Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 1/16/15

Darren Tristano, an executive vice president at the food industry research firm Technomic. asked six experts to each identify their one big food prediction for 2015.  Of the six responses he received, two involved meat.

Tristano published the results of his informal survey in his blog.

More fat
Kara Nielsen, culinary director of the Boulder, Colo.-based Sterling-Rice Group, told Tristano that 2015 could be known as the year that more and more Americans get over their animal fat phobia.

Sales of real butter are at a 40-year high; cultured butter is surging in popularity; and high-end burger joints, like Shake Shack, celebrate fat as an essential part of a better burger. She also pointed to a San Francisco restaurant selling a wildly popular chicken fat rice dish.

Nielsen expects more high-fat dairy products, more fat-celebrating meat purveyors, and more higher fat Asian foods to hit restaurant menus and grocery store shelves in 2015.

Along with the quest for flavor, Nielson noted the impact of books like Nina Teicholz’s “The Big Fat Surprise” making the argument that natural fat is an essential part of a healthy diet.

Local meat
The other meat-related trend Tristano identified for 2015 will be local meat.

He predicted Californians will see more menus boasting of grass-fed beef from Niman Ranch. Chicagoans will likely see more free-range bacon from Slagel Farm. Diners in the District of Columbia will see more chicken sandwiches from Polyface Farms, Tristano said.

“In short, get ready for more restaurants to celebrate the local origins of their chicken, beef, or pork just as zealously as their local Brandywine tomatoes or radicchio,” Tristano predicted.

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