Food trends you need to know for 2015

Washington: Here are some food trends you need to know for 2015.

The April 2015 issue of Food Technology magazine published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) features Contributing Editor A. Elizabeth Sloan's insights on the top food trends for 2015.

Sloan gathers data from a multitude of industry resources to come up with the following trends:

1. Fresh and Refrigerated Foods:

Shoppers are buying more fresh ingredients, up 10 percent versus just three years ago.

2. Eating for a Specific Lifestyle: Dramatic changes in lifestyle, eating patterns and demographics are creating new rules for marketing and packaging and are motivating new food product purchases.

3. Reasonable Snacking: The average number of in-between-meal snacks has grown from two per person per day in 2010 to almost three in 2014, and consumers are snacking throughout the whole day.

4. Discovering New Cuisines: More sophisticated food experiences characterized by unique flavors and culinary narratives is another trend on the rise.

5. Exclusion Diets: Consumers are continuing to experiment with alternative eating styles.

6. Breakfast: Most people are eating breakfast five times a week. Ethnic flavors for breakfast are trending as well such as chipotle, manchego, chutney, Cotija, and chimichurri.

7. Rethinking Natural: In 2014, 29 percent of consumers bought more local foods and beverages, 28 percent bought more organic products, 25 percent more natural foods and 23 percent more non-GMO offerings.

8. Whole Food Nutrition: In 2014, fiber/whole grain were the most sought after food ingredients. Non-wheat flours (peanut, millet, barley, and rice) were among the hot culinary ingredients in 2015, followed by ethnic flours like fufu, teff and cassava.

9. 'Cook-Less' Meals: More than a quarter of consumers say they are preparing more meals in less than 20 minutes than they did five years ago.

10. Diet Watching: Over half of adults are watching their diets.