As the year draws to a close, we tickle your tastebuds and take a look at how annual festive food and drink traditions are changing with new twists and emerging trends. Hear from our Director of Food & Drink Jen Creevy and Strategist Millie Diamond about what’s likely to appear on your festive platter this year.
Vegetables play a starring role
“We are seeing consumers becoming a great deal more conscious about what goes on to their plate, but they still want something that’s special to celebrate with, ultimately. By leading with ingredients such as whole veggies as a speciality item that will appeal to everyone, it makes for a more inclusive meal. The Butcher’s Wife restaurant in Singapore has brown butter chargrill cabbage as the centrepiece, and that’s got a pomegranate and peanut salsa with a dragon fruit barbecue sauce. So it’s really elevating the humble veg as the centrepiece on the table.”
– Millie Diamond, Food & Drink Strategist, WGSN
Festive margaritas
“So what I am planning to do this festive season is what I like to call a Christmas tree Margarita which is a classic Margarita but with a dash of pine, you create a pine syrup – infused pine with some sugar syrup which takes a little bit of time – then essentially to pop in your margarita to give it that festive flavour."
– Jennifer Creevy, Director of Food & Drink, WGSN
Maximalism reigns
“We’ve talked about maximalism for some time in terms of sharing dishes. There's a mix of nostalgia coming in there, of course, but also people entertaining at home more, so not going out as much and so we are looking to make an effort. We forecast the rise of maximalist dishes. It's really taking something like a sandwich and creating an extra large version of it to be shared by everyone. So obviously, it's fun. It looks great as part of the sort of decoration, but everyone can just dive in."
– Jennifer Creevy, Director of Food & Drink, WGSN
And finally...
“We have a panettone on Christmas morning. But then we don't ever bother with your Christmas pudding and they are saying that Gen Z is going to make the Christmas pudding extinct.”
– Millie Diamond, Food & Drink Strategist, WGSN
Tune in to this episode below, in which we reveal the exciting things happening in seasonal flavours and talk about what will be on our tables while feasting with family and friends. Whether you’re indulging in Christmas, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or Lunar New Year, there’s something here for everyone. Not to mention a few tips on how to set a beautiful festive table overflowing with maximalist shareables.
Head to Apple or Spotify to hear the full discussion on our Create Tomorrow podcast episode, Snow Globes, Teatails and Pudding Extinction...WGSN's Festive Table Trends.