Top Five Saving Strategies from 2025 Food Trends: Part II of II
I am not affiliated with any brands and products that I share in this post. I am an independent researcher sharing my knowledge to help consumers shop their values. Where stated have I personally tried and recommend brands or products. I’m always hopeful to receive feedback from the community about your experiences.
…Continued from part I
Read on to make positive local impacts while finding more time and money saving strategies from 2025 food trends.
#5 – Streamline home menus to reduce food waste
Food waste is a disturbing trend that has a big impact on the cost of food. People in Alberta consider food waste an issue[i],[ii] and Canada’s Food Price Report 2025 assumes “a conservative 5%” (p. 18) food waste for a Canadian family. [iii] With food pricing trending 3-5% higher this year, could a family of four save 5% or more on their $16,833.67 grocery bill forecasted for 2025? [iv] Is at least $841.68 THROWN AWAY each year per family just from OVERBUYING?
Maybe….The problem of overbuying is complex so BUYING LESS TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE IS HARD. The intersecting roles of our infrastructure and marketing systems, our upbringings, cultures, and shopping habits are also influential.[v]
So where does one start saving time, money and food waste? There is ONE SIMPLE THING YOU CAN DO BEFORE THE NEXT TIME YOU SHOP. Think about the first thing restaurants may do when the cost of food goes up…. they pare down their menus! Step one at home then, is to create a simple weekly menu packed with VARIETY, FLEXIBILITY and COMPLIMENTARY INGREDIENTS. Don’t think Mexican night, think Mexican week! and pack your fridge with salsa and cilantro and sour cream and lime all the goodness that pairs well together and you can mix and match. Share the menu with your family to give them ideas for snacks and drinks that encourage the use of specific ingredients in your fridge.
It’s not just overbuying that sucks up added food dollars. A 2017 report to Alberta Agriculture and Forestry suggests food waste increased the price of food paid by consumers by 10 to 20%;[vi] The report suggests there may be significant costs in the supply chain that can be reduced.
#4 – Use real food for healthful benefits
Alberta’s population is slowly aging even with an influx of young migrants over the last 5 years.[vii] There were 1.4 million 15 - 34 year olds in Alberta in the 2021 Census[viii] and that number has likely increased with immigration over the last 4 years. Within this age range, teenagers and young adults (up to age 30) are anticipated to have the highest food expenditures for 2025 of any age group.[ix]
Young adults are buying foods with targeted benefits for skin health, compared with preferences among older demographics for healthy aging bodies and brains. Canadians this year are seeking out protein and ingredients for gut health and better sleep.[x]
Beverages and other fortified products are being offered to Canadians as a convenient health option. The drawback? The premium you pay may not contribute to the overall results you want. Furthermore, many fortified products are imported, ultra-processed, or super sugary or fatty. Naturally nutrient-rich ingredients provide nutritional benefits without added, unwanted ingredients or costs.
#3 – Make a plan to use technology
Canadians are a self-sufficient, digitally savvy bunch when it comes to food shopping in 2025. [xi] We all know technology can be a time waster or a time saver, depending on the platform and your habits. Meal-planning is a valuable time saving habit that can be enhanced by current and future technological tools.
Whether you’re in the scratch cook camp, increasingly shopping convenience options, or somewhere in the middle, below are just some of the BENEFITS FROM HAVING A PLAN BEFORE YOU HIT THE GROCERY STORE.
1. The mental exercise of meal planning activates your memory for ingredients in recipes you consistently need on hand. Over time, you only need to remember what you’re making to automatically recall what ingredients to buy.
2. Memorization saves you the time it takes to reference information while standing in the aisles. That means more quick in and out trips and less reliance on data, or getting lost in a sea of products you don’t want.
3. You can keep plans for multiple use, saving time throughout the year or during busy times. Only 10 to 15 meal plans can get you through a whole year.
4. You model positive behaviour because shopping and cooking becomes one less chore requiring a screen and you can be present in the moment of cooking.
5. You’ll be giving yourself new mental space every day. Last week I spent 45 minutes making a meal plan on Sunday. I have spent zero time thinking about what to eat this week or communicating what to eat to my family because it’s on the fridge!
Take advantage of technology, not the other way around. Some apps, if you’re interested, have been suggested by The Spruce eats Best Meal-planning Apps for Organizing Shopping, Nutrition and Cooking, here. There’s no doubt application for AI in the development of personalized meal-planning experiences on the horizon.
PRO TIP: Don’t over plan or be too prescriptive for yourself. Be realistic about your availability, and your capabilities. My secret weapon against burn-out in meal planning is moderation. My meal plans are real and FLEXIBLE because… life. For example, I incorporate eating out or convenience options into my meal plan, especially if busy days are on the horizon.
#2 – Eating out on the value menu
Macleans predicts that fast food value menus are here to stay to offset overall fast food menu price increases throughout 2024.[xii] While Canadian fast-food prices actually declined 0.6% in February 2025 from February 2024, prices rebounded 4.6% between January and February 2025 [xiii] and are likely to move higher in the summer.
Eating out on the value menu can be a great time and money saving contingency for hectic weeks. There are a couple of things to remember, though. First, value menu items are typically more snack-oriented than meal-oriented. For example, a multi-grain bagel with cream cheese, a chicken or beef burger, a wrap. Second, value menus are meant to entice you through the door, but you have to stick to your budget once you’re inside.
How can you best take advantage of the value being offered? Let value menu items complement an already healthy bag lunch. For example, keep a water bottle and healthy snacks with you like pitted dates and Brazil nuts, chopped vegetables or fruit to curb your hunger. Simply add a value menu item to get the benefit of eating out on a budget with the nutrition of a balanced meal.
#1 –Funky ingredients, basic skills and values
Eating is as functional as it is fun, and fundamental to the future of our society and culture. Flavour fusions and mood enhancing ingredients deliver on our thirst for the novel and inventive in 2025, while traditional and authentic flavours are also being sought out to connect with our past.[xiv]
Canadians want simple ingredients, but they don’t want boring eating experiences. They want fun flavours that can be complemented with basic skills to balance busy, expensive, modern lives.[xv]
2025 may mark a veritable resurgence of food culture for the masses that combines basic skills and values with the fun and futuristic. The largest cohorts, Millennials and Gen-Z are bringing their values to the table and teaching their children to eat sustainability and responsibly, with the help of technology and innovation that support these goals.[xvi].
Remember, food is energy. Thanks for sharing food news with Ruby Rooster.
Not for commercial use. Copyright Ruby Rooster 2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ruby Rooster with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
This article is not legal, medical, health, or financial advice from a registered professional; it is for informational purposes only.
[i] Pivotal Research. City of Edmonton Food Waste Research Review Final Report. (2018). Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://www.edmonton.ca/sites/default/files/public-files/assets/PDF/City-of-Edmonton-Food-Waste-Research-Review-Final-Report.pdf.
[ii] Ostad, R (January 24, 2025). Alberta Saved 10.7 Million on Groceries, saved 4 Million Pounds of Food Waste in 2024. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-loblaws-flashfood-app-food-waste
[iii] Dalhousie University. (2024). Canada’s Food Price Report 2025: 15th Edition. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/EN%20-%20Food%20Price%20Report%202025.pdf
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Elimelech et al. (2023). Between Perceptions and Practices: The religious and cultural aspects of food wastage in households. Appetite. Retrieved March 26, 2025 from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/ S0195666322004652.
[vi] IMC. (2017). Food Waste Study Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. Retrieved March 26, 202 from https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/bt14879/$FILE/FWS2017.pdf.
[vii] Government of Alberta. (2024). Population Projections Alberta and Local Geographic Areas. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/90a09f08-c52c-43bd-b48a-fda5187273b9/resource/2e6785c3-3ea7-4a9c-ae38-6710c1991d0a/download/tbf-population-projections-2024-2051-alberta-local-geographic-areas.pdf.
[viii] Statistics Canada. (2023). (table). Census Profile. 2021 Census of Population. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2021001. Ottawa. Released November 15, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E.
[ix] Dalhousie University. (2024). Canada’s Food Price Report 2025: 15th Edition. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/EN%20-%20Food%20Price%20Report%202025.pdf
[x] Innova Market Insights Canada and the US - https://www.innovamarketinsights.com/trends/top-food-trends-in-the-us/
[xi] Innova Market Insights. (December 17, 2024). Top Food Trends 2025. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://www.innovamarketinsights.com/trends/top-food-trends-2025/
[xii] Macleans Ten Food Predictions for 2025. (December 30, 2024). Retrieved March 5, 2025 from, https://macleans.ca/the-year-ahead/ten-food-predictions-for-2025/
[xiii] Statistics Canada. (January 21, 2025). Consumer Price Index, monthly, not seasonally adjusted. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1810000401
[xiv] Innova Market Insights. (December 17, 2024). Top Food Trends 2025. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://www.innovamarketinsights.com/trends/top-food-trends-2025/
[xv] Wilson, J. (January 28, 2025). Top Food Trends for 2025: Insight from EDCs agri-food expert. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://www.edc.ca/en/article/top-food-trends-2025.html
[xvi] Gravelese, S. (January 2, 2025). Generation Bet – Why 2025 marks the beginning of a new food generation. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniegravalese/2025/01/02/generation-beta-why-2025-marks-the-beginning-of-a-new-food-generation/.