Here it is, part three of our future food trends 2023 in which we uncover the top six trends in sustainability for the year ahead. From product passports to eating garbage… yes you read that correctly. Don’t worry if you missed our last two trend topics, you can catch up here; taste and cuisine and health and wellbeing. 

Energy Saving

Still in the grip of the cost-of-living crisis, everyone is looking for ways to reduce their household bills and kitchen hacks have been a big part of this. Searching for the cheapest way to cook food has become a necessity and led to the huge rise in sales of air fryers. For Gen Z, this will form new lifelong cooking habits, particularly for the younger of the generation as they watch their parents adopt preferences for energy-efficient food and ways to prepare. Brands can move quick to share how food and drink use less energy to store or prepare. Expect to see more microwave and air-fryer instructions on-pack and in advertising. Those who are first to adopt this, will win.

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Eating Garbage

Stay with us on this one, we aren’t suggesting you start rummaging in the bins. Listed as one of Whole Foods top future trends, the up-cycled food movement or #EatingGarbage as TikTokers describe it, sees a place for misshapen, soft or bruised fruits and vegetables, edible stems, leaves, peelings, leftover pulps from juicing… you get the idea. Eating Garbage was first championed by self-confessed enemy of food waste, Brennan Kai who shows her 142k+ followers how she eats her garbage, before it even becomes garbage. With over 10.9 million views of the hashtag on TikTok alone, eating garbage has never been so trendy.

Brands like DASH Water are already embracing the trend using wonky fruit to flavour their sparkling water drinks, and have seen rapid growth with sales increasing by 110% last year.

Local Seasonal Eating

A very Scandinavian way of eating, is to eat locally sourced and seasonal foods. What is ripe and in abundance at that time of year depending on the season. Think salads and berries in the summer and root vegetables in the winter. There has been a big shift in consumers looking to buy fresh produce from local producers and shopping at weekend farmer’s markets rather than the big supermarkets. Not only a sustainability trend that reduces carbon emissions by eating what is grown locally and in season, but also boasts greater health benefits too. Foods that are in season are nutritionally more valuable and have a higher concentration of vitamins (See or Forgotten Superpowers trend). Brands can incorporate this trend into their annual marketing calendars, planning what products are pushed when and what they are paired with. 

CO2 Tracking

Companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility targets and initiatives cannot be achieved in isolation and more brands will start involving their customers in climate action. As banks start adopting technology that gamifies the ability to measure your individual carbon footprint, conscious purchasing will be taken to a whole new level. Consumers will have complete transparency over how their purchases impact the environment and will be rewarded for their green commitments. Insights from a pilot with Natwest showed the average user saved approximately 11 kg of CO2 emissions per month by committing to behavioural changes that used less carbon – such as composting, reducing meat consumption, or switching utilities providers. If this behaviour was replicated across NatWest’s 8 million customers who use the mobile app, it would save more than 1 billion kg of CO2 emissions per year, equivalent to planting 17 million trees.

Product Passport

As consumers, and particularly Gen Z, demand greater transparency of the materials, origins and journey of products before they commit to buy, we will see new technology embedded into the purchase journey. VeChain technology is a global leader in eco-friendly enterprise-grade blockchain backed by PwC and has been used by brands such as BMW, UFC and H&M to bring traceability, sustainability and authenticity credentials to the forefront of the consumer experience. In the future, it will not be enough to simply state your sustainability credentials on a webpage. Just like we saw ‘green-washing’ in the fashion industry, brands are now being called out for ‘purpose-washing’ and with enhancements in technology allowing consumers to have this experience with other brands, they will be quick to question and cancel those brands who are not transparent with their claims.

Cancel Culture

As technology enables brands to be more transparent about where they source ingredients and the wider ethics of their supply chain, those who do not adopt this technology, could be accused of ‘purpose-washing’ and are at greater risk of being cancelled by Gen Z. It’s not enough for brands to simply talk the talk. They must walk the walk. Over the last three years, B Corp has seen a 17% average growth in certifications issued, going from 3,237 companies to 4,427. Category disrupters entering the market either have strong ethics embedded into their founding story, are a certified B Corp or both; and this poses a threat to long-standing established brands who have simply relied on category dominance and a lifetime of advertising campaigns. We may see more heritage brands establish themselves as B Corp in order to maintain market share. 

That’s it for this week, we hope this has provided inspiration. Don’t miss our final trends instalment next week, we’ve saved the really fun ones ’til last.\

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Next week: Fun trends

• Tablescaping - the art of setting the table 
• Look to the stars - space as a marketing theme 
• Big kids - adults looking for ways to bring out their inner child 
• Outdoor learning - rise in popularity of forest schools and benefits of children learning within nature 

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