Once a food product becomes as popular as Nutella or acai juice is now, it can be difficult to remember a time when it wasn't sold in every chain grocery store. But just 10 years ago, many of the foods that we now consider omnipresent weren't popular at all.
Yes, there was in fact a time when eating kale chips was a completely alien concept. Check out the list below of foods that weren't popular just a decade ago, but that we can't imagine living without now:
1
Kale Chips
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The past five years have been particularly exceptional for kale, which has led to the widespread popularity of kale chips. Today, you can find kale chips at many major grocery store chains, along with tons of online recipes to make at home.
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3
Vegan Egg Substitute
Ener-g.com
Substitutes such as Beyond Eggs and Ener-G can now be found in many national chain supermarkets, including Whole Foods and Safeway.
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4
Acai Juice
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This juice, now a staple of acai bowls and smoothies, started gaining momentum around 2008.
5
Tempeh
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With vegetarian and vegan diets becoming increasingly popular, meat substitutes are now commonplace in many major grocery chains. This substitute, tempeh, is even sold at Walmart.
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7
Nutella
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Though Nutella as we know it was invented in 1964, it did not make it to the U.S. until 1983. Even so, Nutella really gained popularity over the past four or five years -- the Facebook page for Nutella USA was only created in 2011.
8
Chia Drinks
Mammachia.com
The originator of Chia drinks, Mamma Chia, developed the product in 2009. It was picked up by Whole Foods a year and a half later, and is now sold in chains including Vons, Albertsons, and Ralph's.
9
Cookie Butter (Speculoos)
Amazon.com
Cookie butter (commonly referred to as Speculoos), first gained popularity in Belgium in 2008 via a TV show called "the Inventors." Today, Trader Joe's offers their own variety, which is wildly popular across the U.S.
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10
Pomegranate Seeds
POMwonderful.com
In 2006 alone, 450 new pomegranate products hit shelves -- so technically any number of them could be on this list. Pomegranate seeds in particular are an even relatively new product, which has gained popularity for the product's elimination of wrestling with the fresh fruit.