Bonji Foods Aficionado Smart Brief: Volume 33
Healthy Food Continues to Thrive, but Proper Access to it is Needed
Hi all, welcome back to the Bonji Food Aficionado Smart Brief! We hope the weekend treated you well and you are ready for a new week full of new opportunities! At this point, we probably are all well aware that the days of indulging in endless packaged potato chips, cookies, and other snack foods are dwindling. Health-conscious snacks and food have been taking over for the past decade or more. However, people are still overweight and unhealthy, but trying their best to make a change in their eating habits. It seems that you can't turn a corner without bumping into something health-conscious, but that doesn't always make the right appeal. Those who are new to healthy eating, generally want to ease into the process. As for you and your restaurant, who wouldn't want to help the 117 million Americans that have a preventable chronic illness due to their eating habits?
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Trending Foods That Can Help Ease Consumers into Healthy Eating 1. Beverages With a Benefit For every sugar/caffeine-packed energy drink you've seen recently, there is a healthy alternative just waiting to catch up. Although nutritional drinks have had their rise and fall, there are completely new breeds of healthy beverages now that you can take advantage of by having or making your own version! This starts with alcohol-free cocktails that have boomed as of late, but in addition, the trend has led to a ton of natural, health-beneficial beverages. Generally, these are called “functional drinks,” and can help with stress, gut health, mindfulness, or just something to fill the gaps in nutrition. According to Kelly Jones, a sports dietician, she started seeing these functional drinks pop up at food expos a few years back; but now, the market is being taken by storm. There are so many options on the market to supply your restaurant, but a simple healthy iced tea could even be a good start! Everyone is familiar with energy drinks or a beverage that claims to add something to your life. Thus, as long as it's delicious, this is one of the easiest ways to help guide consumers to the path of healthy eating.
2. Think Immunity Support - Fruits, Nuts, & Seeds Most people are familiar with fruits and nuts already, but finding innovative ways to implement them onto your menu could help thousands of people make a move towards healthier options. Since the pandemic, immunity-supporting foods have seen a massive increase in popularity. A majority of these foods are citric fruits, nuts and seeds, and spices like turmeric and ginger. Not only are people familiar with these foods, but they are also very easy to sprinkle onto a dish in order to slowly introduce. From our perspective, an acai bowl is the absolute top choice for introducing nutrition like this. Not only are consumers getting the benefits from fruit, but seeds in granola work wonderfully in a smoothie bowl. Not to mention, leading with a coconut smoothie bowl base may be an even better way to ease them into the smoothie bowl diet. The full menu doesn't need to include meals specifically based on fruit, but adding a touch of fruit or nuts could end up going a long way! 3. New Types of Flour This is something we aren't as familiar with compared to the rest of this list, but alternative flours have officially started trending. Whether you are allergic to gluten and wheat, or you're simply trying to reduce your gluten intake, flour can be a mortal enemy. The gluten-free trend isn't something that's new in the food industry, but something just never caught on, in full, about the products. There are so many gluttonous foods that feel and taste so different without flour. However, now, chefs are creating extraordinary cuisines using alternative flours. The most popular alternative flours have been made of amaranth, buckwheat, banana, chickpea, coconut, rice, potato, and honestly so many more. If you are a chef or baker and haven't tried out any of these flours, we think it's time to get cooking!
