When It Comes To 2020 Food Trends, Kroger Gives Us The Unvarnished Truth
There have been plenty of assumptions about what Americans were eating this year based on what's been posted to Instagram, but in case you've forgotten, Instagram is a platform of lies. No one posts pictures of themselves eating fistfuls of ice cream because they don't want to wash a bowl. No one livestreams their doomscroll-induced 3 a.m. potato chip sessions. No one is actually making "hot chocolate charcuterie boards" or whatever twee garbage the other year-end lists might say. But the truth is out there, and Kroger—America's largest grocery retailer—literally has the receipts. Behold, the real top ten trending foods of 2020, based on year-over-year sales growth:
- Zero-Calorie Soft Drinks
- Four-Cheese Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese
- Flavored Potato Chips (Hot & Spicy, Regional Flavors & Meal-Inspired Varieties)
- Sauvignon Blanc Wine
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Fresh Burger Patties
- Artisan Breads & Restaurant-Style Buns
- Bulk Individual Coffee Pods (96-Count)
- Party-Size Bags of Variety Chocolate
- Black Forest Ham
That's right, folks, 2020 was not the year of faux meat or superfoods—it was all about shredded cheese, heavy cream, and carbs. Because this was a year in which climate change literally set the world on fire, it's worth pointing out that coffee pods are an unnecessary single-use plastic product that can harm marine life. Instead, why not skip your morning Keurig and stick to a fine breakfast of Black Forest ham, supermarket Sauvignon Blanc, and tiny chocolate bars? Come to think of it, these food trends make a hell of a lot more sense than charcuterie chalets and Baby Yoda pancake cereal.