Top 10 Food Trends and Statistics in 2024

Keeping up with current food trends will always be important in the restaurant industry. Savvy restaurateurs know these food trends can affect your restaurant business’ bottom line. 

New food trends can help inspire creativity, letting restaurant operators and chefs put their spin on popular foods while delivering great customer experiences. And popular food statistics provide the data-driven insight required for businesses to take the leap on investments in new menu items and experiences.

In this article, you’ll learn some predicted food trends for 2024 from thought leaders across the restaurant industry. You’ll also see some operational trends that are helping restaurant decision-makers optimize their business.

Current food industry trends for 2024

It's important for restaurant owners and operators to stay informed about culinary trends to meet customer expectations and maximize profitability.

Incorporating food trends and customer data insights into menu items can help restaurant businesses attract a wider range of diners and cater to evolving consumer preferences.

New food trends for restaurants in 2024

As the food service industry evolves, staying up-to-date with food trends becomes crucial for businesses to remain competitive and meet customer demands. With insights from experts in the field, we can identify the anticipated food trends for 2024. Here are some key trends to watch out for:

Plant-based options: The rise of vegan and vegetarian lifestyles continues to drive the demand for plant-based alternatives. According to Whole Foods Market, plant-based proteins and dairy alternatives are expected to gain further momentum in the coming year. Restaurants are incorporating more plant-based options into their menus to cater to the growing number of consumers adopting these dietary preferences.

Global cuisines: Technomic's "What's in Store 2024" report highlights the increasing popularity of global cuisines. The accessibility of flavors from around the world through technology has led to a willingness among consumers to try new types of foods. Casual, counter-service restaurants are particularly embracing this trend as they offer affordable and diverse culinary experiences.

Health-conscious dining: An ADM article on flavor and color trends for 20243 emphasizes the growing interest in health and wellness among consumers. Expect to see more nutritious and functional ingredients incorporated into menus, alongside a focus on vibrant and visually appealing dishes. Restaurants that prioritize healthier options and transparent ingredient sourcing are likely to attract health-conscious diners3.

Unique flavors and experiences: T.Hasegawa's report on flavor trends for 2024 suggests a continued exploration of bold and unconventional flavor combinations. Restaurants can experiment with adventurous tastes and unexpected ingredient pairings to offer customers unique dining experiences that push boundaries and create new culinary sensations.

Restaurant industry trends in 2024

Critical restaurant industry statistics are much more than new trends in food and drinks.

Customer preferences for ordering and paying as well as restaurant operator optimizations change over time. For example, ghost kitchens, food delivery, and online ordering are past restaurant industry trends that have become table stakes for restaurant businesses.

Here are some restaurant industry trends for operators to in keep in mind in 2024.

Controlling costs remains paramount: Our research shows that food inflation in 2023 remained the top pain point for restaurant operators for the second year. 

Restaurant technologies can help control costs. For example, invoice automation tools can help operators more closely monitor food costs. 

And detailed payroll, team management, and scheduling tools can help with ongoing staffing and labor cost concerns.

Menu prices may reach their ceiling: More restaurants raised menu prices in 2023 compared to restaurants we surveyed in 2022 (42% vs 37%). 

Strategic menu pricing will become important for operators to maximize their profits — especially for big events, such as Valentine’s Day promotions and specials.

Our research shows that nearly three and a half times more wine was ordered on Valentine’s Day 2023 (+248%) compared to an average day throughout the year.

More prescriptive restaurant marketing channels: Our research shows that 37% of guests expect restaurants to offer a loyalty rewards program — more than any other technology or service we asked.

Fast food, cafe, pizzeria, breweries, and fine dining restaurants being where guests most expect a loyalty and rewards programs. Loyalty programs can be a helpful way to boost retention and lock in more restaurant sales from existing guests.

Streamlined guest experiences for dine-in, takeout, and delivery services: Toast’s New Steps of Service continues to help restaurant operators streamline services. 

New Steps of Service is the strategic combination of QR code-powered contactless payment, handheld POS with credit card readers, self-service kiosks, and other options.

For example, a significant amount of all guests surveyed prefer online ordering for takeout and/or delivery from a restaurant's own website (rather than a 3rd-party delivery app) — and older generations especially so.

Food industry trends from 2023

For reference, here are some of our top past year food and drink takeaways from our restaurant reports.

Options for everyone

The Guardian estimates that there are 79 million vegans worldwide. As vegan and vegetarian lifestyles become more popular, more people are switching up their dietary preferences. Reducetarian eating embraces thoughtful moderation of meat consumption for its health and environmental benefits. 

Restaurants in all sectors, from fast food to fine dining, are embracing this movement and adding vegetarian and vegan options to their menus. These menus invite a wider variety of people into the restaurant and make sustainable eating more accessible.

Approchable global cuisine

Global cuisines have never been more popular. Technology continues to make flavors from around the world available to everyone. As these gain traction, people are willing to try new types of foods. That’s especially true for casual, counter-service restaurants where people don’t have to commit to the price tag of a full dining experience. Millennials and other young generations overwhelmingly enjoy trying new global cuisines – 79% report that they like to experiment with flavors from other nations.

Lots of flavors continue to grow in popularity. Korean BBQ spots provide hands-on fun. The rich, light broth of Vietnam’s national dish, Pho, continues to shine. And, brightly-colored butter chicken looks gorgeous on Instagram and remains a customer favorite. 

Green goddess salads

Bright, fresh, and healthy green goddess salads aren’t new, but their popularity has been revived this year thanks to Instagram and TikTok. These salads are simple, made with cabbage, cucumbers, and green onions, and usually topped with herby, creamy green goddess dressing. 

Many people eat their green goddess salads with tortilla chips or pita. These salads can also be used as a topping for sandwiches or toast. Either way, green goddess salads are light, refreshing, and easy to make, playing perfectly into Instagram’s love of bright green dishes. Greens look healthy because they are.

Snacks and confections

Snack foods and confections are big business. Snacks are the largest segment of the food market, a $1.56 trillion industry in the US alone in 2023. It’s not all cookies and potato chips, though. Healthy snacks like popcorn, roasted tree nuts, and granola bars continue to maintain popularity across generations.

Birria tacos

Birria tacos are many things - saucy, spicy, rich, and undoubtedly popular. They’re traditionally made with goat meat. However, food businesses make them with beef, chicken, and even meat alternatives like mushrooms, making birria tacos a delicious option for most diners.

The meat for birria tacos is stewed low and slow, and the broth is reduced into a consommé for dipping. The meat is wrapped in fresh corn tortillas and topped with a relish of onion, cilantro, and lime. They’re often served at celebrations and holidays.

All the boards

The charcuterie board reached new levels in 2023. Classic charcuterie continues to be a crowd-pleaser, pairing cheese, fruit, and cured meat to give you that perfect fatty, sweet, and savory bite.

Butter boards made their debut in the summer of 2022. Often infused with garlic and herbs, butter boards with crusty bread are stealing the show this year. Beautiful spreads of butter can be topped with chives, fresh herbs, or micro greens for freshness.

Nostalgic comfort foods

During challenging times, there’s nothing quite like a meal that makes you feel at home. People are going back to their roots and enjoying comfort foods during hard times. Comfort foods are often easy to make, inexpensive to prepare, and nutritious. And, while climbing out of the pandemic economy, stews and soups ease the mind and leave guests feeling warm.

Urban farms produce

Farming isn’t just for rural America anymore. Urban farms find innovative ways to grow fresh produce on rooftops, vacant lots, and greenhouses in bustling urban spaces. They provide communities and restaurants with fresh produce, providing an excellent educational opportunity for city dwellers.

With grocery store prices rising, urban farms are an excellent solution. They combat food deserts by offering fresh greens, beans, and veggies to local neighborhoods. 

Restaurants in large cities can experiment with seasonal produce grown in a rooftop greenhouse. Enterprising operators are converting every inch of available space to grow the freshest herbs and veggies.

Yuzu Fruit

Yuzu is a sour citrus fruit finding its way into beverages, salads, and desserts across the US. Native to Japan, this versatile fruit can replace limes and lemons in lots of recipes.

Many also boast of yuzu’s health benefits. It’s full of antioxidants and vitamin C, can reduce inflammation, and promote heart health. Yuzu zest smells fresh and unique. Some even find the scent to help reduce anxiety.

Optimize your restaurant operation to capitalize on food trends

Understanding food trends and statics is just once step toward an optimal operation. Restaurant forecasting and planning can also be hugely impactful for helping increase sales, grow customer loyalty, and take control of profits.  

Many operators are already employing this level of consistent analysis. If that's you, great work! It may be time to think about going deeper. For example, perhaps you can turn your eye to maximizing margins by recipe costing and calculating plate costs. 

And if you’ve never reviewed past sales data or completed any type of forecasting, no sweat! There’s plenty of restaurant tech built precisely for you that can simplify this work. 

First, you’ll want a strong foundation in point of sale with basic reporting tied to it. From there, restaurant tech stacks can include:

• Payroll and team management tools to help optimize hiring, staffing, retention, and more

• Marketing tools including dedicated email and SMS sends, loyalty programs, and more

• Cost control tools, particularly those rooted in invoice automation that digitize invaluable order details to help monitor ingredient costs