Whole Foods spotlights top 10 food trends for 2023

Specialty grocer Whole Foods Market this week announced its top 10 projected food trends for next year.

The annual forecast is made by the Whole Foods Market Trend Council, a collective of more than 50 Whole Foods team members, who include local foragers, regional and global buyers, and culinary experts. The group compiles trend predictions based on its members’ decades of experience and expertise in product sourcing and study of consumer preferences. Trends also are gleaned from in-depth work-shopping with emerging and current brands, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods said.

“Our trends predictions are an exciting look at where we believe both product innovation and customer preferences are headed in the coming year,” according to Sonya Gafsi Oblisk, chief marketing officer at Whole Foods. “We anticipate seeing these trends in the food industry at large, on dinner tables, in lunch boxes and on our store shelves.”

The retailer’s eighth-annual food trend predictions include the following:

• Yaupon-infused beverages
• Repurposed pulp
• Produce-packed pastas
• Dates as sweetener
• Chicken/egg animal welfare
• Kelp in food products
• Climate-conscious callouts on labels
• Reinvented retro foods
• Wellness-focused pet food/supplements
• Avocado oil goes mainstream

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Whole Foods said that it’s also bringing back the Trends Discovery Box, a curated assortment of 10 products to represent each of the 10 trends in the forecast. Available for $30, and carrying an estimated value at over $50, the product boxes are designed to enable customers to taste all the trends at once, the retailer said. The trend boxes went on sale this week and are available for a limited time at wholefoodsmarkettrendsbox.com.

“We’re thrilled to see things like baked goods with upcycled pulp from plant-based milks and ingredients like farmed kelp continue to gain popularity,” Oblisk added. “From product labels that include sustainability efforts to poultry and egg suppliers that are leading the way in animal welfare, many of this year’s trends predictions showcase brands on a mission to make a true impact. We look forward to watching these trends come to life in our aisles in 2023.”

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Do these trends line up with what you're planning for? What are you seeing at store-level? Let us know in the comments below.