Whole Foods Market included floral flavors among its top 10 trends for 2018.
Valuable petals
Dialing down the heat, Whole Foods Market, Austin, Texas, included floral flavors among its top 10 trends for 2018.
“Look for flowers used like herbs in things like lavender lattés and rose-flavored everything,” Whole Foods Market said. “Bright pink hibiscus teas are a hot (and iced) part of the trend, while elderflower is the new M.V.P. (most valuable petal) of cocktails and bubbly drinks.”
Brian Wilson, applications lab manager for Prova and based in Medford, Mass., senses good vibrations for floral flavors as well.
Flavors including elderflower, cardamom and lavendar are expected to trend.
“We can expect companies to continue to differentiate their products by appealing to the trendy, upscale market by using various floral flavors like orange blossom, elderflower, lavender; spice flavors like cinnamon, cardamom, anise, ginger; and alcohol flavors like dark rum, whiskey, mescal,” he said.
Global flavors should be in demand, he added, citing taro, sesame and ube (purple sweet potato) that are popular in such Asian countries as Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Butter flavors may be in demand because of companies moving away from animal proteins and cost-savings.
“On the other side, we can expect the demand for comfort flavors like vanilla, cocoa/chocolate, and coffee to continue to rise,” Mr. Wilson said. “These are the tried-and-true flavors consumers know they can count on. We will see an increase in country-of-origin/single-origin varieties of these flavors along with more simplistic presentations to trigger the consumer’s nostalgia.”
