Hospitality Today Winter 2020 (#40) | Page 27

hospitalitytoday.com | 27 Small colourful dishes, packed with flavour – Nisha Katona MBE, CEO of Mowgli Street Food restaurants Meat substitutes will be big – Mark Teed, food implementation manager at Star Pubs & Bars People are keen to have a table full of colour, flavour variety and a sharing way of eating.  I see this on my Instagram posts — photos of tables laden with a myriad of dishes, colours and entirely lacking in formality are the ones that inspire the most appetite. Customers are choosing to have meat free days and are looking for meat free options to balance their diets.  We’ll see things like banana blossom make their way onto mainstream menus and vegetables being added into meat products, both to enhance taste and texture and cut C02 emissions. The rise of flexitarians – Paul Lewis, chef director at Prezzo People, irrespective of demographic and age, will choose two to three days a week to follow a vegan diet.  So, picking the right carbs and proteins will play an important role.  Pasta is now beginning to grow in popularity again – as people have a better understanding of consuming the right amount of carbs to maintain a healthy diet and all the fantastic, meat free alternatives to classic pasta dishes that are coming back on the market. Home-grown – Seamus O’Donnell, executive chef at The Alchemist Bars & Restaurants Brexit will have a big influence on food and drink trends in 2020. There are some very basic things that we are going to have to accept that we will have to import, and we will have to pay more for it. Drinks for all seasons – Simon Woplin, head of innovation - F&B at Ambassador Theatre Group Some long held key Sunshine brands will see more competition in 2020, with anyone who can come up with a 21st century version of Pimm’s being a sure- fire long-term bet.  The decline in growth of Prosecco will continue, as will the growth in UK sparkling. Healthier choices – Baton Berisha, MD of The Ivy Collection We will see a growth in healthier choices within both the food and drink categories.  Guests are more conscious of ingredients and eating healthier in general and I think this is a trend that will very much continue into 2020.