Top food trends that ruled India in 2015

Indian F&B industry has witnessed various new trends in the last two years, where 2013 witnessed trend that made every restaurant try its hands at molecular gastronomy and 2014 was devoted as a year of innovation. According to Restaurant India Research, 2015 was filled with food-tech innovations focsued on healthy food, prompt delivery and structured supply chain.

Some experts believe that traditional Indian cuisines with a blend of modern techniques was on demand as in the last two years, while others were of the opinion that healthy food options with taste and quality was on demand as well.  And to find what is actually going to be cooked in Indian kitchen, Restaurant India went to the food and beverages fraternity to list the top eight food trends that  ruled the Indian palate. A Closer Look!

Chef driven start-ups

Being the year of innovation and food startups, chef driven startup was one of the hot segment that picked up the food business race this year. Citing good model, to finest produce, the trend saw lots of attention from the investors. And, as the model is backed by the hands that cooks the purest and healthiest food, players like Holachef, Foodport, iTiffin and ZuperMeal ruled the nation.

"We enlist the services of home ‘chefs’ who may be a homemaker, a working professional or anyone who can cook well and is looking to earn through it. They need not be professional chefs per se, although professional chefs are not excluded either," shared one of the Co-founder at ZuperMeal.

Rise of packaged food segment

And, as everyone is getting into the fast pace of life, packaged food industry has seen a new growth in the last one year. With market leaders like, Maiyas Beverages entering the segment with their cool recipes, the trend is really getting hot at a time when women are joining hand with the men to do the outdoor needs. and, what better could it get with the RTE and RTC segment where there is lots of opportunity for home cooked like taste. 

A latest poll by ASSOCHAM, highlights that, "76 per cent parents, mostly both working, with children under five-years in the big cities, are serving easy-to-prepare meals at least 10-12 times per month in some form or the other.

Indian regional cuisine with modern tadka

Irrespective of the fact that foreign restaurant chains like Burger King, Nando’s, Carl’s Jr entered the Indian market, Indian foods are still the hot favourite among food lovers breaking its traditional confines with modern interpretations. Regional dishes from all corners of the country will hit the five star restaurants in the country.

According to experts, “There are a lot of changes that are going to happen in the Indian F&B segment. As people are willing to experiment new dishes, they will focus more on local and sustainable produce with little tweaks in the menu.”

Healthy food options took the centre stage

Gluten-free menu items and kale salads are so yesterday. Today, people will look for health as well as taste going hand on hand. Yogurt brands, smoothies, dairy products and special food items hit the Indian menu. New Juice brands and start-ups entered the market, and local as well as global players are reaching out to healthy young India.

“Not only India, people across the globe are becoming more and more conscious about their health and lifestyle. Thanks to the various awareness campaigns, people are now realising the ill effects of junk food and empty calories. Additionally, the young working population are independent and do not have much time to prepare every meal at home, which is why they look to eat out. They are eating out more often than earlier, which is why the demand for nutritious and healthy meal is constantly increasing because they don't want to repeatedly have heavy, fat filled and/or unhealthy junk food,” says, Arjun Khera, CBO, Smoothie Factory India.

Locally sourced fresh ingredients a preferred choice by chefs

The chefs in India, who are the man behind serving the food, look around for for some fresh ingredients with an environmental consciousness as they did in the last few years. They prefered the locally produce vegetables, meats and seafood to maintain the freshness of food served at the table.

“We believe in putting only the best and fresh ingredients to any of our recipes. We do not tweak the menu, but try to bring the authenticity to the table. The only USP that we follow is cook food from the best ingredients in the correct cooking method. The only place where we tweak the menu is the ‘designing’ of the menu,” says, Sanjay Patti, F&B Director, Hyatt Regency Gurgaon.

Online food ordering moved to a greater height

With major players like foodpanda and Tastykhana taking the leap in the online food ordering segment in India, many local and small players have entered in the segment from different regions in the country.  goGrab.in, DineIn, FoodCloud and are getting a great response as people these days find online ordering a best place to order food as it avoids the hassle caused in ordering food and hence, it seems to rule the country in 2015 as one of the best F&B trend inviting the major players like Zomato to enter this segment.

Fast foods will continue to rule the palate

Whenever it comes to take a hunger bite, diners rush to restaurants for fast foods like burgers, noodles, momoz, manchurian, pizzas etc. Acknowledging the same, not only Indian brands, even foreign restaurants have made a way forward into the country. These dishes dipped in sauces and different gravies have touched the heart of youngsters in the country was seen in restaurants in 2015.

Meals on wheel

With people travelling from one place to another, today many new food joints have come serving food on train and buses. YatraChef and TravelKhana have wonderfully associated with number of restaurants over 150 cities to serve food on train. Not only this, IRCTC has also partnered with major brands like Jumboking, Lite Bite Foods and Subway amongst others to run their outlets at various railway stations to provide food options to the travellers. According to the experts, easy to grab food is in demand as it consumes less time and one can consume it on the go and hence, it ruled 2015.

Indian food trends will enter into new miles in 2016, where socialising the food on Instagram and Twitter by food photographing and sharing via social media will be a new fun. Hence, today’s food lovers are very much aware about what they choose to eat and what suits their palate best.