Trendiest flavours

AT THE IFT Food Expo held in Chicago from 13-16 July, Innova Market Insights presented visitors with an interesting list of flavours, all expected to influence product developments, particularly in carbonate drinks and juices. Although many on the list are standard choices, there are quite a number that consumers will find new to the palate.

Consumers will see more of red tomato, cucumber, elderberry, beetroot, and white peach. However, traditional flavours like acerola, kiwi, milk chocolate, hazelnut, and root beer, whilst still considered classic, will trend down.

In the Middle East, watermelon is becoming a popular flavour choice. The refreshing taste of this fruit has been incorporated in carbonated soft drinks, concentrates, and even iced tea. Likewise, the taste of sophisticated white grape and red grape flavours is also taking off, appearing in juices and carbonated soft drinks. Another runaway hit in the region are coffee flavours being added to new iced coffee drinks.

Super healthy Flavours are marked by regions, but superfruits transcend this and are sought after by most markets for their antioxidant properties. Pomegranate remains the top choice, which accounted for over 40% of tracked beverage launches featuring superfruit flavours, from June 2008 to May 2013 period. This hardy fruit is ahead of acai and lychee, with 12.5% and 12%, respectively. Joining these three are the guanabana/soursop, cactus/prickly pear and marula, which are tagged as upcoming flavours or new-generation superfruits.

In Latin America, the starfruit/carambola, guanabana/soursop, pomegranate, and mangosteen are fast-growing flavours. These are mostly added to juices and concentrates. For sports and energy drinks, the craze is pink grapefruit and blackberry.

Timeless favourites Lemonade, root beer, and cream soda will be amongst the top classic flavours, whilst so-called “differentiated flavours” such as blue raspberry, white peach, kombucha tea, and dark chocolate, are options to keep consumers, especially in North America, drinking more. The cherry-flavour varieties like red cherry and black cherry will be part of forthcoming developments.

Desert flavour The cactus/prickly pear is not new to some regions like Latin America, but in the United States, it is only beginning to gain ground in beverage production. “Cactus/prickly pear is one of the emerging superfruit flavours in the North American beverage market,” said Lu Ann Williams, head of Research at Innova Market Insights.“US launches over the past year including Cactus Juice and Cactus Tea from Nopal and Prickly Pear Cactus Tea from Hunter & Hilsberg, as well as Martinelli’s Prickly Passion Lemonade juice drink, featuring prickly pear puree.”

Veggie delight The health trend remains prominent in beverages, with vegetable flavours featuring strongly, according to Ms Williams. She said vegetable flavours, whilst also a new flavour element, are often combined with fruit flavours in juices, smoothies and teas, adding health-giving phytochemicals. For example, the number of beverage launches featuring celery rose sixfold in 2012, whilst those featuring cucumber and beets doubled. Kale also started to feature in the beverages market in 2012.

Hot and spicy The generally rising level of interest in hot and spicy flavours in the US food market as a whole has also spread through to beverages. This has led to the emergence of hot and spicy variants featuring ingredients such as black pepper and chillies, including habanero, jalape?o and chipotle.