Food Trends 2021

Whole Foods Trends Council predicts these top products, flavors and ingredients to top the charts in 2021. Take a look at this list of the next big things you will be seeing this year.

1. Well-Being Is Served

The lines are blurring between the supplement and grocery aisles, and that trend will accelerate in 2021. That means superfoods, probiotics, broths and sauerkrauts. Suppliers are incorporating functional ingredients like vitamin C, mushrooms and adaptogens to foster a calm headspace and support the immune system. For obvious reasons, people want this pronto.

2. Epic Breakfast Every Day

With more people working from home, the most important meal is getting the attention it deserves, not just on weekends, but every day. There’s a whole new lineup of innovative products tailored to people paying more attention to what they eat in the morning. Think pancakes on weekdays, sous vide egg bites and even “eggs” made from mung beans.

3. Basics on Fire

With more time in the kitchen, home chefs are looking for hot, new takes on pantry staples. Pasta, sauces, spices — the basics will never be boring again. Get ready for reimagined classics like hearts of palm pasta, applewood-smoked salt and “meaty” vegan soup.

4. Coffee Beyond the Mug

The love affair between humans and coffee burns way beyond a brewed pot of joe. That’s right, java is giving a jolt to all kinds of food. You can now get your coffee fix in the form of coffee-flavored bars and granolas, smoothie boosters and booze, even coffee yogurt for those looking to crank up that breakfast parfait.

5. Baby Food, All Grown Up

Thanks to some inspired culinary innovation, parents have never had a wider or richer range of ingredients to choose from. We’re talking portable, on-the-go squeeze pouches full of rhubarb, rosemary, purple carrots and omega-3-rich flaxseeds. Little eaters, big flavors.

6. Upcycled Foods

Peels and stems have come a long way from the compost bin. We’re seeing a huge rise in packaged products that use neglected and underused parts of an ingredient as a path to reducing food waste. Upcycled foods, made from ingredients that would have otherwise been food waste, help to maximize the energy used to produce, transport and prepare that ingredient. Dig in, do good.

7. Oil Change

Slide over, olive oil. There’s a different crop of oils coming for that place in the skillet or salad dressing. At-home chefs are branching out with oils that each add their own unique flavor and properties. Walnut and pumpkin seed oils lend a delicious nutty flavor, while sunflower seed oil is hitting the shelves in a bunch of new products and is versatile enough to use at high temps or in salad dressing.

8. Boozed-Up Booch

We tipped you off about hard seltzer bursting on the scene in 2018, and now alcoholic kombucha is making a strong flex on the beverage aisle. Hard kombucha checks all the boxes: It’s gluten-free, it’s super bubbly and can be filled with live probiotic cultures. Cheers to that!

9. The Mighty Chickpea

You can chickpea anything. Yep, the time has come to think beyond hummus and falafel, and even chickpea pasta. Rich in fiber and plant-based protein, chickpeas are the new cauliflower — popping up in products like chickpea tofu, chickpea flour and even chickpea cereal. That’s garbanzo-bonkers.

10. Fruit and Veggie Jerky

Jerky isn’t just for meat lovers anymore. Now all kinds of produce from mushrooms to jackfruit are being served jerky-style, providing a new, shelf-stable way to enjoy fruits and veggies. ​The produce is dried at the peak freshness to preserve nutrients and yumminess. If that’s not enough, suppliers are literally spicing things up with finishes of chili, salt, ginger and cacao drizzle.

All About Our New Deli

Rasberrys has a new look and deli items to-go. By Sabina Dana Plasse. Sun Valley Property News (SVPN) August Issue, pages 246-247

Always striving to provide their customers with more choices and better service, the Rasberrys, Maeme and Callie, have completed a remodel of their downstairs dining room bistro café adding more space to their inside dining and kitchen to satisfy a demand for their take-out.  With a newly installed deli case and their signature antique cabinets, there is more room for distance dining downstairs and take-out for other Rasberrys' delicacies including bread, desserts, pantry items and whatever the girls feel like making that day. 

The past few months, Elias Construction, along with much time, consultation and genius design ideas from their Aunt Annette Frehling, owner of Sister in Ketchum, the Rasberrys were able to add more square footage to their downstairs dining room by opening up a storage area and moving their tables and seating.   The new space, painted a delicious French blue and sweet red with vintage chandeliers and ornamentations blending beautifully and cohesively with the eclectic art and put “perfectly where it wants to live,” as Aunt Tita says, has truly expanded their signature style. 

“We had a real need for more space,” says Callie.  “Our solution was to work with the space we had.  It was our landlady who offered over her storage space so we could expand and it worked out amazingly.  We are busy every day with diners dining outside and some inside, with proper social distancing and sanitizing of course.  But the deli has been off the charts, which is wonderful, considering all that is happening with the pandemic.”

When you come downstairs, the area has been made larger and is adorned with decor accents and other elements, some that were there before and some newly added.  “Our mirror and bench are the same, but now they look even better,” says Callie. “We write on the glass of the deli case so customers can see what's waiting for them on the other side.  When one offering sells out, we wipe off the writing to get ready for something new.  We think it's one of the best additions we've made since we opened the restaurant.  I can’t say if it ages us or makes us feel younger, but it takes me back to the time when we first moved here and worked at Esta.  It feels like yesterday, but oh how far we have come.”

Providing fresh, organic and local foods, the Rasberrys serve their celebrated Tex-Mex cuisine and all their signature salads, sandwiches, soups and daily specials.  And they never leave you wanting for homemade desserts, cookies, fresh baked goods and breads by their in-house baker Riley Heneghan, along with their house-made spice blends and seasonal goodies.

“We try and keep all the dishes local and organic as much as possible,” says Callie “to ensure the quality, flavor and bounty of what our community has to offer shines in the different dishes we create.”

If you adore Rasberrys, but still want to stay cuddled at home, your favorite items are available to go, including their Tex-Mex dishes, all day Monday through Friday.   You can also purchase local cheese from Picabo Desert Farms, specialty pastries, cakes and desserts by Mary Jones from the Chocolate Moose, farm fresh eggs from Harmony Eggs, crunchy kales, delicate salads and microgreens from Itty Bitty Farms, Squash Blossom Farms and Kasota Hydroponics (with new farmers being added every day), local pastured meats from CD Enterprises and a plethora of in-house made goods from seasonal produce.

The Rasberrys continue to serve the Valley’s needs for catering and are humbled that they have been chosen by their fans as an award-winning catering business.   They are adept at customizing any event, big or small, just for you.   Right now, though, they are most excited about their new deli counter, upstairs and downstairs distance dining and to-go service and hoping everyone who comes to the new space will feel special, just like the girls feel every time a customer walks through their brand-new door,  hand painted by local artist Karen Jacobsen.  

“We want to thank everyone who has allowed, helped and been there cheering us on through this expansion and all of you who have continued to support us, from all of our staff to all of our customers.  We want to be here for the community because they have been here for us.  Without community, there is no Rasberrys,” says Maeme. “Now we are able to do more of what we've always wanted to do.   Help keep everyone healthy, safe and fed.”