quench 2020 Food & Beverage Trends Report

5 Important Trends Impacting the Food & Beverage Industry Outlined in quench 2020 Food & Beverage Trends Report

Quench has been serving up the future of food & beverage since 2009, forecasting the important trends that are shaping the future of the food & beverage industry.

Our process requires a full year of research, after which we vet our findings with our clients, food writers and critics and other industry sources. Over the years, our efforts and record of success have been noted by media outlets such as Business Insider, Fast Company and Forbes, among others.

Some of our past predictions that have maintained or escalated in relevance:

Conscious Consumption (2011) We noticed consumers including ethical eating in their decision-making and assessing brand attributes such as company values before buying. Now, it’s more than just a “nice to have,” as 93 percent say they’d switch brands to one associated with a cause they support, according to research from Johns Hopkins.

Channel-agnostic (2012) We saw that consumers were demonstrating an increasing openness to buying their food and beverages from nontraditional venues, and it has since led to an explosion of unusual attractions. The market for food halls and trucks tripled in size by the end of 2019, and has even helped drive traffic in other industries.

Digital Tastes (2014) We observed food and technology coming together like never before, leading consumers to change everything about their expectations of their food, including the way it is ordered, paid for and consumed. While 2014 saw the growth of robotics and automation in restaurants and grocery stores, the ensuing five years have seen this trend pushed to extremes, with Amazon Go and Walmart’s InHome Delivery.

Our new 2020 report focuses on five macrotrends, each substantiated by three microtrends. To obtain a copy, and to request a presentation, visit quenchagency.com/trends.