Insight of the Day: I.T.S predicts flavours for an unpredictable world in its 2025 Flavours Report
- InsightTrendsWorld
- Feb 22
- 10 min read
Why is this topic trending?
2025 Flavour Predictions: I.T.S, a specialist flavour house, released its annual Flavour Report predicting key flavour trends for 2025, which is relevant to the food and beverage industry and consumers interested in upcoming food trends.
Consumer Trust and Solace in Flavours: The report highlights the growing consumer need for trust in food and beverages and the role of flavours in providing comfort and assurance in an uncertain world.
Emerging and Continuing Trends: The report identifies both new flavour trends like Eastern Eats and Mad About Melon, as well as continuing trends like Newfound Nostalgia and Sweet & Spicy, indicating an evolving flavour landscape.
Industry Challenges: The report also addresses industry challenges such as unpredictable commodity pricing and consumer concerns about ultra-processed foods (UPFs), making it relevant for food manufacturers and industry stakeholders.
Data-Driven Insights: The report is based on market data from reputable sources like Innova Market Insights, Mintel, and Tastewise, lending credibility and authority to its predictions.
Overview
The article discusses I.T.S's 2025 Flavours Report, which predicts upcoming flavour trends driven by consumer needs for trust, solace, and new experiences in an unpredictable world. The report, based on industry data and I.T.S's own research, identifies key trends for 2025, including "Eastern Eats" (Asian and Eastern flavours), "Big and Bold" (intense and impactful tastes), "Sweet & Spicy" ("Swicy" combinations), "Mad About Melon" (fresh melon flavours), and "Everlasting Flavours" (continuing nostalgic trends). The report also highlights the influence of consumer distrust in food processing and the impact of unpredictable weather on commodity pricing as factors shaping flavour trends. I.T.S founder Mike Bagshaw emphasizes that these flavour trends reflect consumers seeking both assurance and novelty in their food and beverage choices amidst global uncertainty.
Detailed Findings
Report Source: I.T.S (International Taste Solutions), a specialist flavour house.
Report Basis: Market data from Innova Market Insights, Tastewise, Mintel, VYPR, and I.T.S client NPD work.
Key Influencing Factors:
Consumer need for trust in food and beverages.
Desire for solace and assurance through flavours in an unpredictable world.
Consumer concern about ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and food transparency.
Unpredictable weather and commodity pricing challenges.
Top Flavour Trends for 2025:
Eastern Eats: Asian and Eastern cultural influences are increasing in Western food and drink.
Korean flavours are top Asian flavours (32% CAGR 2020-2024, Innova).
Japanese and Filipino food flavours are also of interest.
Flavours: Lychee, Yuzu, Ube, Pandan (associated with calming, peaceful, restorative qualities, antithesis of "untrustworthy" UPFs).
Big and Bold: Spicy and impactful flavours are trending.
40% of consumers find "rich" flavour/taste "impressive" (Innova).
22% of global consumers seek "intense" and "bold" flavours (Innova).
Instant gratification tastes: Salty, Margarita, Sour, Sherbet.
Sweet & Spicy ("Swicy"): Sweet and spicy flavour combinations are a new trend.
Examples: Chilli, Sriracha, Flaming Hot combined with Honey or Caramel.
Mad About Melon: Fresh, light, and healthy melon flavours are trending, especially in beverages.
78% of UK consumers chose watermelon as favourite summer alcoholic drink flavour (Paragon Brands).
Flavours: Honeydew, Melon, Watermelon.
Everlasting Flavours: Past trends are continuing and sticking around.
Continuing trends from previous year: Newfound Nostalgia, Barbie World, Creative Caramel.
Flavours: Cookie Dough, S’mores, Tiramisu.
Other Identified Trends:
Increased consumer demand for personalisation in food products.
Functional ingredients will become more important in both healthy and indulgent products.
Consumer distrust in food manufacturing due to media coverage of UPFs and misinformation.
42% of consumers "highly concerned" about ultra-processed/over-processing (Food Standards Agency).
Need for brand transparency and collaborations to build trust.
Continued unpredictable weather and commodity pricing challenges (cocoa, oranges, butter).
Manufacturers need "plan B" to maintain stable product prices.
Key Takeaway
I.T.S's 2025 Flavour Report predicts a flavour landscape shaped by consumer desires for trust, solace, and novelty in an uncertain world. Key trends include Eastern-inspired calming flavours, bold and intense tastes, sweet & spicy combinations, fresh melon flavours, and the continuation of nostalgic trends. Transparency, personalisation, functional ingredients, and addressing commodity pricing challenges are also highlighted as crucial considerations for food and beverage brands in 2025.
Main Trend
Flavours of Reassurance and Escape
Description of the Trend (Name it): Flavours of Reassurance and Escape
This trend describes the overarching direction of flavour preferences in 2025, driven by consumer responses to global uncertainty and a desire for both comfort and novelty. Flavours are becoming vehicles for reassurance, offering calming and familiar tastes that provide solace in anxious times, while also serving as a means of escape, with bold, exciting, and globally-inspired flavours offering new sensory experiences and a sense of adventure. This trend reflects a dual consumer need: to find comfort and stability in familiar tastes and to seek novelty and excitement through flavour exploration as a form of escapism from an unpredictable world.
What is consumer motivation?
Consumer motivation for Flavours of Reassurance and Escape includes:
Seeking Comfort and Solace: Desire for familiar, comforting flavours that provide emotional reassurance and a sense of stability in uncertain times.
Desire for Novelty and Excitement: Craving for new and exciting flavour experiences as a form of escapism and adventure, offering a break from routine and stress.
Building Trust in Food Choices: Seeking flavours associated with naturalness, authenticity, and transparency to build trust in food brands amidst concerns about processing and misinformation.
Personalization and Control: Desire for personalized flavour experiences and food choices that reflect individual preferences and needs, offering a sense of control in a chaotic world.
Health and Indulgence Balance: Seeking both healthier, lighter flavours (melon, Eastern) and indulgent, bold flavours (sweet & spicy, nostalgic) to balance well-being with pleasure.
What is driving trend?
Several factors are driving this trend:
Global Uncertainty and Anxiety: Fast-changing conflicts, political uncertainty, climate crisis, and other global issues are creating consumer anxiety and a need for comfort and escape.
Distrust in Food Processing: Increased media coverage and misinformation about ultra-processed foods are eroding consumer trust in food brands and driving demand for transparency.
Influence of Eastern Cultures: Growing Western interest in Asian and Eastern cultures, including their cuisines and flavour profiles, is expanding flavour palates and preferences.
Social Media and Food Trends: Social media amplifies flavour trends, driving rapid adoption and experimentation with new and exciting tastes.
Desire for Sensory Experiences: Consumers are increasingly seeking rich and immersive sensory experiences, and flavour is a key driver of these experiences in food and beverage consumption.
What is motivation beyond the trend?
Beyond immediate flavour preferences, deeper motivations include:
Seeking Emotional Well-being: Food and flavour choices are increasingly linked to emotional well-being, with consumers using food to manage stress, seek comfort, and enhance mood.
Desire for Connection and Community: Shared food experiences and flavour trends can foster a sense of connection and community, as consumers explore and discuss new tastes together.
Self-Expression through Food: Food and flavour choices are becoming a form of self-expression, reflecting individual identities, values, and desires for both comfort and adventure.
Description of consumers article is referring to
The article refers to food and beverage consumers globally, with a focus on Western markets, specifically those who are:
Age: Broad age range, as flavour trends are relevant across demographics, though Gen Z and Millennials are often early adopters of new food trends.
Values-Conscious: Increasingly aware of and concerned about food processing, transparency, and ethical sourcing.
Experiential: Seek new and exciting sensory experiences, including through food and beverage choices.
Health-Oriented (and Indulgent): Balancing health considerations with desires for indulgence and flavourful experiences.
Globally Connected: Influenced by global trends and cuisines, open to trying flavours from different cultures.
Digitally Informed: Accessing food and flavour information and trends through online sources and social media.
Conclusions
The article concludes that flavour trends in 2025 will be shaped by a dual consumer desire for reassurance and escape in an uncertain world. This will manifest in preferences for both comforting, familiar flavours and bold, adventurous tastes, as well as a demand for transparency and trust in food brands. Food and beverage manufacturers need to be responsive to these evolving consumer needs and adapt their product development and marketing strategies accordingly.
Implications for Brands
Balance Comfort and Novelty: Brands should offer a balanced portfolio of flavours that cater to both consumer desires for comfort and reassurance as well as novelty and excitement.
Embrace Global Flavours (Authentically): Explore and incorporate global flavours, particularly from Asian and Eastern cuisines, but do so authentically and respectfully, highlighting their cultural origins.
Communicate Transparency and Trust: Prioritize transparency in sourcing and production processes and communicate these efforts to build consumer trust and address concerns about food processing.
Personalization and Customization: Offer opportunities for personalization and customization to cater to individual consumer preferences and enhance the sense of control.
Highlight Functional Benefits (Where Relevant): Incorporate functional ingredients and highlight their benefits in both healthier and indulgent products, aligning with consumer interest in health and well-being.
Implication for Society
Food as Emotional Support: Food is increasingly playing a role as a source of emotional support and comfort in times of stress and uncertainty.
Globalisation of Taste: Flavour preferences are becoming increasingly globalized, with cross-cultural influences shaping food trends worldwide.
Increased Consumer Scrutiny of Food Industry: Consumers are becoming more critical and demanding of the food industry, expecting greater transparency and ethical practices.
Implications for Consumers
Wider Flavour Choices: Consumers will have access to a wider range of flavour choices, reflecting both comforting and adventurous profiles, as well as global influences.
More Personalized Food Experiences: Expect more personalized and customizable food and beverage options tailored to individual preferences.
Increased Awareness of Food Processing: Consumers will likely become more informed and discerning about food processing methods and ingredient sourcing.
Implication for Future
Continued Flavour Innovation Driven by Emotion: Emotional needs and desires will continue to be a primary driver of flavour innovation in the food and beverage industry.
Rise of "Mindful Indulgence": Expect a growing trend towards "mindful indulgence," where consumers seek flavourful and enjoyable experiences while also being conscious of health and ethical considerations.
Data-Driven Flavour Development: Data analytics and AI will play an increasing role in predicting and developing successful flavour trends.
Sustainability as a Flavour Driver: Sustainability and ethical sourcing will become increasingly important flavour drivers, with consumers seeking out flavours associated with environmentally and socially responsible practices.
Consumer Trend (Name, Detailed Description): 'Emotional Eating for Assurance'
Detailed Description: This consumer trend describes the increasing tendency for consumers to turn to food and beverage choices as a means of seeking emotional reassurance and comfort in response to external anxieties and uncertainties. Consumers exhibiting this trend actively seek out flavours and food products that evoke feelings of nostalgia, familiarity, and solace, using food as a source of emotional stability and well-being in an unpredictable world.
Consumer Sub Trend (Name, Detailed Description): 'Global Flavour Escapism'
Detailed Description: This sub-trend highlights the specific desire for flavour-driven escapism through the exploration of global cuisines and tastes. Consumers are increasingly seeking out flavours from different cultures as a way to experience novelty, adventure, and a sense of escape from their everyday routines and anxieties, using food to virtually travel and explore the world through taste.
Big Social Trend (Name, Detailed Description): 'The Age of Uncertainty and Anxiety'
Detailed Description: This broader social trend reflects the pervasive sense of uncertainty and anxiety that characterizes the current global landscape. The Age of Uncertainty and Anxiety is driven by factors such as geopolitical instability, climate change, economic anxieties, and rapid technological change, creating a widespread feeling of unease and a desire for stability and control in various aspects of life, including consumer choices.
Worldwide Social Trend (Name, Detailed Description): 'Globalisation of Taste Preferences'
Detailed Description: This global trend describes the accelerating convergence of taste preferences and culinary influences across different cultures and regions worldwide. Driven by globalization, digital media, and increased travel, taste preferences are becoming less localized and more globally interconnected, with flavours and cuisines rapidly crossing borders and influencing food trends on a global scale.
Social Drive (Name, Detailed Description): 'Desire for Comfort, Control & Sensory Escape'
Detailed Description: The underlying social drive is the fundamental human desire for comfort, control, and sensory escape in the face of uncertainty and stress. Consumers are motivated to seek out experiences, including food and beverage consumption, that provide comfort, a sense of control in their personal choices, and opportunities for sensory escape from daily anxieties and the pressures of an unpredictable world.
Learnings for brands to use in 2025
Comfort and escape sell: Flavours that offer reassurance and/or escapism are key to consumer appeal.
Global flavours are in demand: Authentic and well-executed global flavours, especially Asian, are trending.
Transparency builds brand trust: Clear and honest communication about sourcing and processing is essential.
Personalization enhances connection: Offer customizable options to cater to individual preferences.
Functional ingredients add value: Incorporate functional ingredients to meet health-conscious and indulgent needs.
Strategy Recommendations for brands to follow in 2025
Develop "Comfort Flavour Collections": Create product lines featuring comforting and familiar flavours, emphasizing nostalgia, warmth, and emotional reassurance in marketing and product design.
Curate "Global Flavour Adventure" Ranges: Introduce product ranges that authentically showcase flavours from specific global cuisines, highlighting cultural origins and offering consumers a "taste旅行" (taste travel) experience.
Implement "Transparency-Focused Marketing": Develop marketing campaigns that explicitly communicate brand transparency efforts, detailing sourcing, processing, and ethical practices to build consumer trust.
Offer "Personalized Flavour Builder" Options: Provide online tools or in-store experiences that allow consumers to personalize flavour profiles of products, creating customized options that cater to individual tastes.
Integrate "Mood-Boosting Ingredient" Lines: Develop product lines that incorporate ingredients known for mood-boosting or stress-reducing properties, aligning with consumer desire for emotional well-being and leveraging functional ingredients.
Final Sentence (Key concept) describing main trend from article (which is a summary of all trends specified)
I.T.S's 2025 Flavours Report highlights the Flavours of Reassurance and Escape trend, demonstrating how consumers are seeking both comforting and adventurous tastes in food and beverages as a response to global uncertainty and a desire for both solace and novelty.
What brands & companies should do in 2025 to benefit from trend and how to do it.
Food and beverage brands in 2025 should capitalize on the Flavours of Reassurance and Escape trend by strategically developing product lines and marketing campaigns that cater to consumers' dual desires for comfort and novelty, emphasizing authentic global flavours, transparency, personalization, and functional benefits to build trust and resonate with emotionally-driven purchasing decisions in an unpredictable world. They can do this by:
Establishing "Flavour Trend Forecasting Units": Create dedicated teams focused on continuous monitoring of global flavour trends, consumer sentiment analysis, and data-driven forecasting to proactively identify and capitalize on emerging flavour preferences.
Developing "Agile Flavour Innovation Processes": Implement agile product development processes that allow for rapid prototyping and testing of new flavour concepts, enabling quick adaptation to fast-changing consumer trends and market demands.
Launching "Sensory Storytelling Marketing Campaigns": Create marketing campaigns that go beyond traditional advertising, focusing on sensory storytelling that evokes emotions, memories, and aspirational experiences associated with specific flavours, engaging consumers on a deeper emotional level.
Partnering with "Global Culinary Ambassadors": Collaborate with chefs, food bloggers, and cultural influencers from diverse backgrounds to authentically promote global flavour ranges and build credibility around cultural representation and flavour accuracy.
Investing in "Sustainable & Ethical Flavour Sourcing": Prioritize and invest in sustainable and ethical sourcing of flavour ingredients, communicating these commitments transparently to consumers and aligning with growing demand for responsible and trustworthy brands.
Final Note:
Core Trend: Flavours of Reassurance and Escape - Consumers seek flavours for comfort and novelty in an uncertain world.
Core Strategy: Balance Comfort & Novelty, Emphasize Trust & Personalization - Offer both familiar and adventurous flavours, prioritize transparency and customization.
Core Industry Trend: Emotion-Driven Flavour Innovation - The food industry is increasingly driven by understanding and catering to consumer emotional needs through flavour.
Core Consumer Motivation: Desire for Comfort, Control & Sensory Escape in Uncertainty - Consumers seek solace, control, and escape through food choices amidst global anxieties.
Final Conclusion
The Flavours of Reassurance and Escape trend, as highlighted in I.T.S's 2025 Flavour Report, signifies a pivotal moment for the food and beverage industry. To thrive in 2025 and beyond, brands must move beyond simply delivering taste and actively engage with consumers' emotional needs, crafting flavour experiences that offer both comfort and excitement, building trust through transparency, and embracing agile innovation to navigate the ever-evolving and unpredictable world of flavour preferences.
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