HEALTH-conscious cuisine, plant-free food and international dishes are among the products seeing a boom in popularity in Scottish premises this year, according to wholesaler Dunns Food & Drinks.
The company, which will host its Discovery trade show in Glasgow later this month, has identified a number of food and drinks trends it has seen emerging in the Scottish on-trade in the course of the year.
These include an uplift in demand for immunity-boosting, health-conscious foods as well as classic ‘comfort foods’ such as burgers and mac and cheese.
Cuisine from areas such as South East Asia, South America and the Caribbean have also all proved popular with trade customers this year, said Dunns, with demand surging for plant-based, meat-free foods as sustainability continues to climb up the agenda.
“The trend towards plant-based products has carried over into 2022,” said Dunns marketing manager, Niall Deveney.
“As an example, one of our new lines, Seabloom, which has seen us help their seaweed-based tuna enter the market, has proved popular.
“Furthermore, Nestle’s commitment to their new plant-based Garden Gourmet range, including their meat-free environmentally sustainable burgers, demonstrates how much the food sector is shifting in that direction.”
On the drinks side, rum (and spiced rum in particular) and whisky are said to be in rude health, with on-trade customers also taking an increasing interest in low and no-alcohol products.
Dunns will host its Discovery event at Platform in Glasgow on Tuesday, 25th October.
Operations director Julie Dunn said the show is “a very big event for us and we’re really excited, given it’s the first time we’ve been able to have everyone together for a show since the pandemic”.
“The theme of 2022 is ‘Discovery’ and we’ve challenged suppliers to really think about what they’re bringing to the sector in terms of new product development,” said Dunn.
“As you’d expect, we’ve had a brilliant response, particularly from local producers, many of which have launched during lockdown, and we’ve been very keen to support them.”
