Fruity Flavors in Focus

Consumers are craving fruit! For many reasons, fruity flavors are seeing growth in foodservice, meaning that eventually consumers will expect to see more of these flavors in retail. With health and wellness being a primary concern for consumers these days, they’re looking to incorporate more fruit into their diets. Even if products aren’t necessarily healthy, offering fruit flavors gives products the much-coveted health halo. As consumers up their fruit consumption, they’ll be craving the flavors of their favorite fruits in a variety of products.

While fruity flavors are typical in certain categories, like breakfast bars and smoothies, these flavors will be in demand in more unexpected categories, including snacks and sauces, in the coming months. Keep reading for our experts’ takes on how to embrace the fruity flavor trend and innovate with on-trend fruit flavors.

Sweet Seasonal Fruits

Seasonal LTOs are so popular because they build anticipation and give consumers something to get excited about. Consider focusing on developing LTOs that feature the most popular fruits from each season. Think pineapple and coconut in the summer, apples in the fall, cranberries in the winter, and berries in the spring.

Offer these fruity flavors on their own in tradition product formats, like a pineapple popcorn or a cranberry ice cream. Or, consider combining them with other popular seasonal flavors like an apple and whiskey cheddar cheese.

Another option is to innovate with the flavors of classic fruit-forward desserts from each season. Think a blueberry pie milkshake or a peach turnover seasoning for rice cakes.

Global Inspiration

Consumers of all ages have been expanding their horizons, experimenting with foods and flavors from faraway places. As global cuisine continues to trend, consumers will be becoming more familiar with exotic fruits from around the world. Yuzu, for example, is a citrus fruit common in Asian cuisine. For the past few years, yuzu has demonstrated growth in foodservice and is ideally suited to be translated to retail products.

Keep a close eye on fruits that are prevalent in growing international cuisines and consider innovating with them for products and menu items that will excite adventurous consumers.

Another option? Global spice blends have been trending over the past few years, due to their complex flavor profiles and potential health benefits. Sweet heat flavor profiles, too, have been trending. Consider using international spice blends to bring some heat to new products, while pairing them with fruity flavors that have enough sweetness to balance them out. A five spice and berry seasoning, for example, puts fruit front and center, making this exotic spice blend more approachable to less adventurous consumers.

Watermelon Everything

Beyond seasonal and global offerings, we’d be remiss not to note the popularity of watermelon right now. According to Mintel, menu item mentions of watermelon as a flavor have grown 43% over the past three or so years. Consumers have been enjoying watermelon flavors year-round, allowing them to enjoy summer-y vibes even in the middle of winter.

We suggest looking for fun new ways to incorporate watermelon into everyday products. Think a watermelon salsa, watermelon mint mocktails, or even a watermelon chili snack seasoning.

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