SAN FRANCISCO โ Yelp, the restaurant review hub, is looking back at 2023 to predict what trends may gain traction in 2024. Yelp users see cocktails, martinis, caviar, โgirl dinners,โ smoothies, and cold ramen noodles as all having potential.
Consumers seeking a little luxury in their food experiences enjoyed caviar in 2023. The delicacy may be enjoyed traditionally with blinis, served off-menu as a caviar bump, or atop a potato chip, Yelp said. Searches for โcaviarโ were up 31%, according to the study.
โGirl dinner,โ a food grazing trend where women do not want to cook a full meal and created by TikTok influencer Olivia Maher, was popular among snacking trends this year. Girl dinner garnered searches like โnoshing,โ which was up 140%. However, next year women may be going to dinner together eating at mezze-serving restaurants, according to Yelp.
Colorful fruit and vegetable smoothie trends had consumers searching for terms like โErewhon,โ which was up 178%. In addition, the โHailey Bieber Smoothieโ was up 408% in searches. The โHailey Bieber Smoothieโ includes almond milk, strawberries, vanilla collagen, hyaluronic acid, coconut cream, sea moss gel, avocado, maple syrup, dates, and strawberry glaze. Other popular smoothie flavors included pumpkin pie latte, and peanut butter with oat and coconut milk.
โTsukemen,โ which are cold ramen noodles made for dipping in a broth with heat, had searches up 30% this year.
Coffee had its moment to shine this year as well, but in the form of a coffee cocktail. The carajillo is a spiked, two-ingredient coffee drink, according to Yelp. Searches for โcarajillosโ were up 118% this year.
Last year, a popular cocktail Aperol Spritz was in the spotlight as a refreshing, bubbly cocktail for the summer season. This year, Hugo Spritz was in the limelight. Searches for โlight, low-alcohol cocktail made with elderflower cordial or syrup and topped with Prosecco and soda waterโ were up 1,121% in 2023. Searches for โelderflower-infused cocktailsโ also were up 323%, signaling the popular trend may be a year-round alcoholic beverage.
Another alcoholic beverage trend was martinis. Searches included โmatcha martiniโ (up 1,323%), โtomato-tiniโ (up 131%), โtruffle martiniโ (up 92%), and โespresso martiniโ (up 56%). Martinis may continue into 2024 as alcoholic beverage trends, Yelp said.
In 2022, Yelp forecast mocktails, pickle flavors, dirty sodas and oxtail would all trend in 2023.
