Purple vegetables predicted to be a hot food trend next year - Telegraph

Purple vegetables predicted to be a hot food trend next year

Health-consumers will be drawn to all shades of purple when it comes to what’s on their plate, amid a move away from unhealthy beige food and a trend for colourful meals, it said CREDIT: TRINETTE REED

Katie Morley, consumer affairs editor

27 DECEMBER 2017 • 6:35PM

Shoppers will fill their trolleys with purple vegetables next year according to Waitrose, as healthy shoppers attempt to "eat the rainbow".

Purple versions of carrots, sweet potatoes, figs, cabbage and aubergines are among the vegetables which will be flying off the shelves in 2018, according to the supermarket's top 10 trend predictions.

Health-consumers will be drawn to all shades of purple when it comes to what’s on their plate, amid a move away from unhealthy beige food and a trend for colourful meals, it said.

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According to health organisations including the British Heart Foundation, aiming to eat foods which are naturally the colours of the rainbow on a plate is good for health as it ensures a wide range of nutrients in food.

It also comes as purple is on-trend, with a shade called "Ultra Violet" recently being voted Pantone's Colour of the Year for 2018.

Purple aubergines are growing in popularity CREDIT: MARTIN POPE

Waitrose's head of fresh produce, Nicola Waller, said: "Social media has changed our relationship with food - we're sharing pictures of our dishes more than ever before and as a result our shoppers are looking to add vibrancy to their plate.

"Purple food does just that. We've seen sales rise as a result, for example our Purple Chantenay Carrots were a hit at Christmas with sales up 15 per cent on last year, sales of Purple Sweet Potato were up 70 per cent this winter and blueberries have become Britain's favourite berry, outselling strawberries.

"Due to demand we're also introducing a number of new purple products to our shelves next year, including more Purple Potatoes, which we expect to sell around 90 tonnes of next year."

Last year Waitrose's Food and Drink report discovered that one in four (39 per cent) of people take greater care over how they present food on their plate than they did five years ago. This is because a good-looking plate of food can make eating more pleasurable, it said.

Also on Waitrose's top 10 food and drink trend list for 2018 was Indian street food, Japanese "dude food", plant proteins like pulses and grains and Aperitifs, which it said are increasingly popular among young people.