Prominent specialty grocers and retail chains are setting ambitious goals in their quests to achieve higher customer sales and repeat business.

Sprouts Farmers Market has announced a variety of exclusive new products that feature artisans who create specialty items that offer convenience and good-for-you ingredients. The natural grocer prioritizes seasonal, innovative, and attribute-driven foods like organic, plant-based, keto, paleo and more. Shoppers rely on Sprouts for introducing them to new and unique products to meet a variety of needs and tastes. 

Each month, shoppers can look for the “New for You” product icons throughout the store to discover these specialty curated items.

Recent examples include Chompie’s Cinnamon Swirl Bread, made by a local Arizona bakery and deli, Chompie’s Kosher Cinnamon Swirl bread, which does not contain high-fructose corn syrup. It can be enjoyed straight from the bag – toasted or turned into a sandwich.  

The “New for You” exclusive products available in December include Eastern Standard Provisions Co. One-Timer Soft Pretzel Bites. These meticulously crafted pretzel bites are made with simple, natural ingredients resulting in a light interior and traditional soft pretzel crust. No artificial colors, preservatives or flavors are added. 

Anticipated food trends

Whole Foods Market’s Trends Council just unveiled their top 10 anticipated food trends for 2024 in the retailer’s ninth-annual Trends predictions report. Caffeine with added benefits, going back to basics in the plant-based category, complex heat from global peppers, and water conservation and stewardship are all among the food trends expected to rise in popularity across the industry in the next year.

Each year, the Trends Council – a collective of more than 50 Whole Foods Market team members, including foragers, buyers and culinary experts – compile trend predictions based on decades of experience and expertise in product sourcing and studying consumer preferences, as well as in-depth workshopping with emerging and existing brands.

“Our annual food trends predictions list is a way for us to pull back the curtain for customers and share insight into what our buyers and culinary experts are keeping on their radar for the upcoming year,” said Cathy Strange, ambassador of food culture for Whole Foods Market and member of the Trends Council. “From specific product ingredients and flavor trends, to growing movements in the food industry, we can’t wait to see these trends gain momentum in the year ahead.”

Here are Whole Foods Market’s food trend predictions for 2024 that include bakery components:

Put the “Plant” Back in “Plant-Based”

The OGs of plant-based cuisine are making a comeback, putting the “veggie” back in your veggie burger and shrinking labels all over the plant-based category. We’re seeing new and emerging protein-forward products with mushrooms, walnuts, tempeh and legumes in place of complex meat alternatives. Even plant-based milk alternatives are participating, with some brands simplifying labels to just two ingredients – perfect for the vegetarian purist.

Use the Whole Cacao

Utilizing by-products like cacao pulp has been practiced in other countries for centuries, and now brands like Blue Stripes are spotlighting the whole cacao with their craveable products for even more consumers. At EARTH University in Costa Rica, where student researchers are tackling some of the biggest systemic environmental issues, the typically discarded cacao pulp is being made into jellies and jams. The emergence of cacao fruit powders in 2023 also presents an opportunity for brands seeking a new sugar alternative without compromising on sweet, ambrosial flavor.

Buckle Up for Buckwheat

Gaining popularity as a cover crop to support soil health, buckwheat is a superfood seed containing protein, carbs and fiber. Plus, it’s naturally gluten free. You may have seen it in the form of soba noodles, but with more brands on a mission to improve agriculture for your favorite products, you may see buckwheat in everything from plant-based milk alternatives to crackers and granola.

Complex Heat

Complex heat continues its evolution with global peppers taking off in every aisle — and the trend is only getting hotter. Specialty varieties like Scorpion Peppers, Guajillo or Hungarian Goathorn Peppers are found fresh, whole, ground or pickled, and a new wave of botana sauces and chili oils are popping up in condiment aisles nationwide. Pepper-infused drinks are going beyond kombuchas, cold-pressed juices and smoothies, with ready-to-drink beverages like canned tepache filling up the fridge with a refreshing kick. Even Tajín is expanding from candies and cocktails to spicing up grocery store sushi, desserts and more.

Little Luxuries

TikTok creators have brought “Little Treat Culture” into the zeitgeist, and we’re on board. We know firsthand the power of a treat, like an impulse macaron buy or a fizzy, functional and flavor-forward bev. Brands are getting in on the trend by considering both cost and format — like individual serving packages that add joy without breaking a budget, and outlets like The Kitchn regularly dish out lists of “Little Luxuries” found for $10 or less. Whether it’s a daily ritual like having a milk tea on your commute home or a spontaneous reward like a bath bomb in your grocery cart, get ready to make room for those little luxuries.

Bold commitments

Walmart U.S. has set bold commitments to achieve 100% recyclable, reusable, or industrially compostable packaging for private brand packaging by 2025, the current rate is at 58%. The retailer also aims to label 100% of that packaging with recycling instructions to educate customers and eliminate non-recyclable packaging by the same time frame. 

Additionally, Walmart just launched Community Recycling Units at select Walmart and Sam’s Club locations that recycle items that most curbside recycling programs don't accept – such as plastic food wrappers.

Walmart aims to break the link between consumption and waste, moving toward a more circular economy where materials stay in use instead of being thrown out at the end of their purpose. 

“We have set a goal to achieve zero waste in own operations in the U.S. and Canada, by 2025, and we’re working with suppliers to use less packaging, design for recyclability and improve waste reduction systems,” Walmart executives report.

Other retailers are engaging in widespread reimagination of the retail process to better reflect what today’s consumers demand.

The new Schnucks Fresh store in Oak Grove Village, Missouri, opened to customers on Oct. 25 with a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony. The new 23,000-square-foot store features a heavy focus on fresh departments such as deli and bakery.

The Oak Grove Village location will mark the company’s second store to operate under the Schnucks Fresh banner.

“We look forward to continuing our mission to nourish people’s lives and to show area customers what we can offer them when building a store from the ground up,” said Schnucks chairman and chief executive officer Todd Schnuck. “Schnucks Fresh will be a store where customers will find an extensive selection of the same fresh products for which Schnucks is known throughout the Midwest.”

Award-winning design

Reimagining “the Gelson’s experience” for its 28th full-service store, this leading Southern California grocery brand has officially launched its first location in West Los Angeles. Located at 12121 West Olympic Boulevard on the corner of Bundy Drive, it serves as the anchor of West Edge, a mixed-use residential/office/retail development currently under construction.

Designed by the award-winning firm Shook Kelley, which has brought its imagination to other new and renovated Gelson’s stores, the West L.A. property is a spacious 33,000 square feet of modern design and community-tailored amenities. From its polished concrete floors to hanging pendant lights throughout, the store is accented with geometric metal shapes, light wood slats and an abundance of playful wall art. The color palette is based on the Gelson’s logo with a spectrum of dark caramel, mahogany, and taupe.

A sleek wine & sushi/tapas bar serves as a communal hub, visually distinguished by a quartz counter and contemporary furniture as well as an outdoor patio. Along with a Wolfgang Puck Express build-your-own pizza bar and a café & bakery with adjacent seating, Gelson’s West L.A. features serviced deli, meat/seafood, produce cutting/juicing, and floral sections, in addition to a self-serve salad bar, hot food and soup bar, poke bar, and dedicated wine and cheese section.

“The demand has long existed for Gelson’s in West L.A., and we are excited to be the grocery anchor in this new mixed-use development,” said Gelson’s president and chief executive officer John Bagan. “We have carefully grown the Gelson’s brand for more than seven decades. This is a long-awaited milestone for us which we look forward to celebrating with the local community.”