When asked to write on the Top 3 Trends for 2022, my first thoughts went to the unexpected trends for 2021, and were they here to stay?  Surprises included – pandemic pet ownership, Bitcoin and queues for petrol!

The notable food trends of 2021 included – food content on TikTok (don’t mention Feta pasta!), Sourdough, plant based menus, Air-fryers, and quality restaurant home delivery.

Will the Working From Home productivity paradox encourage employers to get teams back to office or the Metaverse arrive in 5 years – who knows? However, as the UK moves forward under Plan B restrictions, we hope that the biggest new trend from government 2022 includes clarity, as with clarity, both businesses and individuals can get on with what we do best!

We do expect these Top 3 Trends to dominate in 2022:

1 – Health & Wellbeing

January 2022 will start with the now predictable wellbeing bang; we expect to see the continued exponential growth in popularity of both “Veganuary” and “Dry January”. BM now starts all menus with vegan and vegetarian dishes and for Dry January, non-alcoholic drinks are rapidly increasing in both range and quality – though Ian Mitchell’s (alcoholic) Wine Blog is well worth a read!

Free-From products have seen enormous growth e.g dairy-free milks are available on all our coffee bars, though I’m yet to be convinced potato milk will gain the same traction in 2022.

Mental health awareness is now a priority for all responsible employers, of which you see from our other blogs and Wendy’s End of Year-Round-Up, that we at BM see as so important.

2 – Sustainability

Along with our own health we have a greater appreciation of the Planet’s health than ever before.

It’s now widely understood that 2020 to 2030 is the “Decade of Action” to impact upon the climate crisis and avoid irreparable damage to the planet.

Cop 26 in Glasgow highlighted that the time to act is now, this requires some meaningful action from us all.  We at BM are all looking at evidenced based solutions to reduce our carbon footprint and drive the journey to Net-Zero with our partners Planet Mark.

BM is determined to recover all the sustainability gains that were lost during the pandemic (keep cups, single use materials, food waste etc) by the end of 2022.

While at an individual level this can feel overwhelming, Hebe Richardson gave us a tip on how we can all do our bit by being a conscious consumer.  Particularly looking at how sustainable our diet is – be it in the form of mis-shapen fruit and veg, eating more seasonably or taking active steps to reduce food waste. If we all make a few changes we, we can make a big impact.

3 – Technology

Following the wellbeing, we also expect to see more personal technology at play in 2022, as “Health Wearables” were a top Christmas gift for 2021. This technology allows individuals to take a more active role in holistic wellbeing, measuring more than just activity, they also record; sleep, heart rates, blood pressure, glucose levels and reproductive cycles.

In 2021 BM saw a massive shift to App based pre-order, pre-pay technology. This is now a core part of our catering operations and we expect this to continue with further use of QR Code enabling some self-service elements.

Pete our Chef Director will be talking about Food Trends in his blogs in the next months, however he tells me my wishes may come true in 2022, as all the Sourdough bakers (you know who you are) switch to celebration baking and the power of the decadent desserts, fingers crossed.

 Wishing you all a fabulous 2022!

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