4 key food trends you have to know: Unilever Food Solutions launches Future Menus 2023

“We’re funnelling our energy into the trends that are relevant to the market,” explains Kenneth Cacho, executive chef of UFS Philippines. “Our job is to talk to our operators, get their feedback, and tailor fit our analysis to the market.”

These four trends form the pillars of the Future Menus Philippines 2023 report, capturing the leading consumer demands in the Philippine food industry. The book also includes recipes to support each pillar, guiding readers on how they can use each pillar to strengthen their menus and find inspiration in the kitchen—but they did not stop there. Each recipe in the book has been consumer-tested in the Philippine market, so you’re assured of a winning formula.

“Future Menus is about being able to do things without borders,” Cacho continues, “it’s designed to inspire chefs to play around in the kitchen. The recipe is just a guideline; you’re the painter of your own canvas.” While our F&B landscape grows more diverse day by day, Cacho hopes that Future Menus 2023 will help propel our own Filipino cuisine forward. “It’s about finding ways to promote our own cuisine on a more upscale level,” he declares. “It’s just a matter of time until Filipino cuisine is at the top of the list. These things we’re promoting and sharing can really take it to the next level.”

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Conversely, the Future Menus trend report engages chefs in a thought-provoking conversation: what can the Philippines uniquely contribute to the global foodscape? Cacho attests, “Future Menus also promotes the cultural nuances of each country and highlights how we can make each trend more exciting through our own cuisine.”

To celebrate the release of Future Menus Philippines 2023, UFS held a lively, industry-focused launch at Whitespace Manila on Monday, July 10. Across a series of live cooking demonstrations by both UFS chefs and guest chefs from celebrated restaurants, the Future Menus 2023 launch gave guests a closer look at how chefs use the four pillars to their advantage. In addition, chefs Josh Boutwood (Helm, Savage, Ember, The Test Kitchen), Carlo Miguel (CloudEats), Myke “Tatung” Sarthou (Lore, Azadore), and JP Anglo (Sarsa) joined chef Cacho in an enthralling panel about the relevance of these four trends today. 

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First, a masterclass in implementing modern techniques to create irresistible vegetables. UFS chef Paulo Sia guided the audience through his recipe for kalabasang lugaw with adlai and a caramelised pumpkin base. Inspired by his two favourite Filipino vegetable dishes, tortang talong and lumpiang ubod, chef Sonny Mariano (Tasteless Food Group) utilises the eggplant omelette in place of the traditional lumpia wrapper, creating an exciting new veggie-forward dish. Speaking on the importance of championing vegetables, chef Miguel shares that we must nurture the planet we are leaving behind for generations to come. He discloses: “I’ve made an internal promise to the board of directors [at CloudEats] that 20 per cent of our menus will be plant-based by the end of this year, and moving forward, 1 in 5 new dishes that will be launched will always be plant-based.”

For modernised comfort food, UFS chef Brando Santos proves that comfort food does not have to be monotonous or predictable, recreating crispy fried sugpo by wrapping the prawns in kataifi pastry. Meanwhile, chef Miko Dy (Bistro Lokal) prepared his interpretation of wild mushroom stuffed agnolotti—an approachable yet artistic dish.

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Although crafting low-waste menus may seem like a challenge, chef Anglo asserts that it’s one worth taking on. “Sometimes, it’s extra effort to achieve [nose-to-tail cooking], but it’s also maximum flavour and minimum cost, so you get the best of both worlds.” For his fin-to-tail kinilaw, chef Charles Montañez (Alegria MNL) utilises the tanigue in multiple elements of the dish: the bulk of the kinilaw, leche de tigre, fish skin chicharon, and even an umami-boosting fish bones powder. UFS chef Carlos Aluning, on the other hand, showcased the oft-underutilized eggplant and cauliflower, imparting them with smokey notes in his flavourful ensalada.

Finally, feel-good food is all about using wholesome ingredients and healthier cooking methods. Chef Cacho took to the show kitchen to serve up his sarsyado, poaching a range of seafood in tomato broth which he then served upon a bed of chawanmushi and topped with scallion oil. Cacho even repurposes leftover fried fish for the dish, another creative way to achieve low-wase menus. Finally, chef Dan Puga (Burrow Café, Lula Café) cooked up a hearty ginataang kalabasa.

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The event space also had educational booths dedicated to each pillar, as well as a grazing table where guests could taste some of the dishes from the Future Menus 2023 recipes: tofu mushroom cauli sisig, pulled pork adobo tacos, seafood pancit palabok, and atsarang talong with chicharon bulaklak are just some of the creations included in the report. “We hope that Future Menus 2023 inspires readers to keep cooking good food and get creative in the kitchen,” says Cacho.

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Presented by Unilever Food Solutions, the Future Menus 2023 trend report is now available for digital download through bit.ly/FutureMenus.