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The Trend: Hype Bakes

Good Morning Cafe by Shy FX and Bayy Agency, London, UK

In November we published Hype Bakes, a food and drink microtrend report looking at how three bakeries in New York and London are taking cues from streetwear to create the kind of hype normally reserved for the fashion industry.

The origins of hype bake culture can be traced back to 2020, when Covid-19 forced restaurants to shut down and the humble bakery emerged as an unlikely hero, providing contactless take-out options and small bites of dopamine amid bleak times. Out of work restaurateurs turned their attention to small-batch baking, amateurs became fixated on baking the perfect banana bread and pop-up bakeries became community hubs.

Post-lockdown, new bakery concepts started taking cues from streetwear to reach hype-beast levels of popularity. Driven by the ‘drop’ business model, these local bakehouses have turned into strong brands, whose reputation and baked goods have people waiting for hours for a buttery bite they can flaunt on social media.

As Mitshel Ibrahim, founder of East London's Forno bakery, puts it: ‘Bakeries are the new black.’

The Big Idea: Food Delivery Futures

Serve Robotics, US

In Food Delivery Futures, we unpacked how AI, hyper-personalisation and robots could revolutionise the food delivery industry in years to come.

Start-ups such as KiwiBot and Serve Robotics are already using robots as a solution to last-mile delivery. Often the most time-consuming part of the process due to traffic, parking limitations and environmental regulations, robotic delivery systems could solve the late deliveries problem.

With robots essentially fulfilling the role of the traditional delivery driver, a gap in the market is opening, driven by human connection and a desire for hyper-personal services; the role of the delivery driver has the potential to expand into a new genre of in-house waiter or housekeeper; the new silver service.

At the same time, we are beginning to see the emergence of DietitAIns with apps such as Zoe, Day Two and Youniq using predictive AI to create personalised nutritional advice. This could be applied to food delivery services to provide bespoke meals that meet customers’ specific nutritional or calorific targets.

The Campaign: A sober St Patrick’s Day with Guinness 0.0

Holding out for a Zero by Guinness, Ireland

Guinness launched a St Patrick’s Day campaign that surprisingly asked customers to go easy on the booze. Instead, the Diageo-owned brand encouraged people to try its non-alcoholic beer: Guinness 0.0.

The sober dark beer was made available in cans and micro-draught across the country, with four iconic pub façades in Dublin, Galway, Cork and Belfast rebranding as Guinness 0.0 pubs; O’Donoghue’s in Dublin became 0.0’Donoghue’s, for example. At the Guinness Six Nations rugby finale, customers received a free pint of Guinness 0.0 using an app, and 164 Tesco shops gave loyalty card-holders a free four-pack of Guinness 0.0 for every regular Guinness four-pack bought.

The accompanying video campaign tapped into a recent TikTok trend featuring screaming foam faces on top of everything from a beer to a latte. Guinness adapted the gimmick to its stout glasses with the faces singing along to Bonnie Tyler’s 1984 hit Holding Out for a Hero. As discussed in our Sober Bars report, the brand’s campaign drew inspiration from a growing non-alcoholic movement – especially among the younger generation.

The Viewpoint: How Soil is Inspiring Food Futures

Dish the Dirt by Gabby Morris, Eindhoven

In March 2023, we spoke to designer and lecturer Gabby Morris about her unique dining experience Dish The Dirt and why soil is the key to an ethically interconnected food industry.

Dish The Dirt was a tasting experience offering a six-course multi-sensory menu carefully curated to evoke soil’s smell, taste, sound and feel. Bowls of earth surrounded diners, who were encouraged to touch and sniff the dirt while eating. The food was served on hand-made earth-derived ceramics. One course was even delivered on smashed plates to urge attendees to consider the fractured relationship between humans and soil.

As Morris says: ‘I don’t think enough people are talking about soil nutrition, why we have food grown in soil, why we rear animals on things that aren’t a monoculture, and why organic and regenerative soil produces more nutritious food.’

The Space: Air

Air by eBay, UK

Together with air fryer cookbook author Nathan Anthony, eBay opened the UK’s first ever pop-up air fryer restaurant for one night in London on 27 September 2023.

The eatery, called Air, served a choice of small plates including crispy salt and pepper squid, halloumi fries and sweetcorn ribs. Naturally, all menu items were air fried, using refurbished appliances available on eBay’s marketplace.

The first-of-its-kind restaurant aimed to show diners how versatile cooking with air fryers can be, but also to educate people on the cost and energy savings incurred by buying refurbished kitchen appliances. ‘We want to demonstrate tangible ways shoppers can save money on their energy bills and on the cost of kitchen appliances, through choosing refurbished,’ said Mark Monte-Colombo, head of refurbished technology at eBay UK.

As eBay revealed new data showing that over a third of Britons are unsure how they’ll pay higher energy bills this winter, and 48% seek advice on how to cook more efficiently, the timely launch supports consumers in dealing with the Cost of Living Crisis.

Download the Future Forecast 2024 report

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