10 food innovations shaping consumption in 2022 – Board of Innovation

Sourcing awareness is more than a lifestyle trend, people are looking for access to healthier, more natural products. Projects like PERNUG know this, so they work towards revolutionizing how we buy, or in this case grow, our ingredients. House gardens have swarmed houses during the lockdowns, but you can expect vertical farming to be the new functional kitchen asset to be implemented soon.

Upcycled food is the process of reducing food waste, by using everything we have and elevating all food to the best use. Upcycled food is made of ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption, and are sourced and produced using verified supply chains, and have a positive impact on the environment. Upcycling food is increasingly becoming a starting point for new startups, while existing businesses are starting to look at the byproducts of their processes.

One example of the big FMCG players tapping into this opportunity, is the 2021 launch of Nestlé’s Nescafé Nativ, a cold coffee-like drink made from upcycled coffee berry husks. Another is the startup ReGrained, that since 2020 have been producing various grain products made with spent grain from beer production. As technology evolves and we’re learning more about how to use all parts of food, we are likely to see more inventions like these sprout.

Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce saw a significant boom, and shoppers incresingly used online grocery shopping with at-home delivery as a way of getting their products home in a safe manner.

In collaboration with Board of Innovation, Colruyt’s Collect&Go developed a no-walk-in grocery shopping experience for city dwellers. More initiatives like this are likely to see the light of day in the coming years.

Now more than ever, we have access to specific data about the components and nutritional value of the things we eat. But, information goes beyond the ingredients that make up our meals. Eating is redefined once we realize the human lives and experiences involved in getting our food to the table.

Pushing fair trade and local products is not cool, it’s a new-found awareness on how economic cycles and commerce works. This is why companies like The Hyper Localist share the spirit of heritage brands in Europe, so tradition and quality are re-entered into the food industry business design.

Plant-based meat substitutes have been around for a while, with the products getting increasingly closer to ‘the real deal’ and more food producers tapping into the growing market. The next big thing may be slaughter-free meat – particularly cell-based meat, with companies like New Age Meats building on the idea that everyone should have access to real meat without having to compromise their personal economy, health, religion, or values.
Today, New Age Meats are doubling their efforts so that their cell-based sausages will hit the markets, and our plates, in 2022.

CBD has slowly been getting more attention as an ingredient in the last few years. Today, it’s being actively used in products consumed on a daily basis. Hummus? Pesto? Why not. Themptation looks to promote the health benefits of hemp and showcase its flexibility in the food industry by introducing them as base ingredients of our day-to-day foods.