Lentils, beets, and bee-less honey. These are some of the foods that are predicted to become growing trends in the natural and organic food world, says a trendspotting report out of the U.S.
The marketing and communications firm Sterling-Rice Group offer up a Top 10 list of predictions on the health foods that will leave the fringes of the natural food world and enter mainstream, commercial grocery-store shelves.
The biggest trend to look out for? Lentils, which the group predicts will appear in everything from pasta to waffles 鈥�...as the quest for new plant-based protein sources continues to rise.鈥�
Here鈥檚 a look at the rest of the list:
Foods for the gut: Consumers are continuing to seek out foods rich in prebiotics, cobiotics and probiotics.
Beets:The flashy red root vegetable moves beyond salads and appears in more juices, dehydrated fruit strips and yogurt.
Drinkable grains:The most popular example of drinkable grains are oats which, when ground, lend smoothies a creamy texture. Chia seeds are also being used the same way.
Bee-less honey: Born from concerns of bee colony collapse -- a phenomenon in which whole colonies of bees are dying en masse -- food companies are creating fruit-based, imitation bee-less honeys.
Sauces: Look for dessert sauces like chocolate and caramel toppings to come calcium-enriched, and cake frosting to be high in protein.
Happy animals: In line with grass-fed cows, social and ethically responsible consumption is also driving up demand for pastured chickens and pen-free pigs.
Cradle of superfoods: Africa is being described as a 鈥渉otbed of exotic superfoods鈥� for vitamin-packed foods like baobab, moringa leaf and bissap tea.
Label: In the early 2000s, the stamp of approval sought by health-conscious consumers was the USDA鈥檚 organic certification. Today, it鈥檚 the GMO-Free Project Verified seal that holds purchasing power for health-conscious consumers.
Pond scum: Algae milk is now called 鈥渢he new kid in non-dairy milk,鈥� for being packed with vitamins, lactose-free and sustainable.
