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This Year's Top Beverage Flavor Trends |
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Friday, 16 July 2010 12:58 |
The US beverage market continues to move toward more exotic and spicy flavors as American consumers are increasingly more adventurous with their food and beverage choices.
Fruits from South Africa and Asia and floral flavors from outside the US are showing up in a range of beverages and are moving beyond ethnic cuisines.
Sensient Flavors identified a number of emerging flavors making it big in 2010, including baobab, a fruit native to Africa that features a high-antioxidant and vitamin-C content and a tart lemony profile; caja, a Brazilian fruit with a tropical citrus profile and high carotenoid content and cape gooseberry, a fruit native to South America, which has a sweet and tangy taste.
Elderflower, a fruit found in warmer parts of Europe and North America, which has a lightly sweet flavor, is popping up in beverages and kumquat, a fruit originating in China that features tastes ranging from sweet to sour to salty, is an increasingly popular flavor.
Other fruit flavors to look out for, according to Sensient, are lulo, a fruit native to South America that has a unique citrus taste; maqui, a South American fruit that could be the next superfruit phenomenon due to its antioxidant content; marula, a southern African fruit that has a juicy, tart flavor and a high level of vitamin C; mora berry, a Colombian fruit that is sweet and tart, with similarities to raspberry and blackberry and umbu, a Brazilian fruit that has a sweetly aromatic flavor.
Market research firm Mintel also has been following flavor trends in the US market and predicts hibiscus will become a common ingredient in the beverage market. There are already a number of companies exploring floral flavors, the company notes.
Cupuaçu could be the next big superfruit, as it contains more than 10 vitamins and antioxidants, essential fatty acids and amino acids. Rose water will cease to be just a fragrance, and could become a common flavor in ethnic foods, the company adds. As with hibiscus, these floral flavors are already on the move, Mintel notes.
Latin spices are heating up the consumer palates this year, and one won’t have to dine out to get these exciting flavors. Lynn Dornblaser, Mintel’s leading new products expert notes, "As the economy recovers, we expect people to continue the trend of eating at home. The home cook is becoming more advanced with his or her cooking skills by trying new spices and flavors, as well as preparing everyday items in new ways."
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The largest independently owned juice company in the US, Apple & Eve continues to grow with its line of pure, natural juices in an increasingly health-minded beverage market.