The year 2015 was supersaturated with newsworthy nuggets from the world of food. Some headlines practically had us salivating with excitement, while others had us either scratching our heads in bemusement or shaking them in embarrassment. Regardless of the nature of this past year’s food news, each story served as a small state of the union for the ever-evolving industry. So without further appetite-whetting, here are the 20 Best Food News Stories of 2015.
20. Meet Taco Bell’s Fried Chicken Shell Taco
It wouldn’t be a year of fast food in America without a new calorie-crazy concoction. Taking a grease-stained page from their Yum Brand peers at KFC (the pioneers of subbing in fried chicken whenever possible), Taco Bell introduced a fried chicken shell taco last September. Dubbed the Naked Crispy Chicken Taco, the product broke hearts from the start by only being available in a couple California cities.
19. Smart Plate Tells You When You’ve Hit Your Food Limit
While it may have initially seemed like some kind of shaming device, the SmartPlate proved to be more than the fun police for food. Created by Anthony Ortiz, the innovative plate, which works with a corresponding app, can be programmed to let you know when you’ve reached the number of calories you set out for, but it can also help people with diabetes stay alert to their carbohydrate intake and it can also let bodybuilders know they need more protein. Ortiz plans to have the plate ready by summer 2016.
18. Swedish Brothers Send a Doughnut to Space
When Neil Armstrong first stepped foot on the moon in 1969, humanity as a whole began dreaming of the day we’d launch the first doughnut into space. Just 46 years later, the giant leap for doughnut-kind was taken when brothers Alexander and Benjamin Jönsson traveled from Sweden to Norway to attach a doughnut and camera to a weather balloon and send it nearly 20 miles above the earth’s surface. Why did they send the doughnut on such a journey? Essentially because it was unprecedented/crazy, they claimed.
17. Edible Billboards Take the Cake for Innovative Advertising
During last year’s NCAA Final Four, Coke Zero constructed a 4,500-foot billboard in Indianapolis emblazoned with the words “Taste It” and dispensed the drink from six different fountains. In similar fashion, Carlsberg Beer erected a billboard that was self-declared “Probably the best poster in the world,” which served ID-equipped pedestrians glasses of beer. But Britain’s crowning achievement in edible advertising was a Mr. Kipling billboard made of 13,000 pieces of cake that were free for the taking.
16. 16-Year-Old Prodigy Opens First Restaurant in NYC
Last September, 16-year-old Flynn McGarry opened his first restaurant in New York City’s West Village. The culinary prodigy began apprenticing at renowned bars and restaurants at 13, which means this isn’t a case of some delusional rich teen getting carried away. The restaurant, called Eureka, is open three days a week and offers a 14-course menu priced at $160 per person.
15. 103-Year-Old Cracker From the Titanic Sells For $23,000
One of the strangest stories of the year occurred in October when a Greek collector decided his heart would not go on without a very expensive cracker from the Titanic. The cracker was reportedly part of a Titanic lifeboat survival kit kept by SS Carpathia passenger James Fenwick. So, naturally, the collector decided to drop $23,000 on the immortal biscuit at a British auction.
14. Restaurant Entrepreneurs Design Plates Perfect for Smartphone Photos
The trend of liking food photos almost more than food itself was solidified in 2015, and a Tel Aviv restaurant really took that notion to another level. The restaurant, Catit, introduced Foodograpy early last summer, a limited-time dining experience featuring various custom-made plates that enable quality photos of the food. Among the plates was The Limbo, which has a phone slot on one end and a large curved side on the other to create a backdrop.
13. Chili’s Shells Out $750,000 for Attractive Instagram Photos
Tel Aviv’s Catit wasn’t the only restaurant to realize the weight of Instagram last year. Chili’s showed proved their penchant for details when it was revealed that the chain spends around $750,000 a year on an egg wash that makes their burger buns just a little more aesthetically-pleasing for social media scrollers. “It just makes it look great. It glistens, it shines,” stated Wyman Roberts, CEO of Chili’s parent company, Brinker International.
12. Target Revamping its Food Section to Better Imitate Whole Foods
Target began aiming at a different bullseye for its food section in 2015—Whole Foods. The grocery reboot is said to be an effort to attract the elusive younger demographic who seeks healthier food options for affordable prices. Some of the items featured in the revamp-in-progress include “fancy sauces,” yogurt and granola, all supplied by smaller brands.
11. British KFC Restaurants Test Edible Coffee Cups
By KFC logic, bread is best when replaced with fried chicken, and cups shall therefore be replaced with chocolate. As part of a promotion with Starbucks’ Seattle’s Best Coffee, the fast-chicken chain tested coffee cups made with chocolate-lined, wafer-coated sugar paper cups at select restaurants in Britain last year. Though it probably seemed like a glutinous ploy, the edible cups at least work in favor of sustainability, an issue that looms over much of the food industry.
