Naughty and nice treat trends

Here are a few of the clean (and not so clean) living treats set to trend in 2019.

Free-from foods

The vegan industry is expected to be worth 5 billion by 2020. We are seeing a big trend towards vegan and other “free from” (free from dairy, sugar, carbs, meat, etc) dining experiences. In particular, vegan foodie travel and holiday options is a trend to watch.

©Nataliya Arzamasova via 123RF

The Beet Retreat and Bed and Broccoli, for example, are both Australian vegan bed and breakfast that also offers cooking and retreat programmes for hungry, health-conscious travellers. Then there was also the world’s first vegan cruise, which set sail around Europe in September 2018. (VeganSA has a list of South African vegan-friendly hotels, if you are interested in exploring the trend here at home.)

Free from guilt foods

That said, for every trend, there is an equal and opposite trend too: We are also seeing a “carb revival” counter trend where artisan bakers and pasta-makers are re-thinking the value of good old fashioned carbs for the contemporary consumer.

The carb-revival trend is backed up with research from the Lancet that found diets that are too low in carbohydrates are just as risky to your health as diets too high in them. They recommend carbs should make up 50% of your daily calorie intake. (Yes, we know, nutritionists flip-flop so often on what's in and whats out food-wise, that keeping up with nutritional trends is becoming as difficult as keeping up with seasonal fashion trends!).

Locally, if you are looking for some free-from-guilt food, look at Babette’s Bread, a small artisan bakery and coffee shop famous for its own secret sourdough starter.

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Teetotalism and dry bars

The UK’s Office for National Statistics revealed that there has been a “significant” fall in alcohol consumption amongst the 16-24 age group over the last ten years. The percentage of young people who do not drink any alcohol at all has risen by 32%, and this trend is growing world-wide.

Binge-drinking is out, good clean fun is in. In support of the teetotalism trend, dry-bars, which serve high-end virgin cocktails for adult clientele, and juice crawls, which are like pub-crawls without the booze, are popping up all over the world. Dry Bar in Scotland, and Redemption in London are two examples of the dry-bar trend.

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Marijuana for moms

At the same time as alcohol is on its way out, cannabis is on its way in.

Weed became legal for personal use in South Africa in 2018, following a global trend towards de-regulation of the herb. Now, as weed usage becomes socially acceptable, we have spotted a trend towards moms using marijuana and its various incarnations to deal with everything from the daily aches and stresses of motherhood, to postpartum depression and anxiety, to menstrual cramps.

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Mother and Clone, for example is a cannabis company that specialises in safe sublingual cannabis sprays designed especially for stressed-out moms who need a little “me time”. We are yet to see if the trend will catch on in conservative South Africa.