Consumer eating behavior has fundamentally evolved, especially when it comes to what and how they consume food. It is evident that consumers are mindful of their health and the environment in the current consumer trend.
Consumers are now interested in understanding the ingredients used in the food they are consuming. With a sharp increase in well-traveled and mindfully aware Indians eating out, healthy eating has become a priority for chefs. There is a rising trend empowering people to be mindful of how their food choices impact not just them but also the planet.
Anurudh Khanna, Multi-property Executive Chef for the Westin Gurugram, New Delhi, and The Westin Sohna Resort and spa said, “It’s not about being perfect or making radical changes- it is also simply about simple habits or just taking a moment to think about our choices and trying to consume better both ethically and environmentally. It’s about wanting to balance eating well for one’s health and also being mindful of its impact. And the pandemic has only added to this- having changed the consumption of food individually and a substantial impact on the overall approach to life and health.”
The rise in conscious food consumption has also created a necessity for 100 per cent transparency when it comes to food. “It has led to building curiosity in today’s diner’s mind to know about the source of organic food or quality of ingredients used, the methods of cooking, or the overall hygiene maintained along with elements that perhaps didn’t factor in a decade ago – like carbon footprint, food wastage, sustainability, environmental impact, etc. This mindset change has placed a high impetus on the importance of traceability,” he added.
With the evolving times, people have started becoming extremely conscious of what they’re consuming, its health benefits, its origin, if it’s organic or not and so many more things. Elaborating on the same, Chef Dogukan, Turkish Head Chef, Ophelia said, “With the changing lifestyle and the new problems coming in, especially post covid, people have become extra careful of what goes inside their body. It’s a small step in ensuring a healthy lifestyle and avoiding lifestyle problems that come with eating unhealthy and junk food. As restaurants it’s become essential for us to be conscious about the raw material we use, to ensure it’s healthy and organic. All our salads are farm fresh, as all our ingredients are directly sourced from organic farms. Ensuring only the best quality of products, we only use corn-fed chicken instead of industrial chicken. All our cocktail and mocktail preparations are done with fresh fruit juice and we only use homemade syrups to make our drinks. Along with that to ensure that the different needs of our patrons are met, we try our best to have options, that are gluten free, dairy free, and vegan as well.”
Chef Akshay Bhardwaj, Head Chef at Andaz Delhi said. “Customers have started opting for and are looking for a variety of healthy meal options, in addition to the standard salads, beverages, etc that were normally on the menu. It has definitely allowed us, as chefs, a great opportunity to experiment more with fresh produce, and healthier alternatives.”
Chef Vidushi Sharma, Chef, and Co-Founder of Mensho Tokyo India explained, “People are becoming a lot more conscious today of what they put in their bodies thanks to all the exposure we get especially from social media! Documentaries like the game changers made countless people convert to Veganism and there’s a general sense of consuming ingredients and dishes that are nourishing inside out, trends like superfoods or farm-to-table have also added to this wave and today people want to know exactly what they’re consuming, which is a great thing.”
Conscious eating means eating with intention –The intention to nourish your body, an intention to honour your body, an intention to respect and love your body. If you want to live the best life possible? Then try eating mindfully.
