Top 5 Food Trends at AOCF 2025
The Art of Catering Food remains a platform for showcasing the latest trends and bringing visionary chefs together. Throughout the two-day conference, our creative chefs introduced attendees to new ingredients, and fresh ideas for menus, recipes, and stations. The culinary inspiration was limitless! Using information provided by Catersource, we compiled a selection of some trends presented at AOCF that are currently shaping the catering landscape.
1. Mini Desserts
The trend toward mini desserts has been growing, as noted by Spuntino Catering and Chef Toni Roberts, the pastry chef at The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago - driven by the popularity of grazing tables and personalized culinary experiences. Bite-sized treats are becoming more popular as they offer variety and cater to different guest preferences without overwhelming portions.
Chef Nettie Frank walked attendees through how to repurpose leftover desserts into new bite-sized offerings during her session Let Them Eat Cake: 10 New Sweet & Savory Dessert Ideas. Her Cake Fries are also a great example of incorporating sustainable practices into every aspect of your catering to reduce food waste.
2. Saucy Green
As consumers gravitate towards natural, clean products and plant-forward movements, classic herbs and whole-ingredient green sauces are gaining popularity in diverse applications. Unique pestos, chimichurri, salsa verde, and many more green herbaceous sauces are adding visual appeal and vibrant flavor to menus nationwide.
Jenny Bast (Catering Creations) and Jonadel Tarrayo (Daniel et Daniel) sampled a Pickled Jalapeno Chimichurri sauce during their session Creating Culinary Flavor Bombs in Bulk, which explored a variety of techniques and examples of how flavor bombs (or little bursts of flavor) are used in their kitchens, months after they have been created.
3. Plant-Based BBQ
Sustainability continues to thrive, with zero-waste menus that use every part of an ingredient, from root-to-stem cooking to repurposing food scraps. Chefs are also focusing on sustainable sourcing through local farms, while plant-based and alternative proteins are gaining popularity.
Jeffrey Schlissel (The Bacon Cartel) unveiled simple yet powerful techniques to elevate plant-based dishes, transforming them into a symphony of flavors that will delight your guests' palates during Mastering Legume-Cuterie: Plant-based BBQ with Higher ROI.
His plant-based charcuterie board (right) featured: smoked fennel, smoked plums, smoked hearts of palm with steak seasoning, cashew-based black garlic cheese (gouda), kimchi Brussel sprouts, Mexican-rubbed butternut squash, artichokes, broccoli stocks, peppers, coffee-rubbed carrots, and smoked dehydrated chickpeas.
4. Fermented / Pickled Foods
There has been an explosion of awareness, interest, and demand for fermented foods. These items are zesty, spicy and flavorful, and feature healthful benefits, are good for gut health, reducing inflammation, and bolstering the immune system. Fermentation is also a great medium for reducing food waste—it lets you create new and exciting flavors out of things that are normally seen as scrap or waste.
An assortment of uniquely pickled items was sampled during Pickle Me This: Big Flavors in Your Culinary Arsenal, From Fermentation to Vinegar Classics, by Paul Buchanan (Primal Alchemy Catering) and Dave MacLennan (Even Keel Fish Shack).
5. Vegan Delights
Plant-based cuisine continues to evolve in 2025, where vegetables are not just side dishes but the main attraction, prepared with the same care and creativity traditionally reserved for meat-based dishes. Plant-based dishes, including root vegetables, are being used creatively in fine dining and taken to new heights of sophistication and flavor.
AJ Harris's (Dish Food & Events) Carrot Wellington CATIE award-winning dish is a creative twist on the traditional beef wellington, showcasing the growing trend of reimagining classic meat-based dishes with plant-based ingredients. This dish was served during Monday's Lunch & Learn and features a Parsnip Purée, Chestnut Cream, Dill Oil, Lemon, Red Mustard Frills, and Red Vein Sorrel.
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Happy cooking!