Breathing onto your smartphone to determine whether you have a healthy diet and the ability to virtually try before you buy are two predictions for the future of food delivery.
A report commissioned by Deliveroo found consumers should expect personal devices to be enabled with “BreathTech”. It would provide “a deep level of insight” into foods that would give you optimal health and well-being.
The “Snack to the Future” report looked at how innovation in food, science and technology could look by 2040. It also predicted “hyper-personalised” diets, “fully bespoke to your individual nutritional needs”, will be powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
It suggests a life-long AI “buddy” will help automate and tailor what you are eating based on preferences and needs at any given time. Predicted trends include “edible beauty” products such as anti-ageing ice cream and the chance to dine from hormone-balancing and dopamine-driving menus.
Virtual reality dinner parties will allow consumers to create their dream dinner parties, which could involve eating with celebrities, royals and late loved ones at a favourite holiday destination, or recreating food moments from a film scene, the report predicts.
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Virtual and augmented reality could further be used to trick consumers who are not keen on eating vegetables or other healthy food into thinking they are eating chocolate or sweets instead. But counter to this, experts suggest “restorative restaurants” will move towards removing outside distractions by banning personal devices, alongside a rise in silent dining and only offering tables for one to encourage mindful eating.
Meanwhile, alternative staples to corn or maize such as amaranth, fonio, sorghum, teff, khorasan, einkorn and emmer are all predicted to be mainstream in 2040. And an increasing demand for alcohol alternatives could see a rise in the popularity of “wine” cordials, which mimic the taste and flavour profile of real wine.
Deliveroo chief executive Will Shu said: “As we look towards the next decade and beyond, Deliveroo will continue to create exciting new innovations in food delivery, build new and better consumer experiences and take Deliveroo beyond functionality and convenience to really capture the passion and emotion of food.”