Where does your palate come from?
Food travels in space and time.
By bringing together the worlds of academia, behavioural science, corporate strategy, consumer trends & insight, and futures, we can reframe our challenges in new ways that provide relevant and inspiring new ways of thinking about our challenge.
The first session ‘Where does our palate come from? Food travels in time & space’ threw up some wonderful provocations:
Our palate is part nature and part nurture
our degree of inherent ‘openness to experience’ is a key determinant of how expansive our palate is, but that disposition only shapes how we start, not how we end our food journey
food is a social experience, and our shared (and shareable) stories are a key driver of trialling new experiences
Our food choices draw on conscious (often performative) elements and unconscious elements that draw on personal history to provide comfort and stability
nostalgia is a powerful draw back to certain foods based on when and where they made their mark on us: "Nostalgia is often predicted by distance in time and space." Clay Routledge
Food is part of our identity: a 'network of tastes' that has evolved through waves of migration given access to incredible produce
new food cultures are often frozen in time when they arrive with a diaspora
...(although not all food trends arrived with a diaspora, there has been no Japanese or Mexican diaspora, yet they are amongst our favourite foods)...
Australia also offers a chance to shrug off old rules and create new traditions (such as in wine-making)
Food is a key interface between old and new cultures
the old culture provides us with a sense of stability and nostalgia, and we draw on nostalgia for strength
there is an emerging 'third culture' of migrants who don't identify wholly with a single food culture
migrant entrepreneurs bring food culture into the public arena: "Food is the acceptable face of migration." Lauren Samuelsson
Although Australia has long been a natural site for food 'fusion', we are increasingly seeking authenticity in food and a deeper connection to the people behind the food
as part of a broader trend, Gen Z is increasingly looking for more in-person eating experiences (as a counter to a more isolated, digital lifestyle)
authenticity is married to transparency and a desire for greater sustainability - e.g. paddock-to-plate
The impact of media as taste-makers has always been significant, but has changed:
from a smaller pool of persuasive media influences in the twentieth century that helped sustain longer-term interest in food trends
to a more diffuse and immediate digital environment where trends live shorter lives
Food stories are 'social currency' and storytelling is an essential component of food connection
on holiday, 62% of all spend goes on food & shopping, and we’re increasingly looking for immersive experiences in which we learn something, such as food tours
“We want future food experiences to be distinctive, exclusive, shareable and a source of learning”. Andrew McEvoy
How we see our food culture is not necessarily how others see us. The tourism industry projects the unique blend of 'people, produce & place' of Australia to visitors
ironically, those visitors see a broader influence of native ingredients and indigenous foods than the majority of those of us who live here
How do we amplify shared occasions to lower the barriers to innovation?
What if we made every food 'first' a memorable moment to draw back on?
What if we were more explicit in utilising nostalgia as a platform for future growth?
Which rules of food preparation, eating and hospitality are no longer valid?
What new traditions and inspirations could arise at the intersection of old and new cultures?
How could we use transparency to unlock new dimensions within food and drink experiences?
What's the long-term implication for increasingly short-term food trends?
How do we capture the learning opportunity in food experiences of every size?
What new narratives can we tell about Australian food & drink?