No…it’s not 2024 yet when all the trends for the new year are shared. Instead this article was prompted by the trends shared by Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru and includes other related trend-related articles. You may not agree with all of Lempert’s retail dietitian/grocer focused trends but his ideas and data will certainly highlight our changing world. Enjoy!

Snack & sweet trends from the May 2024 Expo include offering different package sizes https://thetakeout.com/top-5-candy-snack-trends-coming-2024-sweets-snacks-expo-1850468646 .

Fast food restaurants: a drop in dining-in and more tech https://www.vox.com/food/23711010/fast-food-dining-delivery-automation.

Social media trends/datapoints: we get food content about 7 times/day and on average, we follow 10 food-related SM accounts. https://swnsdigital.com/us/2023/04/3-in-4-americans-fear-missing-out-on-the-latest-food-trends/.

Latin American snack trends include functionality https://www.bakingbusiness.com/articles/58689-meal-snackification-functional-and-indulgent-offerings-top-latin-american-snack-trends .

As food-as-medicine grows, another entrant is Uber Health which will deliver groceries and OTC items to patients of provider networks https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/uber-health-grocery-otc-item-delivery/652737/ ;

and Fresh Connect expands prepaid food prescription grocery network https://www.grocerydive.com/news/fresh-connects-prepaid-food-prescription-network-10000-grocery-stores/652901/ .

Mid-year trends from Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru…

**Consumer culture: the gap between consumer perception of corporate profits and actual profits; the gap between perceived inflation and actual inflation – both gaps are big https://www.supermarketguru.com/articles/2023-issues-predictions-trend-forecast-for-food-consumer-culture/ .

**What Gen Z is all about – online (60% of those on TikTok are Gen Zers, into food trends yet seeking info they can trust about sustainability, local and more https://www.supermarketguru.com/articles/2023-issues-predictions-trend-forecast-for-food-gen-z/ .

**Of local, 15-minute cities and food forests in cities? https://www.supermarketguru.com/articles/2023-issues-predictions-trend-forecast-for-food-the-15-minute-city/ .

**Of technology includes AI and other technology https://www.supermar ketguru.com/articles/2023-issues-predictions-trend-forecast-for-food-retail-technologies-in-grocery/ .Customized gut-friendly Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation URL mentioned in the article https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/gutfriendlyrecipes .

**Of climate change and water concerns https://www.supermarketguru.com/articles/2023-issues-predictions-trend-forecast-for-food-climate-change/ .

**The FDA (restructuring), FTC (policing false social media claims) and more https://www.supermarketguru.com/articles/2023-issues-predictions-trend-forecast-for-food-the-fda-ftc-and-food-legislation/ .

**The future of grocery retail including the Kroger-Albertsons merger and dynamic pricing https://www.supermarketguru.com/articles/2023-issues-predictions-trend-forecast-for-food-retails-iffy-future/.

There’s a 58 minute webinar Lempert presented recently about these trends https://vimeo.com/cpgcatnet/review/819529527/9bb85c5534; on June 15th he presented a more interactive event around these trends that you might find helpful – to be posted in about a week at the RDBA site https://www.retaildietitians.com/ .

And just for fun…a look back at food trends…Top food trends – 1920s through 2020s https://www.tastingtable.com/1294647/top-food-trends-every-decade-last-hundred-years/ .