishes without adding extra fat and salt.
Source: Adapted from Vitamix
Lychee Frozen Cocktail
Yield: 2 servings
Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
½ can (130 grams) lychees, with syrup
1 lemon, peeled
1 tablespoon honey
2 cups (260 grams) ice cubes
4 fluid ounces (120 milliliters) Empress 1908 gin (or herbal tea), divided
Directions:
Place all ingredients except gin into the Vitamix container, or blender, in the order listed and secure the lid.
Run the Frozen Cocktail Program or start the blender on its lowest speed, then quickly increase to its highest speed. Blend for 45 to 55 seconds, using the tamper to push ingredients toward the blades. Pour slushy into two glasses and top each glass with 2 ounces of gin or tea.
Chef Hackney’s Note:
■ Empress gin is made with butterfly tea which reacts to acidity and changes from its dark purple color to a pinkish hue. This is a great to do in front of your guests to show off!
Source: Adapted from Vitamix
Sunshine Spritz
Yield: 1 serving
Time: 5 minutes
1 ounce Aperol
1 ounce Toledo Spirits’ Orange Tiger orange liquor
1 ounce ruby red grapefruit juice
1 ounce Prosecco
Soda water
Orange wheel
Directions:
Fill a wine glass with ice. Add the Aperol, Orange Tiger, and ruby red grapefruit juice to the glass.
Stir, top with soda water, and garnish with an orange wheel.
Source: Toledo Spirits Co.
For recipe suggestions, contact Maddie Coppel at: mcoppel@theblade.com.
First Published January 5, 2025, 3:00 p.m.
