Food Industry Hopes To Satisfy The Newly Adventurous, Flavor-Seeking Consumer

Flavorists, chefs and food industry trend spotters say today’s consumers are more adventurous, willing to experiment with new, even exotic flavors. The experts have pinpointed five key flavor trends likely to gain favor among shoppers and restaurant patrons in 2015. An obsession with the Taiwanese hot sauce sriracha, for example, typifies the trend of “heat and sweet”, especially among Millennials. Kimchi – spicy pickled cabbage from Korea – is the epitome of a “sour, bitter and tangy” flavor trend. Other trends include umami (the “fifth” flavor); “smoke and oak”, associated with meat but now found in soda, spirits and beer; and Middle Eastern and North African flavors.