The past year has been an eventful one, right? We thought football was coming home in this year’s World Cup, the Royal Wedding was the topic of many conversations and GDPR seemed to be the only subject of many emails we were getting for a while.

But one area that will always see some weird and wonderful trends is the world of food.

The buzzwords on the tips of our tongues have spanned from “flexitarian” to “gut health” and have led the wave of the conscious food consumer. Veganism has led the forefront of the 2018 food scene with London seeing the arrival of the Beyond Burger, Brick Lane’s Vegan Nights market and one of Google’s most popular search terms being “Vegan food near me”.

But what does 2019 have in store for all of us foodies?

Diets

Whilst questionable brands such as Weight Watchers and Atkins still exist, we’re talking about lifestyle diets that people follow in general. Veganism is obviously shaking up the world of food with more restaurants now offering vegan options but what about other diets? The Paleo diet, based on foods eaten in the prehistoric Paleolithic era, is set to shake things up over the coming year. Think lean meats, fish, fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts - basically all the things our ancestors would have hunted and gathered.

Even more so, the Pegan diet is set to be the next major diet on everyone’s lips and is a mixture of Paleo and Vegan diets. Strange sounding, we know but stick with us here.

The two diets are based on nourishing, whole foods so it’s easy to see the similarities they share in relation to their focuses on grains, pulses and beans. You may be thinking how you can mix a diet of no animal products with one that endorses meat and fish. Well being a Pegan involves using meat as more of a condiment or an after-thought. Think of meat as a side dish and fill your plate with multiple vegetable-based dishes instead. Pegan eating, here we come.

Food Innovation

There doesn’t seem to be anything that food can’t do these days and the boundaries are always being pushed so it’s safe to say that 2019 will see the arrival of some new, quirky items on our shelves.

Get ready to gorge on vegan jerky made from smoked soy protein as a cheeky treat or perhaps, snack on a nutritional CBD bar? CBD has definitely had its moment this year and with high street stores now stocking this popular oil, it was only a matter of time before we started seeing food items with it too. Other notable snacks that could be making an appearance are … eggs. It may sound bizarre but food outlets and supermarkets are set to look for innovative new ways of getting us eating more of this protein-rich breakfast food in a more snack-like form. Omelette bar on the go for anyone?

Ice cream will also be getting a whole lot more cool with the arrival of avocado ice cream. Of course, Wholefoods are paving the way for this one State-side but over here, we can already find it in the form of Fravocado. Move over tubs of Chunky Monkey and make way for a tub of the good green stuff.

In need of more plant-based dessert ideas? Aquafaba is the answer. You’ll be forgiven for not knowing about this ingredient but with Great British Bake Off having its first ever Vegan week this year, came the revelation that you can make vegan meringue from chickpea water. You read that correctly. We’ve been chucking out the next innovation in vegan baking and 2019 is about to be full of it. Mixologists and bartenders are predicted to include it in cocktails too so look out for Aquafaba Sours coming to a bar near you.

Rumours also have it that technology will be taking over the food world in big ways next year. 3D food printing will revolutionise eating for the elderly as soft purees will be printed out in their original shapes and form. Don’t worry, we’re trying to still get our heads round it as well. As well as this, AI is obviously something that is growing in popularity; we’re seeing it improve the live music scene, our mobile technology and can even implement it at home these days. Soon it will also be helping us make more informed and healthy food decisions by bringing the ability to generate read-outs of dishes, calorie intake and nutritional values. AI inventions are also cropping up in the US so who knows what will make its way across the pond - perhaps Flippy, the AI burger flipper? It learns about cooking times, adjusts them accordingly and is already used in outlets over in the USA.

Back To Basics

In a world of food tech and new products being launched nearly everyday, it seems as though everyone will be taking a step back to basics in the new year. Dust off your countertops, roll up your sleeves and stock up on all the flours because it’s looking like baking fresh bread is most certainly on the menu. Bread Ahead Bakery & Baking School made an appearance on The Apprentice this year and has since seen a boom in its bakery courses, so why not book onto one yourself for the new year. Life is set to be a whole lot simpler and because we all love an artisanal touch, jam is looking to make a homemade appearance for 2019 also. Maybe it’s time to ditch the Sunday hangover in favour for preparing the week’s bakes instead.

The London Neighbourhood We Should All Be Visiting In 2019

With each year comes a newfound revelation on an area of London that is usually overlooked by everyone who doesn’t already live there. In recent times, it’s been Peckham, Tooting and Walthamstow. For 2019? Well we predict that Leyton and Leytonstone is the East London area worth checking out. With co-working spaces sprouting up, it’ll be a short time till everyone starts flocking there on their wistful weekend afternoons. This area of East London is brimming with independent business and a fine selection of pubs for weekend enjoyment. Pick up fresh baked goods from local social enterprise The Wild Goose Bakery or grab a locally roasted coffee from Perky Blenders. If you’re a lover of Scottish street food, you’ll love the inventive haggis toastie creations at Deeney’s Cafe. Fancy a pint? The pub choices are almost endless but foodie-focused pubs such as The Birds are doing great things with a completely vegan junk food menu. They also have a very tempting £3 pint deal during the week so safe to say, we’ll see you there?

What trends do you think will pop up in 2019? We’d love to hear your thoughts using #djvldn so carry on the conversation over on Twitter and Instagram.