Posted: February 3, 2025 Author: Rachael Jarzembowski, Marketing Manager
New Year, New Trends!
Like most consumers, I’m excited about the new food and beverage trends for 2025. (A poll fielded last October by Datassential revealed 71% of people saying they were excited by the prospect of new food and beverage trends, with Gen Z skewing slightly higher than average (78%) in this regard and Boomers coming in below the average (59%)). But unlike most consumers, I have a front row seat in the flavor development process as part of the innovation team at Wixon, and this gives me a unique perspective on trends impacting the food and beverage space.
Before diving into this year’s trends, it’s important to note that trends tend to evolve gradually. They don’t dramatically change from one year to the next; instead, they develop over time, gaining more definition as they respond to market forces. Keeping this in mind, I’d like to share three macro flavor trends we believe will greatly impact food and beverage innovation this year.
Creative Combinations
The American appetite for flavor creativity remains unsated. People continue to crave the extraordinary, embracing creative combinations of flavors while pursuing the “WOW” effect. In fact, globally, 43% of consumers say, “I am looking for crazy creations that provide me with the ultimate indulgent experience,” according to Innova Market Insights. Further data shows 49% look for intense or bold flavors in their food and beverage experiences, and 31% seek out flavor combinations.
Creative combinations are taste profiles that feature diverse ingredients and complex flavors. The pairings can be unusual, but they must still complement each other in a harmonious way. Creativity can also be showcased by combining more familiar flavors in a unique, different format – like a strawberry shortcake cream cheese dessert dip – unexpected, yet temptingly delicious.
While creative combinations and mashups embrace being crazy, explorative, and different as a means to stand out, the end result always needs to deliver on flavor. It has to make sense and taste good to be successful. Innovating with creative combinations should focus on new, surprising, and diverse flavors that deliver an engaging and novel experience for consumers. Truly imaginative and out-of-the-ordinary taste profiles drive engagement with consumers and open the opportunity to do the same on social media, which offers the potential to reach even more consumers.
With this trend, product creators strive to be different and outrageous by breaking the unspoken boundaries that often bind food and beverage innovation. One of our favorite examples of this is a globally flavored dessert mashup that brings together sweet and savory flavors with crisp and creamy textures in a – Vanilla Rice Cream Onioissant, an onigiri/croissant mashup, dreamed up by Café W Bakery in Flushing, New York.
We created some of our own Creative Combinations for flavor inspiration. For example, we paired green apple with wasabi, envisioning it as a tangy, spicy sauce or marinade for grilled meats and other proteins. Goat cheese marionberry jalapeno to add a sweet, tangy, and spicy kick to anything from salty snacks to dips. Strawberry cilantro lime – think drink mix, cocktail mixer, or a shake-on seasoning. Sriracha + peach – for a fruity kick to savory dishes or something sweet.
Decadent Luxury
Despite economic uncertainty and general nervousness about the future, people are living for the “now,” indulging themselves with luxury flavors and small treats. Whether it’s celebrating a special occasion or simply relaxing, 89% of consumers say they indulge in a food or beverage for any reason at least once a week (Datassential). Higher frequency is seen among younger consumers and men, who are most likely to treat themselves several times a day.
As incongruous as it may seem, people are drawn to luxury flavors not only because they’re indulgent but also because they enhance the value of a food or beverage. Though the concepts of “value” and “luxury” seem like opposites, they are inextricably linked; value and luxury are not defined solely by cost. Consumers want tasty, high-quality food and beverage products, and they are willing to pay more for it. In fact, taste, quality, and portion size – not price – are consumers’ top considerations for a food or beverage to be perceived as being a “good value,” reports Datassential.
Brands can add to their perceived value by giving customers luxurious or decadent flavors, ingredients and textures. This delivers a feeling of indulgence and value. Saffron, for example, is an ingredient/flavor that is perceived as luxurious. But you don’t need to focus on pricy ingredients or flavors to provide consumers with a product that is luxurious or indulgent – instead go with decadent familiar favorites like fudge brownie + toffee, or highlight flavor nuances, such as dry aged, smoked, or grilled. Smoked sea salt, for instance, can elevate a wide variety of flavor profiles by introducing a new, smoky nuance (think smoked sea salt + dark chocolate caramel, or even smoked sea salt + tarragon).
Savor the Flavor
This third trend puts savory flavor directly in the spotlight where people can bask in its boldness and relish the richness. Market research reveals that the flavor experience is more important than ever to people. According to Innova Market Insights, when buying food or beverages over the past 12 months, 42% of consumers, globally, say flavor has become an even more important attribute, compared to 32% in 20231. Furthermore 40% say, rich flavor/taste make a food or beverage experience impressive to them2.
Flavor complexity and balance can boost an overall taste experience. Creating a craveable product means striking the perfect balance of sweet, sour, salt, bitter, and umami, adjusting along the way as needed to arrive at the intended flavor profile. Umami – the fifth taste, which is Japanese for “delicious savory taste,” – delivers the savoriness in an application or its long-lasting, mouthwatering taste sensation. Sources of umami include fermented foods, cooked meats, tomatoes, mushrooms (the darker the mushroom, the greater the umami concentration), miso, soy sauce, anchovies, and more. Focusing on umami in a flavor profile can also assist with sodium reduction by relying on it to give other flavors a “boost” instead of salt.
Some of the flavors we imagined for this trend are – miso butterscotch brownie for a dessert dip; black truffle tarragon as a shake-on seasoning for pasta, rice, potatoes…really anything; black garlic + balsamic as a sauce or marinade; miso caramel apple – as a snack seasoning; Gruyere, garlic + apple for croutons or a creamy salad dressing; shoyu caramel as a dessert, frosting or even a play on caramel corn with a savory, umami twist.
Hopefully you share my excitement for new food and beverage trends in 2025. Let us help you explore new flavor profiles that will WOW your customers! Contact us today to create the next on trend flavors for your brand. Connect with your account manager or reach out to us at service@wixon.com.
1Innova Database, Innova Lifestyle & Attitude Survey 2024 (average of Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Spain, UK, US)
2Innova Market Insights (Top 10 F&D Trends for 2025)