Food Focus: June Trends

Chicory’s network of 5.4+ million recipes confirms that June cooking is often a transitional period between spring and summer. At this time, consumers begin shifting from lighter spring fare to classic summer dishes, making this month’s trends a mashup of two seasons.

As a result, while consumers engage with healthy food and beverage recipes, they also search for the delicious (and sometimes indulgent) classic summer recipes like pasta salad and easy-to-serve casseroles. And as usual, we see seasonal produce return in sweet treats and appetizers. 

Here, we delve into the recurring trends from our network that come back year after year in June, and explore the new trends emerging that we may see in 2021.

Spring Celebrations and Ingredients

Spring is always marked by a host of family-oriented celebrations, like Father’s Day and graduation, as well as both outdoor and indoor spring entertaining and hosting opportunities. According to recipe traffic within Chicory’s network, the two largest spikes in June 2019 were on June 16th and 23rd. During the height of COVID, we noticed a trend of consumers switching up regular routines and celebrating occasions on weekdays instead of weekends, taking advantage of remote work schedules.

The two weekday spikes may indicate that consumers celebrated graduations (early to mid-June) and Father’s Day (June 21st) in this way, not on weekends when they typically would have been free, but on weekdays with more flexibility. 

Many families have their own varied traditions for celebrating with food, so we’ve broken down the top 250 recipes in our network for June 2020 by recipe category.

Spring celebrations and entertaining give consumers the opportunity to whip up quick cold appetizers like watermelon feta salad and switch on the oven for easier, hands-off approaches using recipes like BBQ oven-baked ribs. “Shortcut” ingredients like frozen vegetables and meats, jarred sauces and canned veggies and fruits are always popular around this time. Grilled recipes are also beginning to surface as the height of grilling season in July approaches.

And as usual, the bulk of the recipes that consumers used in June were entrees or mains (like chicken alfredo and seafood boils), and appetizers and snacks (like potato salad and garlic bread). Within these categories, we also see scale for classic picnic and outdoor foods like light salads and vegetable-based dishes.

During this time, consumers also search for nearly the same amount of dessert recipes as entree recipes like peach cobbler and rhubarb cake, making it an opportune time for produce and baking ingredient brands to get into consumers’ shopping carts. 

In June, the top produce ingredients that consumers add to their shopping carts are a mix of fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits. 

The top baking ingredients that consumers add to their carts are basic ingredients, with particular variations on sugar and salt types, that all appeal to shoppers during this season.

Lighter Sweets and Treats

In line with baking ingredients, during this time, consumers look for healthier swaps and substitutions like sugar-free and low-calorie ingredients for their favorite bakes and desserts, as well as keto and low-carb recipe alternatives. 

Consumer engagement with sugar-free recipes has grown by 47% from Junes 2019 to 2020.

Similarly, we see sustained engagement with keto and low-carb recipes from June to July, with views for keto recipes nearing 150,000 per day and low-carb recipes nearing 6,000 at the height of these seasonal trends.

Brands that can cater to alternative and healthy diets with products like sugar alternatives, grain-free ingredients and fresh produce should ensure that they’re reaching consumers at this time.

Healthy Beverages

While winter is all about doubling down on comfort foods and warming beverages, consumers transition into lighter spring and summer cocktails in June by incorporating fresh fruits, low sugar mixers and non-alcoholic beverages.

Each year, this trend gains momentum, as more and more consumers turn to non-alcoholic beers to pair with spring classics. In fact, consumption of non-alcoholic beers in 2020 outnumbered consumption in 2019 by 83%. However, the downward trend towards the end of the month implies that the mid-summer grilling and entertaining boom drives less consumption of non-alcoholic beverages and more consumption of alcoholic beverages. 

Seltzers and sparkling waters emerge during this time as a healthy alternative or substitution for sugary lemon and lime flavored sodas in cocktails, mocktails and during meals. Compared to June 2019, there was almost 5x the consumption of seltzers and sparkling waters in 2020. And consumption of seltzers and sparkling waters outnumbered consumption of lemon and lime flavored drinks by 94% in June 2020, demonstrating that consumers prefer lighter and healthier replacements during this period.

The June 14th spike can be attributed to a single, simple punch recipe that calls for Sprite, seltzer, Prosecco, hard liquor and lemon, indicating that consumers are always looking for quick and easy ways to punch (pun intended) up their spring meals and occasions. 

During this spike in June healthy eating, consumers also turn to the plethora of articles, listing the top hard liquors that are low in calories. Vodka, one of the most popular low-calorie liquors at 100 calories per shot, is particularly popular during this time, with a spike in consumption between June and July.