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As summer starts winding down, it’s time to start looking ahead to fall. And you can’t think about fall without thinking about your favorite fall foods. Here are three exciting food trends that will have you covered for breakfast, lunch and dinner, at home or dining out this autumn season.
- Millennials rejoice – PSLs are now in stores!
Pumpkin Spice Latte season is starting earlier than ever this year (to the delight of millennials everywhere!) with Starbucks announcing it will start selling bottled Pumpkin Spice Lattes (often referred to as PSL) in grocery stores at the end of August. According to Business Insider, the ready-to-drink PSL will be priced at $2.79 per 14-fluid-ounce bottle, which is significantly cheaper than a made-to-order PSL. In addition to the bottled PSLs, Starbucks will also sell pumpkin spice flavored ground coffee in stores.
Dunkin’ Donuts is jumping on the pumpkin spice bandwagon by introducing its newest lineup of fall flavored foods and beverages starting August 28 per CNBC. Along with pumpkin-flavored coffees, donuts and muffins, Dunkin’ Donuts is also introducing a pumpkin cream cheese for its bagels. Beyond pumpkin flavors, Dunkin’ is also adding maple pecan coffees and lattes, as well as a maple sugar bacon breakfast sandwich for a limited time this fall.
- Meal prep is going beyond the traditional dinner table
According to Inc., meal kit delivery services generated nearly $1.5 billion in sales in 2016, and the trend is continuing to grow with projections expected to reach a multi-billion dollar market in the next five years. Many of us have seen or tried a meal prep dinner from the typical Blue Apron, Plated and Hello Fresh, but have you tried these meal prep options?
- Wise Apple – Parents across the country are getting ready to send their kids back to school, which means the return of the stress of packing lunches. To ease the burden on parents, Wise Apple is offering prepackaged lunches made with fresh food and no preservatives. Every meal is prepared on the day it ships and guaranteed to stayed fresh for up to five days in the fridge.
- Terra’s Kitchen – Focusing on healthy options and sustainability, Terra’s Kitchen offers Paleo, gluten-free, low-calorie, vegetarian and vegan options. Ingredients are washed, peeled, and chopped to save time and avoid waste. They’re shipped for free in a sustainable vessel that’s returned and can be reused up to 100 times.
- Daily Harvest – Mixing things up in meal prep is Daily Harvest with its delivery service of frozen smoothies and smoothie bowl ingredients. Customers choose any combination of superfoods developed by a nutritionist and put together by a chef, and they arrive in a proportioned cup for you to pour directly into your blender.
Many of these companies are offering discounts and even free meals to try out the service, so make sure to check their websites for promo codes. These meal prep options will certainly not disappoint this fall.
- Pop-up restaurants are popping up everywhere (no pun intended)
According to a recent Bankrate study, 54 percent of millennials eat out at least three times a week or more, which means there is a huge market in the foodservice industry to attract this audience of diners. One way restaurants are trying to meet this growing demand is with pop-up restaurants, which are often temporary dining spaces offering diners a unique dining experience.
Pop-up restaurants started out as a way for chefs and restauranteurs to test out new creative concepts and raise both awareness and funds for an actual brick-and-mortar business. According to The Wall Street Journal, restaurant owners are facing enormously high costs including rent, wages and other overhead expenses, forcing them to look for a more unconventional, cost effective alternative. These alternative restaurants are less expensive to run than a conventional restaurant and allow for more flexibility and creativity. Here are three examples of the latest pop-ups trend popping up over the country:
- Game of Thrones Pub (Washington, D.C.) – Opened in June and continuing through August, the hottest summer/fall pop-up bar is the Game of Thrones-themed pop-up situated in the Shaw neighborhood. The PUB in Game of Thrones Pub actually stands for Pop Up B Guests are treated to a one-of-a-kind experience featuring scenes from the North, the Red Keep, Mereen, the House of Black and White and the Iron Throne Room. Themed-cocktails even include “What is Dead May Never Die” and “The Lannister.”
- The Spotted Cheetah (New York, NY) – A three-day Cheetos-centric pop-up restaurant in the Tribeca neighborhood, the Spotted Cheetah sold out almost instantly after reservations opened. According to Forbes, the waiting list is said to have 1,000 people anxiously awaiting the chance to taste some of chef Anne Burrell’s Cheetos-inspired menu creations.
- Saved by the Max (Los Angeles, CA) – After tremendous success in Chicago last summer, the Saved by the Bell-themed pop-up restaurant – Saved by the Max – is planning to open another pop-up in LA in the next couple of months. The restaurant will be an almost exact replica of the famed 90’s TV show, Saved by the Bell, and contain several iconic memorabilia from the show. Keep an eye out for location and launch date details as they’re expected to be released this fall.
Be sure to check out these latest trends this fall!