16 Food Trends and Lessons from FNCE 2016

cookingmyplate
Written By Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

FNCE is the Food and Nutrition Conference and Exhibition from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This year's conference was held in Boston, MA, and was one of our favorites for being in a great venue, with good attendance, and great exhibits and sessions!

  1. Whole grains are featured heavily and much more so than gluten-free foods, which was not nearly featured as much as in years past.
  2. Pasta is being offered in many varieties.
  3. Walnuts win our "most beautiful booth" award because they had photos and giant walnuts. And who doesn't love walnuts?! The pulses booth was a close second for their visual appeal and for using such an artisticly colored and arranged bin of pulses.
  4. Stevia is being featured in many different brands of zero-calorie sweeteners, even in a Splenda blend.
  5. HelloFresh, a meal delivery program, was the most popular booth and had the longest line of attendees waiting for their bags and info.
  6. People love having their picture taken. Colored hats are fun and these are coupled with a hashtag!
  7. Siggi's yogurt is a new kind of yogurt on the scene from Iceland. They promote great taste with low sugar! Plus, there were fun and cute photo opportunities. Look for Siggi's in Whole Foods.
  8. Spinning wheels were popular traffic catchers.
  9. Light plum juice is new and low in calories with as much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal.
  10. In terms of tone, I noticed that ethics, organic, and sustainability matters were all significant messages this year.
  11. Food-allergy-free is here.
  12. Many favorite restaurants and manufacturers were serving food from their chefs and there were some great low-sodium choices.
  13. There are lots of fruits and veggies!
  14. Butter buds has flavors.
  15. Bars are popular in both Mediterranean and refrigerated varieties. The Mediterranean ones were delicious. And there are many other kinds that are shelf stable for the people who  like to carry a snack or eat on the run.
  16. Goat's milk yogurt is here! We tried it and think it's delicious. It tastes like very rich sour cream. This is available in the Whole Foods Store.

And here are a few of our favorite things...[shopify embed_type="product" shop="nutrition-education-store.myshopify.com" product_handle="tomato-basil-salad-24-square-banner-for-bulletin-boards-and-walls" show="all"][shopify embed_type="product" shop="nutrition-education-store.myshopify.com" product_handle="farmers-market-bounty-24-square-banner-for-bulletin-boards-and-walls" show="all"]See future dates here http://www.eatrightfnce.org/FNCE/content.aspx?id=6442484817Photos shot with iPhone 7.

Print Friendly and PDF
Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Judy’s passion for cooking began with helping her grandmother make raisin oatmeal for breakfast. From there, she earned her first food service job at 15, was accepted to the world-famous Culinary Institute of America at 18 (where she graduated second in her class), and went on to the Fachschule Richemont in Switzerland, where she focused on pastry arts and baking. After a decade in food service for Hyatt Hotels, Judy launched Food and Health Communications to focus on flavor and health. She graduated with Summa Cum Laude distinction from Johnson and Wales University with a BS in Culinary Arts, holds a master’s degree in Food Business from the Culinary Institute of America, two art certificates from UC Berkeley Extension, and runs a food photography & motion studio where her love is creating fun recipes and content.

Judy received The Culinary Institute of America’s Pro Chef II certification, the American Culinary Federation Bronze Medal, Gold Medal, and ACF Chef of the Year. Her enthusiasm for eating nutritiously and deliciously leads her to constantly innovate and use the latest nutritional science and Dietary Guidelines to guide her creativity, from putting new twists on fajitas to adapting Italian brownies to include ingredients like toasted nuts and cooked honey. Judy’s publishing company, Food and Health Communications, is dedicated to her vision that everyone can make food that tastes as good as it is for you.

Previous

Salad Handout
Next

Nutrition News: Redefining "Healthy"