What's

Cooking
Inside?
• INTRODUCTION

• ABOUT THE REPORT

• OUR PANEL OF EXPERTS

• TOP 10 PREDICTIONS FOR 2019

• DINING OUT TRENDS

Upcoming Cuisines
Menu Inspirations
New Restaurant Concepts
Exciting New Food Categories
Health and Lifestyle Trends in Restaurants

r
ea
• DINING IN TRENDS

Y n ds
Preferred Alternatives to Home-cooked Meals

w re
Cooking Trends at Home

e T
Food Categories at Home

e w
Convenience Foods

N
New Kitchen Tools
N

Kitchen Design

• BEVERAGE TRENDS
Alcoholic Beverages
Non-alcoholic Beverages

• DESSERT TRENDS
Desserts

• POPULAR CHOICE
Top bets of 2019
Trend we never want to see again
 Introduction
It is said that food is an element that binds us all
together; truer words have not been spoken! Food is a
universal experience that all human beings share and
the love of food often brings together people of diverse
backgrounds and taste.

The sheer diversity of food across the country means

that our eating habits and styles are forever evolving.
With multiple brands in the food space, Godrej is
well positioned at the epicentre of an exciting food
movement in India.

Last year, we embarked on a gastronomic journey along

with culinary experts across the country and curated
our first edition of the Godrej Food Trends Report. In
its second edition, we have doubled the respondents
and reached out to over 100 experts – Chefs, Thought
Leaders and Food Influencers across major cities.

In 2019, the top food trends are veering towards regional

and hyper-local food. The prediction for this year is
the rise and supremacy of regional Indian cuisines and
flavours as well as local ingredients. Healthy eating is
coming up as a refreshing trend and will take the centre
stage.

More and more people are embracing a greener way

of life, and food preferences are changing to reflect this
eco-conscious lifestyle. This year will herald the rise of
root-to-fruit dining that focuses on conscious cooking
where there is a mindful attempt to maximise food
resources and minimise waste.

In 2019, the home chef will find a place in the sun

and recipes from your grandmother’s kitchen will be
celebrated once again. Well, for the rest of the trends, I
shall let you read the Godrej Food Trends Report – 2019.

I would like to thank all the contributors for taking the

time to respond and making the report bigger, richer
and more diverse. We hope you enjoy reading the
Godrej Food Trends Report as much as we enjoyed
putting it together. Here’s hoping to a year full of good
food and nourishing conversations.

With gastronomic regards,

Sujit Patil (@sujitpatil)

VP & Head Corporate Brand and Communications
Godrej Industries Limited & Associate Companies

Survey design
Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal
Research and data analysis
A Perfect Bite Consulting LLP

Vikhroli Cucina
Website
www.vikhrolicucina.com
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/VikhroliCucina/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/VikhroliCucina
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/vikhrolicucina/
About The Report
As we head into 2019, many of us in the food industry
are defining goals for the year, and selecting areas and
activities we will put our time, effort and money into,
to meet these strategic goals. This is where the annual
Godrej Food Trends Report comes in! The goal of the
report is to draw on the collective experience and insight
of the industry, collate it, and share useful data with
the larger food fraternity to help all of us in our forward
planning.

This year, the report is bigger, having reached out to

over a hundred representatives of the food fraternity,
carefully selected for their deep insights and valued
opinions. It’s also wider, covering inputs from more
locations than ever before. And, it is deeper, because our
respondents included Caterers, Chefs, Food Bloggers,
Health Professionals, Home Chefs, Media Professionals,
Mixologists, Nutritionists, Producers, PR professionals,
Restaurateurs, Retailers, Sommeliers, and Writers, who
shared deep insights about their respective areas with
us. The complete list of experts who contributed to this
report is available on the following pages.

For the Godrej Food Trends Report 2019, we created a

close-ended survey of 16 category-specific questions
designed around trends in Dining Out, Dining In,
Beverages and Desserts. We asked our experts to select
their top three picks in every category, and provide a
rationale for each of their selection. We then matched
the most popular picks from each category with
overlapping picks in other categories to finally arrive at
our shortlist of the ten most visible trends.

Our panel of experts unanimously agreed that 2019

will find us exploring our culinary diversity in more
ways than ever before! The food industry will draw
inspiration from a special genre of subject matter
experts - grandmothers, mothers and home chefs, to
translate traditional wisdom, knowledge and practices
into commercial products and experiences. Our experts
predict that Indian ingredients and flavours to dominate
in our kitchens, conversations, menus, beverages and
even in our desserts, and I am really excited at the
prospect!

I hope you enjoy reading the Godrej Food Trends Report

2019, and find our predictions helpful in propelling your
food goals ahead! We are thankful to all our experts
for being generous with their time, deliberating over
options, and sharing their erudite opinions, many of
which you can find peppered throughout this report.

Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal

Managing Director
A Perfect Bite Consulting
Our panel of experts
Ajit Balgi
Sommelier, Wine And Spirit
Consultant & Educator
Alok Verma
Food Stylist And Photographer
Amrita Das
Freelance Travel Writer,
Focussing On Alco-Bev.
Ananya Banerjee
Author, Chef, Youtuber, Recipe
Developer/Curator
Aneesh Dhairyawan
Co-Founder, Authenticook
Anindya
Food Blogger, Food
Photographer, Food Writer,
Restaurant Reviewer
Anisha Rachel Oommen
Editor & Co-Founder, The
Goya Journal
Ankiet Gulabani
Food Writer, Cookery Writer,
Food Blogger
Antoine Lewis
Food Writer, Restaurant Critic
Anubhuti Krishna
Writer and Chronicler of food
stories and trends
Anushruti
Food Writer, Presenter and
Photographer, Sattvic and
Ayurvedic Food and Nutrition
Expert, Recipe Creator and
Blogger
Aarti Aruldas
Co-Founder, Vanakkam foods
Aslam Gafoor
General Manager - Luxury
Dining, Dineout
Atul Sikand
Administrator and Owner,
Sikandalous Cuisine
Avantika Bhuyan
Food Journalist, Regional
Cuisine
Bhisham Mansukhani
Freelance Journalist
Chef Amit Pamnani
Chef, Culinary Expert And
Consultant
Chef Amitesh Virdi
Executive Chef, Lite Bite Foods
Pvt. Ltd.
Chef Anahita Dhondy
Chef Partner,
Sodabottleopenerwala Cyber
Hub
Chef Ashish Bhasin
Executive Chef, Leela
Chef Ajay Chopra
Celebrity Chef
Chef Anees Khan
Chef and Founder, Star Anise
Fine Foods
Chef Harpal Sokhi
Celebrity Chef
Chef Joel Basumatari
Indigenous Food Chef
Chef Joymalya Banerjee
Creative, Rooted to Traditions,
Indigenous Ingredients
Chef Kunal Kapur
Celebrity Chef, Restaurateur,
Author, TV Personality
Chef Manish Mehrotra
Executive Chef, Old World
Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.
Chef Manu Chandra
Chef Partner, Olive Bar And
Kitchen Pvt. Ltd.
Chef Michael Swamy
Chef Entrepreneur, Food
Media, Food Stylist
Chef Parvinder Singh Bali
Corporate Chef Learning and
Development, OCLD
Chef Rahul Arora
Chef and Proprietor, Café
Pranah, Bon Appetit and
Paranthe Wali Galli
Chef Ranveer Brar
Celebrity Chef
Chef Rishim Sachdeva
Executive Chef, Olive Bar and
Kitchen
Chef Sadaf Hussain
Chef and Food Writer
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor
Celebrity Chef
Chef Saransh Goila
Celebrity Chef
Chef Sharmeen Indorewala
Chef & Founder, The Parfait Co.
Chef Varun Inamdar
Celebrity Chef
Chef Vicky Ratnani
Celebrity Chef
Chef Vikas Khanna
Celebrity Chef
Debjani Chatterjee Alam
Food Blogger and Recipe
Developer
Dr. Chef. Avin Thaliath
Co-Founder and Director,
Lavonne Academy of Baking
and Pastry Arts
Gauri Devidayal
Restaurateur, The Table,
Magazine St Kitchen & Miss T
Ipshita Chakladar
Cake Designer & Baker
Jahan Bloch
Pastry Chef
Jasleen Marwah
Kashmiri Homechef and Food
Enthusiast
Kalyan Karmakar
Food And Travel Author
Karen Anand
Entrepreneur, Pioneer,
Gourmet, Food Guru
Kashmiri Nath
Home Chef, Recipe Developer,
Regional Food Promoter
Ketan SS Gohel
Co-Founder/Owner, Brewbot
Eatery & Pub Brewery
Komal Lath
Managing Food Brands and
People, Avid Foodie
Kunal Arolkar
Pastry Chef & Entrepreneur
Kunal Vijayakar
Host, The Foodie
Kurush Dalal
Archaeologist and Culinary
Anthropologist
L Nitin Chordia Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi Suresh Hinduja
Chief Tasting Officer, Food & Travel Writer Food Critic, Influencer, Author,
Cocoatrait Recipe Developer, Global
Roxanne Bamboat Foods Trends
Madhushree Basu Food & Travel Writer
Food Writer, Food Stylist, Sweta Mohanty
Home Chef, Recipe Blogger, Ruchi Shrivastava Odiya Food Promoter and
Food Critic, Restaurant Food Researcher, Television Blogger
Reviewer Producer
Utpal Krishna
Manjuu Rangarajan Ruth Dsouza Prabhu Founder, Fashionablefoodz.
Proprietor, PR Independent features Com & Beingtherealhuman.
Journalist and Food Writer Com (Ngo). Social Media
Marryam H Reshii Influencer.
Food Writer Saee Koranne-Khandekar
Author, Culinary Consultant, Vernika Awal
Monika Manchanda Co-Founder of Scrollific Independent Journalist and
Food Consultant, Writer, Baker Content Studio Food Writer

Mudra Keswani Saher Khanzada Vikram Achanta

Food Blogger Food Blogger CEO, Tulleeho

Nandita Iyer Sahiba Vinda Dravid

Cookbook Author and Blogger
Nikhil Merchant
Food Writer, Gourmet
Consultant
Food Writer, Food
Conversationalist, Food
Blogger, Beverage Blogger,
Food Instagrammed,
Experience Curator
Food Enthusiast, Producer And
Owner Of Currry Cat
Vir Sanghvi
Food Critic & Journalist

Nitin Tandon Saloni Malkani (Fbai) Zainab Putatunda

Food Stylist, F&B Consultant Co-Founder, The FBAI Chief Marketing Officer,
Koldplay
Phorum Dalal Sanjay Anand
Journalist Director & Promoter, Hammer Zeba Kohli
Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Chocolatier, Fantasie Fine
Pooja Khanna
Chocolates
Recipe Developer, Food Stylist, Shilpa Sharma
Photographer, Food Blogger Partner, Mustard Restaurants Zenia Irani
Food And Travel Blogger
Pooja Trehan Dhamecha Shital Kakad
Founder, PRestaurants Recipe Developer

Prashant Issar Shivesh

Restaurateur Food Blogger

Pritha Sen Shri Bala

Food Historian and Curator Culinary expert and Trainer,
South Indian Cuisine
Priya Bala
Writer, Author, Cook Simmi Sareen
Food Blogger
Rakesh Raghunathan
Food Explorer :) Sonal Chowdhary
Nutrition Consultant, Author
Rakhee Vaswani
Founder, Palate Culinary Srikant Malladi
Academy Head of Programming, Living
Foodz
Rhea Mitra-Dalal
Caterer, EuphoRHEA Sudip Putatunda
Managing Director, Koldplay
Rocky Mohan
Gourmet Passport Suprio Bose
Founder, The Nomad Foodie
Romi Purkayastha
Food Jockey, Writer, Events Supriya Arun
Curator Nutritionist, Author
Top 10 predictions for 2019 Artisanal
will be the
new“cool”
A growing desire to support local and
sustainable practices at both
individual and institutional scale, will
see a lot more unusual products with
labels like rustic, artisanal,
small-batch, crafted, and handmade
find their way into the mainstream.
Conscientious
cooking,
Responsible
eating will
gain traction
Growing appreciation for the intricate
relationship between personal food
choices and environmental wellbeing,
will find consumers actively seek
solutions that help minimize impact
on themselves and the environment.
Convenience
cooking will
become
respectable
Concepts like speed-scratch cooking
will encourage time-pressured
consumers to cook more often,
thereby driving a demand for
products that offer creativity and
convenience of rustling up quick,
personalised meals at home.
Fermented
foods will be
everywhere
Newfound consumer respect for
traditional wisdom around the
perceived health benefits of
fermentation, coupled with its
potential for infusing deeper, more
complex flavours into food, will fuel a
demand for a wider variety of
naturally fermented products on
shelves and menus in 2019.
Functional
foods will Ordinary
More vegetables
influence daily indigenous
diet choices will be the
grains will
In 2019, more consumers will use
new exotic
be revived
information on the functional and
medicinal attributes of food products
to help them select those that align
Humble vegetables like Bathua,
Tendli, Lauki, and Tinda, abundantly
The conversations around health, pervasive in traditional homes but
best with their diet or lifestyle conspicuously absent from
sustainability and farmer welfare that
choices. commercial kitchens, will be featured
brought Millets into consumer focus
last year, will spark a similar interest prominently in restaurant menus.
and revival of other traditional grains
and indigenous varieties of rice.

Snacking will
Micro-cuisines be reinvented
will hit the Nani, In 2019, the lines between
meal-time and snack-time will blur

spotlight Dadi & Ma’s further, as consumers get more

opportunities to replace their main
meals with credible snacking

recipes will
Consumers can look forward to an
explosion of conversations, events,
products, and dining experiences
products that align with their
priorities around health,
convenience and costs.

rule menus
inspired by micro-cuisines from
specific sub-regions, communities,
and even family kitchens of India.
2019 will see the food industry
creating more opportunities to pay
homage to mothers, grandmothers
and home chefs as the original
sources of inspiration, and custodians
of our rich culinary diversity.
Dining
Out Trends
The Indian restaurant industry is in a continuous state of
disruption, fuelled by an endless desire to pursue ideas
and concepts that are most reflective of the economic
environment, business priorities, and evolving expectations
of diners each year. The concept pop-up, popular as a
means for experimentation with unorthodox formats and
cuisines, sparked the birth of the micro-restaurant! What
began as a small return-to-roots movement, has evolved
into a full-blown demand for inward exploration! Chefs
are thinking differently about their role in the industry, and
bringing fresh ideas into their menus. And a new generation
of ‘Restopreneurs’ are demonstrating success with concepts
that would have been considered radical and unviable by
the industry just a few years back. Deliciously exciting times,
these are!
 Upcoming C uisines

A growing desire to learn more the unexplored micro-cuisines from

about our diverse culinary culture
and traditions is already driving
exploration, documentation and
presentation of micro-cuisines
of specific sub-regions, and
communities of India. Our experts
predict that, in 2019, this movement
will extend to dining experiences
in the form of increased interest in
Coastal India (57%), North-East
India (53%) and the Non-vegetarian
communities of South India (40%).
Amongst global cuisines, Levantine-
inspired (Israeli, Turkish) and Korean
menus are expected to shine.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Coastal micro-cuisines of India 57%

North-East Indian micro-cuisines 53%

Non-vegetarian micro-cuisines of South India 40%

Levantine-inspired (Israeli, Turkish) cuisines 35%

Korean cuisines 29%

The trend in America and globally is that we are going to go back to real
cuisine. Authentic comfort food and real soul food. In America, FINALLY
we will move away from North Indian flavours… I mean, there’s more to
Indian food than Butter Chicken! Our cuisine has always been in the hands
of our home chefs. But when we took it to the restaurant we changed it.
Because it was convenient, good for business.. I am guilty of it too. But
Chef Vikas Khanna Indian chefs ab darna band kar rahein hai (are no longer afraid). And our
patrons have become smart. They are travelling, they know real flavours
and they know what they want! In the years to come the stars in restaurant
kitchens will be those who are expert in classical regional cuisines and
chefs are going to create smaller, richer menus, full of real flavour of home
kitchens.

Micro-cuisines and hyper-

regional cuisines are becoming
increasingly important because
they help us delve into a culture
that we may have been oblivious
to before. Also, their flavours
astonish us, often very pleasantly!

Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi

 Menu Inspirat ions

A restaurant’s ability to keep its patrons excited of the true custodians of regional cuisine in
often depends their source of inspiration, and India - Dadis, Nanis and Home Chefs. This
the Chef’s ability to translate this inspiration pursuit of local flavours will persist with more
into the menu. Our experts predict that this restaurants offering modern interpretations
year will see more Chefs champion their of traditional dishes (46%) on their menus.
culinary heritage (57%) and tell stories about
how it inspired them to cook. They also expect
to see a lot more special menus/pop-ups with
regional cuisine exerts (54%) that incorporate
traditional wisdom, knowledge and practices

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Chefs championing grandmother's cooking 57%

Special menus/Pop-ups with regional cuisine expetrs 54%

Modern interpretations of traditional dishes 46%

Small plates across all courses 37%

Bowl meal concepts will see more creative spin-offs 36%

Nostalgia is the most important ingredient in food and who

better than grandma to be inspired by? With the rise in
home chefs cooking and taking centre stage, a lot of chefs
are now looking for inspiration - not just from the outside
world, but the world of food at their home!

Chef Kunal Kapur

In 2019, Chefs are going to go back to their

own roots, research ancient cuisine, explore lost
recipes, and old cooking techniques and shift
their focus from imported expensive ingredients
to local and sustainable produce to deliver
authentic food experience in the purest form!
Chef Ajay Chopra

As Indians, we are discovering the diversity India has to offer. We

are looking inwards at our regional culinary cultures. There is a
sense of curiosity coupled with pride, which has people wanting to
showcase regional recipes. And with the advent of social media,
there is a tendency among people to find these hidden gems. The
story has all the ingredients of success!
Aneesh Dhairyawan
 New Restaurant C oncepts

In the current era of consumer concepts (62%) such as the Speakeasy,

hyperchoice, restaurants are expected
to adopt concepts that offer unique and
innovative experiences and keep diners
excited throughout the year! Nearly two-
third of our panel expect health-driven
concepts (65%) like Keto, Vegan, Gluten
free and other special diet-driven options
will be the leading trend this year. They
also predict a rise in alcohol-inspired
Gin Bar, and of course, Craft Brewery
to keep pace with the emerging trends
in the alcohol industry. The panel
also expects our growing demand for
authentic regional flavours to translate
into more regional cuisine-based
restaurant concepts (57%) this year. It
certainly is going to be an exciting year
for dining out in India!

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Health-driven concepts 65%

Alcohol-inspired concepts (eg. Speakeasy, Gin Bar, Craft Brewery) 62%

Regional cuisines-based concepts 57%

Micro-restaurants 32%

Cuisine mashup concepts (eg. Tamil meets

25%
Sri Lankan, or French meets Bengali)

The cocktail concept was waiting in the wings to take off.

We have now a generation of mixologists ready - who have
been pushing the boundaries of drinks. The urban markets are
moving beyond the Mojito, and (the bar menu) is essential to the
decision of dining out now. It’s a great trend, which brings the
bar at par with the kitchen and service, creating wholesome and
Chef Manu Chandra 360 degree experiences.

2019 will a see us cheering over a lot of things that excited us last year, fun
new restaurants opening, simple but flavourful ingredients, a bigger discovery of
regional dishes. Hopefully in the current era of consumer hyperchoice, restaurants
will put in serious effort to offer a better quality of food in addition to the
theatrics they indulge in to lure customers. Because while we have a food boom
happening in India, it does not necessarily mean its has resulted in better quality!
Vir Sanghvi

Goan, Bengali, French, Mangalorean

were just some of the cuisines that I
enjoyed in 2018. I think we will see
a lot more of regional flavours in
2019. The interest in micro-cuisines
will grow in 2019 as we try to
Kunal Vijayakar capture the diverse cultures and
landscapes of India on the plate.
 Exci t ing New Food C ategories

In 2018, we saw avocado on toast everywhere. Moringa, Turmeric, and Amla (48%)
As millets were heavily promoted by the will come under consumer spotlight, and
government, and passionately advocated local indigenous, traditional grains
by the industry, edible flowers blossomed (46%), riding high on millet popularity, will
on plates, big and small. However, in a be on every cook’s shopping list! Raw
dramatic shift of loyalties, our expert panel and naturally cured foods (43%),
unanimously believes that 2019 is going to and fermented foods (35%),
be all about local! They predict that local obtained from traditional
indigenous ‘ordinary’ vegetables like methods of production and
Bathua, Tendli, Fiddlehead fern, and the preservation, round off this
Banana plant (64%) will inspire innovation overall preference for going
in restaurant menus, functional foods like local this year.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Local indigenous 'ordinary' vegetables (eg. Bathua, Tendli, Fiddlehead, Banana plant) 64%

Functional foods (eg. Moringa, Turmeric, Amla etc.) 48%

Looking beyond millets at other indigenous traditional grains 46%

Raw and naturally cured foods (without preservatives) 43%

Fermented foods 35%

This is the year of ancient wisdom, and functionality through ancient wisdom!
It is also the year in which we will go beyond proteins and carbs and talk
about functional food. Eating ordinary vegetables seasonally is a large part
of that. In my opinion, there is still an inertia, when it comes to ordinary
vegetables, but I honestly think the inertia can be broken very simply.
Genuine chef link-ups with the average farmer are the key to the growth of
Chef Ranveer Brar the indigenous vegetable space.

A process of discovery is afoot. India has long

used techniques that others are now discovering.
While there might be inherent cultural problems of
always harking back to the glory days, in cuisine,
it is proving to be boon!

Srikant Malladi
 Heal t h and L ifestyle
Trends in Restaurants

2019 will see diners continue to experiment gluten-free, Keto, and Vegan even as support
with a variety of diet options, while for medical diets (36%) will become more
increasingly adopting lifestyles that help visible. More than half the panel expect to
reduce their impact on the environment. see environmentally responsible menus
They will do this by making conscious choices (58%) around movements like ‘Hyper-Local’,
around what, when and where they eat. ‘Compost Cuisine’, ‘Nose-to-tail’, ‘Root-to-
Over three-fourths of our experts predict fruit’, ‘Sustainable seafood’ etc. along with
that hyper-local sourcing (78%) will be in visible commitments from the industry
focus this year, with more restaurants and for greater transparency and
food businesses adopting and advocating accountability (44%) in the
local, seasonal, artisanal, foraged and wild form of open declarations
foods. Nearly two-thirds see a rise in specific and unambiguous labels.
lifestyle-based diet menus (65%) such as

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Hyper-local sourcing (eg. Local, Seasonal, Artisanal, Foraged, wild foods etc.) 78%

Specific lifestyle-based diet menus (eg. Gluten-free, Keto, Vegan etc.) 65%

Environmentally responsible menus (eg. Nose-to-tail/

58%
Root-to-stalk sustainable fish etc.)

Greater transparency and accountability 44%

Support for medical diets (eg. High/Lean protein,

36%
Low/No sugar, Reduced salt etc.)

Sustainability is the keyword in the F&B space right now. Responsible

eating is being preferred by both chefs and consumers. Restaurants are
looking out for small producers, to connect Chefs with hyperlocal produce.
Producers are supporting these efforts by producing all that is seasonal,
heirloom and indigenous. Wild edibles — ferns, nettles, berries, tubers
and more — have played an important role in regional cuisines since time
Avantika Bhuyan immemorial and chefs are harnessing these on their menus.

I think this is going to be a year of conscientious cooking and

responsible eating. As Chefs we are looking at collaborations with
other chefs, farmers, and even local artisans for homemade butter,
cheese and clean products. We are shopping locally and seasonally.
And we are trying to get more creative with using up off-cuts,
bones and other such things to manage waste better.
Chef Vicky Ratnani
Dining
in Trends
Food is the new cool! Appearances matter, and
they influence consumer food choices - not only
when dining out, but also when dining in at home.
For the home diner, innovative little restaurants are
offering everything from vegan bowls to Korean or
Sri Lankan, and an army of Home Chefs are dishing
up everything from Kashmiri to Malabari, Bohri to
Bengali, Parsi to Assamese cuisines and more from
their home kitchens. And thanks to errand services
and food delivery apps like Uber Eats, Swiggy,
Scootsy, all these options are just one phone call
away! For cooks at home, kitchen environment,
available tools and convenience play a big role in
the cooking choices they make. In this section, we
look at key trends that will affect the home kitchen
in 2019.
 Preferred Al ternat ives to
Home - cooked Meals
Busier lives, nuclear families, disposable menus, along with customisation
income, the internet, travel, online ordering, for diet requirements, will become
and digital payment options are driving our more prevalent. These services are
preferences around what, when, and how we expected impact the restaurant
eat at home. We are busier than ever but we pick-up and/or delivery (39%)
clearly prefer a hot fresh meal. A stronger services. But our panelists also
focus on health and fitness means we are indicated a partiality towards
looking for convenient solutions to eating ready-to-cook meals (31%),
healthy and fresh as well. Our experts predict indicating that concepts like
that food delivery services (76%) will grow speed-scratch cooking (using
as the most preferred meal alternatives in a combination of convenience
2019, along with Meal subscription services foods and fresh ingredients) will rise
(58%), that offer the convenience of fixed in time to come.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Food delivery services 76%

Meal subscription services 58%

Restaurant pick-up and/or delivery 39%

Fruits and salads 31%

Ready-to-cook meals 31%

There are many alternatives to home cooked food these days but top most on the
list is definitely ordering food at home using food delivery apps. With so much
money being invested in this industry, the consumer is also being pushed to order
food from these tech savvy apps. It’s easy to order, there are multiple cuisine
options. And that view that home delivered food had to be greasy, dirty and
cheap is changing, now there is a space for fine dining meals, good clean food.
Chef Saransh Goila Life is getting busy time is becoming precious, with less time to cook at home,
ordering home style food is definitely going to spike.

Food delivery as well as meal subscription services have become more

sophisticated and reliable in terms of both service and the quality of
the cuisine and food delivery aggregators have contributed massively
to the growth of food ordering as an alternative to cooking at home.
The addition of home chefs to the options offered by some of the food
delivery services has helped blur the line between the two eternal
Bhisham Mansukhani options somewhat.
 C ooking Trends at Home

A proliferation of food and travel shows on
television and streaming services, food porn
on social media platforms like YouTube and
Instagram, along with easier access to tools,
techniques, information and ingredients,
is encouraging home cooks to experiment
with dishes beyond their traditional
boundaries. Our expert panel believes
that the home cook of 2019 will be most
inspired by Television and Video shows
(46%) and driven by a sense of nostalgia
for rediscovering family and community
cuisine (45%). They also felt that curiosity,
and a sense of culinary adventure, will lead to
more experiments with cuisines other than
their own (39%) at home.

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Cooking dishes inspired by TV shows / Youtube 46%

Rediscovering roots by cooking from family, Community cuisines 45%

Experimenting with cuisines other than one's own 39%

Shift to healthier cooking methods 37%

Cooking dishes inspired from travel 36%

Because food now Shows like Masterchef etc have

occupies a large part of inspired people to cook as and when
our imagination and cuts they have time. And today there is
across social and economic a tsunami of content online that has
strata. The curiosity to people educating themselves better
know is high as well as and being inspired!
a pride in one's own roots Chef Sadaf Hussain
and traditions is growing.

Pritha Sen

TV food and cooking

shows offer creative new
ideas and novelty to
home cooks. It gets them
appreciation from family
and friends.

Ruchi Shrivastava
 Food C ategories at Home

With the ongoing growth in food retail
that offers deeper immersion, greater
variety, dependable storage and better
logistics that promises fresher and faster
food delivery, today’s home cooks are
spoilt for choice of ingredients they can
play with in their home kitchens. The
theme of going local was the strongest
here, and our experts unanimously
predicted our preference for traditional,
regional, home-grown, and indigenous
products will be clearly visible in our
kitchen pantry this year. This revival
would be spearheaded by traditional
cooking mediums (62%) replacing the
generic vegetable and international
oils; regional seeds and grains (52%),
in lieu of regular staples like wheat and
rice; and home-grown produce from
kitchen and/or window gardens (47%)
to complement meals with ultra-fresh
vegetables and herbs.

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Traditional Indian cooking mediums (eg. Ghee, Coconut, Mustard, Peanut, etc.) 62%

Regional seeds & grains (eg. Millets, Local rice and wheat varieties) 52%

Home-grown produce from kitchen and /or window gardens 47%

Indigenous varieties of fruits & vegetables

(eg. Local, foraged / wild...) 35%

Locally grown international fruits & vegetables (eg.

32%
Avacado, Passion...

Value and Virtue. As we learn more about why indigenous foods

are good for us, we will make a more conscious effort to include
them in our home cooking. Nutritionists sharing information about
the functional and medicinal values of food are growing popularity
thanks to which small food retailers are finding reason to deal in cold
pressed seed oils and indigenous or domesticated farm produce.
Saee Koranne Khandekar

Locally produced International vegetables are big these days,

but at the cost of forgetting our own millets and indigenous
ingredients. As chefs it is one’s duty to connect with local
producers and farmers, interact with them, get one’s hands
dirty once in a while. Know where our produce is coming from
and what we are putting on the table. To bring about change
one needs to create that demand and supply. Chef Michael Swamy
 C onvenience Foods
Modern Indian cooks may not have
the time, or the inclination to cook
from scratch regularly. They may
not even cook a full traditional meal
daily. But whenever they do, they
appreciate solutions that can help
them create hot and fresh meals
quickly, with minimum fuss and with
0 5
Fresh batters
Dips, Sauces and Spreads
Ready solutions for special diets (eg. Keto flours, Vegan Cheese etc.)
Ready-to-cook bases and sauces
Pre-cut vegetables and fruits
Marryam H. Reshii
Kalyan Karmakar
final control of what they consume.
And the top convenience foods for
2019 will be fresh batters (63%),
dips, sauces and spreads (56%),
ready solutions for special diets
(46%), ready-to-cook curry bases
and sauces (33%), and pre-cut
fruits and vegetables (32%).
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63%
56%
46%
33%
32%
You can create completely new Convenience foods, be it dips,
flavours in your own kitchen, yet with sauces, and ready-to-cook curry
a little nudge with spice blends and bases will be popular, as they
pre-cut vegetables. encourage experimentation, ease
cooking, guarantee taste, and
lower the risks of failure.
With busy lifestyles people are looking
for convenience and not going out. Also
cooking at home helps one be in charge
of one’s health and products like dips,
Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi
sauces and spreads, ready solutions for
special diets and ready-to-cook curry
bases and sauces helo to add variety.
 New K i tchen Tools

The kitchen offers a home cook tremendous cookware, will lead to higher adoption of
opportunities for self-expression and creative cast iron cookware (44%). With comfort
exploration, in which cooking gadgets and and convenience becoming a priority,
tools play a critical role! According to our more consumers will switch from gas-
experts, Specialist gadgets (49%) and based cooking to alternatives (28%)
Tools (36%) that offer greater authenticity, like electrical, induction,
variety, and control will be in top demand microwaves for a cooler,
in 2019! They also felt that the perceived and more efficient cooking
health benefits of slow cooking, coupled experience.
with growing apprehensions around coated

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Specialist gadgets (eg. Airfryer, Espresso machine, Soupmaker etc.) 49%

Cast Iron cookware 44%

Specialist tools for food processing (eg. Tabletop

stone mill, Coffee grinder etc.) 36%

Alternatives to gas-based cooking (eg. Induction

stoves, Microwave ovens, Electric cookers, Multi-c... 28%

Waste management/disposal systems 26%

Most kitchens are stocked with basic tools that let you perform prep, or
even create artistic finishes with ease. This year, I personally feel, fancy
gadgetry is going to be on a rise, but more as a 'social media' driven
trend rather than a genuinely useful one. Yes, convenience is a priority,
but that shouldn't take away from retro tools such as the traditional
stone grinders, mortar-pestle, murukku press, Indian masala dabba,
Chef Varun Inamdar butter churners and the rolling pin, that are embedded in our culinary
heritage. It is time we put them to use and preserve them.

Things like an airfryer offer instant health upgrade

for you and your family. Things like a fancy coffee
maker make you feel good about what you're consuming.
And doing all this without moving a finger to find
out how to do it, but just by asking a Google Home or
an Alexa, this becomes way more convenient.
Sahiba Gursahaney
 K i tchen Design

While most traditional home kitchen solutions are
designed around the needs of a serious cook, the
perception of cooking has evolved from being a
tedious daily drudge, into an occasional leisure,
and often fun activity! This is best reflected in the
kitchen designs of a modern Indian home where
functional efficiency is sometimes overlooked in
favour of cooking comfort and Instagram-worthy
aesthetics. Despite these perceived changes, our
experts felt that higher versatility (66%), higher
efficiency and functionality (64%), and optimal
space utilization (55%) will continue to be the
primary kitchen design considerations in 2019.

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Higher versatility (multi pupose kitchen that allows cooking, baking and more 66%

Design for efficiency and functionality 64%

Optimal space utilization 55%

Design for ease of cleanliness and better waste management 36%

Cool decor (eg. Frames with quirky food

25%
quotes, food posters and pictures, etc.)

The main objective of a kitchen The new-age kitchen is a modern one with
is increasingly to allow cooking a minimalist design sense and fewer, but more
of more dishes in lesser time. durable gadgetry and cookware/bakeware. It is
In the modern kitchen, optimal a multipurpose one that looks pretty, but with
space utilization increases tons of space utilisation tools (this is where
productivity, thereby saving time. Ikea comes in) and island counters guests can
Design for ease of cleanliness watch their hosts cook. Ankiet Gulabani
and better waste management
will make life efficient.

The modern day cook loves spending

more time in kitchen and for many,
cooking is catharsis. Appealing visuals
with cool decor and higher versatility
will make a dream-come-true kitchen
for anyone.
Chef Rakhee Vaswani Anindya Sundar Basu
Beverage
Trends
Over the last decade, the beverages industry has
undergone substantial transformations to keep
abreast with changes in market dynamics. While
the pace of these changes understandably differed
for alcoholic and non-alcoholic categories, regular
launches of new categories, products, and formats
ensured that the Indian consumers was spoilt for
choice! In this section, we crystal gaze on what a
discerning consumer can look forward to in 2019.
 Alcoholic Beverages

Under the active leadership of a new
generation of entrepreneurs, the
Indian alcohol industry is buzzing with
new ideas for Indian spirits and wines
that meet, and sometimes exceed,
International standards! 2018 saw
the industry make inroads into gin
exploration, whisky blending, meads
and ciders, and packaging of local
alcohols. 60% of our experts believe
that this trend would continue and put
their money on craft beverages and
spirits taking the forefront in 2019. 47%
predict that Indian flavour-inspired
cocktails will keep spirits high! With
three brands of locally crafted and
distilled gins entering the market in
2018, 44% of our panel believes
that Indian craft gin will be more
visible on bar menus this year,
along with house-made bitters
and tonics.

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Craft beverages and spirits 60%

Indian flavour inspired cocktails 47%

Locally distilled Indian gin 44%

House-made bitters and tonics 44%

Locally made ciders and meads 36%

The rise of the gin and infusions will

be an interesting trend to watch out
for. Many restaurants have started
their own infusions, and cocktail bars
using Indian hints like star anise or
turmeric may see a huge surge!
With younger, more urban, entrepreneurs
entering the market, the focus is slowly
shifting away from legacy spirits. Small-
batch, local, freshly brewed beers and
in-house flavours are attracting customers
interests. There's also been a gap in high-
end mixers which is slowly being filled. Antoine Lewis

Ruth Dsouza Prabhu

 Non - alcoholic Beverages

The industry has finally recognized the
importance of bringing innovative, non-
alcoholic beverages to tap into the massive
teetotaler market in India! However, the
sheer diversity of preferences in this market
was reflected in the responses we received,
and no single trend came out universally
strong. Nearly half (44%) of our experts felt
that Indian flavour-inspired drinks such
as Gondhoraj Virgin Mojitos and Guava
Mirchi Mocktails would catch the consumer’s
fancy, while an equal number thought that
Probiotic-rich drinks like yogurt-based
options, Keffir, Jowar, and Nachni Ambils
(fermented millet beverages) would prevail.
A fair number of our experts (35%) believed
that the health-conscious consumer would
drive the demand for Vegetable and fruit
juice blends like Basil Cucumber shots
and Beetroot Pomegranate juice. They also
expect Kombucha, a strong health-driven
trend from last year, to continue rising its
rise in popularity as more consumers start
accepting it as a viable replacement drink.

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Indian flavour-inspired drinks (eg. Gondhoraj virgin mojito, Guava

44%
mirchi mocktail etc.)

Probiotic rich drinks (eg. Yogurt-based drinks, Keffir,

Jowar/Nachni ambil etc.) 44%

Vegetable & fruit juice blends (eg. Basil-cucumber

shots, Beetroot-pomegranate juice) 35%

Kombucha 33%

Infused water 32%

Health-conscious individuals prefer low-calorie, non-alcoholic drinks at

drinking occasions, because they want to be seen holding a drink, and at the
same time keep check on their calorie intake. Also, the gym diet is coming
of age, with fitness freaks opting for probiotic and energy drinks during and
after workouts so we will see party versions of these on the menu.

Romy Purkayastha

Healthy is in, and we are constantly on the lookout

for non alcoholic versions for night-outs. Not
everyday is a drink day, and board meetings could
do without a dratted hangover! Kombuchas are fun
and non-alcoholic drinks like non-G&T's make
for a fun holder when at a party. They sometimes
Nikhil Merchant make you feel trendy and in with the times too.
Dessert
Trends
The Indian sweet tooth is legendary, and for many
of us, meetha is a must at least once a day! This
love for sweets drives the booming dessert industry
in India to constantly innovate in order to keep up
with evolving lifestyle choices and diet preferences
of their customers. In this section, we examine
where our sweet tooth will take us in 2019.
 Desserts

Even with consumers increasingly purees this year. Expect to also see
making better-for-me diet choices, more dessert menus containing
they are not ready to desert their creative options for special diets
desserts! We still want our sweet like keto and vegan (51%). And
treats, but in healthier avatars that continuing the overall trend of
allow us our occasional guilt-free sourcing locally, chances are that you
indulgences. Over 70% of our will see a lot more local, artisanal
experts believe that we will see more or bean-to-bar chocolate (40%)
dessert options that contain no offerings in the chocolate section of
added sugar, or are made with your favourite store this year.
natural sweeteners, and fruit

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Healthier claims (eg. No added sugar, Naturally sweetened, Fruit puree-based etc.) 73%

Special diet-based desserts (eg. Keto brownies, Vegan ice cream) 51%

Locally sourced artisanal & bean-to-bar chocolates 40%

Reviival of traditional Indian desserts and mithaiis 39%

Indian-inspired ice cream flavours

33%
(eg. Masala chai, Nolen gur etc.)

Everyone is health-conscious these days and rightly so.

Understanding what is in your dessert is as important as
choosing sustainable ingredients these days. This is why
diet-based and healthier version of desserts will be big
in 2019, as well as using sustainable and locally-sourced
ingredients such artisanal cacao and nuts.
Chef Rishim Sachdeva

In 2019, I see people focussing on health & adopting health-

forming diets rather than quick-fad weight-loss diets, which
indicates a definitive change in the dessert offerings. I see a
significant change in the Indian palate for sweets. There will be
curious experimentation of different dessert pairings & an increase
in demand for lactose free & gluten free, low sugar sweets,
chocolates & desserts. Zeba Kohli
Top bets of 2019
When we asked our experts to select one concept that they were
confident enough to bet their money on in 2019, their picks didn’t
come as too much of a surprise! Here are their top bets for 2019.

Flavourful Fermented
Regional Craft
Healthy
Clean

Traditional

Local
Fusion

Small
Modern

GrainsHomely
Heritage Sustainable
Trend we never
want to see again
This year, we also asked our experts to pick one concept
that they would never want to see again, for any reason
they deemed fit! Here is what they picked.

Activated Charcoal
Drama

Rainbow/Unicorn
Molecular
Liquid Nitrogen

Gastronomy
Freakshakes
Fusion

Gimmicks
Absurd Serveware
Edible Flowers
 Season 5
C oming soon...