Using the Center for Culinary Development’s (CCD) signature Trend Mapping® technique, a validated method identifying which culinary trends are “gaining traction” and which are simply flashes in the pan, each report concentrates on a theme, or trend, that is affecting the food industry, and then looks at the emerging and established ingredients, cooking styles and products along the Trend Map® that are driving this theme.

What is Trend Mapping®?

The five Trend Mapping® stages from the Center for Culinary Development are identified below:

Stage 1 The ingredient, dish and/or cooking technique appears at upscale dining establishments, ethnic and popular independent restaurants blessed with creative chefs and diners with adventurous palates.

Stage 2 The item is featured in specialty consumer-oriented food channels such as Gourmet, and Bon Appétit magazines, The Food Network plus retail stores such as Sur la Table that target culinary professionals and serious home chefs.

Stage 3 The item begins to appear in mainstream chain restaurants – Applebee’s or Chili’s – as well as retail stores such as Williams-Sonoma that target recreational cooks.

Stage 4 The women’s magazines and family-oriented publications – Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens – pick up the buzz.

Stage 5 Finally, the trend makes its way to quick service restaurant menus and are either starting to appear or are having an increased presence on grocery store shelves.

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Our Current Issue:

Snack Foods Culinary Trend Mapping Report:, Vol. 5, No. 6

Time-crunched Americans are snacking more than ever, and in a serious way. In lieu of more traditional meals, consumers are turning to snacks as meal stand-ins — oatmeal bars and bottled smoothies in the car for breakfast; a container of yogurt and a handful of nuts at the desk for lunch; a fast-food snack wrap and soda for dinner.

A New Focus:

Emerging snacks are combining health and indulgence, with a new focus on ingredient quality, a kind of “premiumization” trend affecting snacks across categories. This new quality trend stems in part from the fact that many snacks are initially developed in restaurants.

Snack Foods Culinary Trend Mapping Report:, Vol. 5, No. 6 has mapped some ways the new snacking dynamics are playing out along the Trend Map®:

Stage 1

Goodbye down-home, hello upscale: Swanky Pork Rinds are all the rage in high-end bars and restaurants.

Stage 2

It isn’t just an add-on to that Cineplex soda anymore — Gastro Popcorn is transforming popcorn with some very grown-up flavor profiles.

Care for some amino acids with that chip? Seaweed Snacks offer a globally inspired taste of health and beauty.

Why settle for plain potato when you can crunch the rainbow? Alternative Chips offer a delicious palate of options.

Stage 3

Crispy Veggies and Legumes combine classic crunch with a punch of vitamins and fiber — for many snackers, an irresistible combo.

Stage 4

Made with healthful ingredients like brown rice and soybeans, Whole-Nutrition Sweets promise nutrition and indulgence.

Stage 5

Lavished with flavor profiles from around the world, Nuts Gone Global transform the familiar via striking new personalities.

With extensive profiles of each ingredient/food emerging within the five stages of the trend map, Snack Foods Culinary Trend Mapping Report provides you with the most up-to-date, insider’s look at what’s hot and what’s not in the world of food. Top food marketers rely on trend mapping to keep them on the pulse of what’s happening and what’s about to happen as far as consumer tastes are concerned.

Learn more about Snack Foods Culinary Trend Mapping Report:, Vol. 5, No. 6>