Feel the flavour
Flavours of the future won’t just be tasted but will be felt. The food market is really pushing the boundaries with development of new flavours and their delivery for example, Prosecco crisps with a prosecco flavour but also a fizzing in mouth experience.
But also expect to see more flavours that give kokumi, or ‘mouthfullness’.
‘Umami’ and mouthfeel or fullness has become a lot understood over recent years, as a result we are seeing more seaweed being used. However, it also delivers rich salty notes and is a healthy ingredient. Kokumi is only just starting to be understood and we will see more of this in the future.
Far-flung and exotic flavours
Opportunities to travel to increasingly far-flung and exotic destinations is still fuelling consumer desire to try new and unusual tastes.
There are lots of exciting trends inspired by tastes from all over the world and finding their way into restaurants and the wider food industry in Europe.
Food trend inspiration will continue to be found in South America thanks to this summer’s Olympic Games.
But we also have our eyes on Middle Eastern and African cuisines. Their popularity is being driven particularly by celebrity chefs (on the television and in the press) and growing numbers of restaurants specialising in flavours from these regions. Moroccan and Persian-inspired cuisines are also receiving a lot of attention, with a particular focus on Lebanese and Turkish flavours.
Adventurous Millennials
Young Millennials continue to be the key consumer group to target for testing out new flavours and are a highly attractive target group for many food and beverage manufacturers as they are open to try new flavours, be it for curiosity or for positioning themselves ‘in the know’ of new trends.
Products that work well in this group will allow for flavour experimentation and ‘excitement in the mouth,’ such as flavours that change during chewing or when combined with each other, she added.
Adult-only flavours will emerge
Dairy is now opening its options more to being infused with alcohol, addressing the consumers need for more indulgent, premium offerings especially in yoghurts, cream sauces and ice cream.
We can expect to see a lot of ‘adult only’ flavours – less sweet and with alcohol – being launched, but there is no one category which is used to specifically test out new flavour innovations. One flavour can act very differently in different ‘end uses’. For instance you can’t necessarily use the same vanilla in an indulgent ice cream and in a vodka and expect them to taste the same. So producers are actively developing solutions to meet needs across various consumer desires, such as health, indulgence, energy or purity, across many different product forms.