Food market research firm The Hartman Group, Inc. has been looking at food trends for over 20 years, and through their experience they have identified some great food trends that have stuck around, and some others not so much. Here are a few of the “sticky” trends that still offer lots of food and beverage marketing opportunities.

Anytime can be mealtime. Snacks and small meals have created all kinds of opportunities to market essentially the same food items with a packaging or messaging spin to appeal to a variety consumer feeding times.

Street food. The many purveyors of food truck meals-on-wheels have spawned an appetite for lesser known, regional cuisines or fusions of ethnic classics. Marketing ingredients and components of these interesting dishes with DIY recipes can move this food from the street to the home.

Getting fresh and real. There continues to be a cultural shift toward fresh foods and the implied healthfulness of eating fresh. For many consumers, they simply need a nudge in that direction with meal suggestions and recipes that incorporate fresh ingredients, and tout the joys of scratch cooking.

Private label. Consumers have embraced food and beverage private label beyond a cost saving alternative, as PL products have striven to match national brands in quality and variety. There is opportunity for national brands to remind consumers of the value of their brands, and there is an equal opportunity for private label marketers to grow by attracting those consumers who are not national brand loyalists.

LTOs. Nothing generates a food or beverage purchase decision quicker than limited time offers.  McDonald’s works this strategy every time the McRib appears on the menu. This strategy has also become a mainstay in promoting seasonal produce and special seasonal varieties of anything from pumpkin pie to eggnog.