Looking Ahead: Top Food & Beverage Trends for 2024

Inflation and Cost-Consciousness

Inflation was the talk of the town in 2023 – whether it’s the cost of eggs and other staple ingredients, or the rising costs of specialty foods. According to Innova Market Insights, “redefining value” is their top trend of 2023 and one to watch for the new year. This doesn’t always translate to cutting costs, but it does mean consumers are looking for more bang for their hard-earned bucks.

“As financial volatility and societal uncertainty rage on, consumers seek more support from their favorite brands and chosen food & beverage products,” says Innova. Brands, manufacturers, and retailers must “understand deeply where consumers are willing to compromise in order to combat the current instability we’re all experiencing.”

As reported in a recent article from Food Processing magazine, IRI Worldwide concurs with the above assessment, saying that consumers “employ a range of strategies to reduce spending, such as switching to private labels, trading out of expensive food categories, and trading down to mainstream and value brands, as well as consuming more at home versus away from home.”

Health & Wellness Continue to Lead

Consumers continue to value eating for wellness and are actively looking for healthy ingredients. This includes functional ingredients, such as those added to meats and meat substitutes. Innova Market Insights data indicates a 2% average annual growth in food & beverage launches with functional ingredients globally between July 2018 to June 2023. This includes both pro- and pre-biotic ingredient additions. “There is an especially noticeable increase in meat substitute launches that use functional ingredients, with 20% growth in the five-year span,” says Innova. “Poultry substitutes are the fastest growing meat substitutes with functional ingredients.”

Consumers also continue to seek out foods that utilize organic ingredients.  According to the Organic Trade Association, “In almost every organic food aisle, demand jumped by near-record levels, propelling U.S. organic food sales in 2020 up a record 12.8% to a new high of $56.4 billion. In 2020, almost 6% of the food sold in the U.S. was certified organic.” And, even with inflation fears and consumers engaging in more value-added ingredient shopping, this trend has not waned. The value of eating organic has not diminished.

Creative Culinary

Exotic Flavors – Flavor is one way to add excitement to the hum-drum. And, even while cutting costs, consumers are still very much on board with exciting or exotic flavors and flavor combinations. According to Food Processing, spice giant McCormick & Co. has been creating an annual trend report for 23 years. In 2023, four dozen global chefs, culinary professionals, trend trackers, food technologists, and company experts from around the world collaborated for the following flavor predictions:

Using fats for flavor: Consumers and chefs are using fats, once misunderstood as “unhealthy” to add creaminess and flavor to standard foods and beverages.

Say it in French: French cooking techniques, translated to layman’s kitchen usage, have “never been more approachable,” says McCormick. The best ingredients, combined with age-old culinary techniques are being employed by home cooks to add a level of haute cuisine to the everyday.

Heat it up: The concept of layering tastes with heat and ingredient pairings have reshaped how heat is perceived and how long it lingers.

Cutting costs and spending wise are still at the top of the priority list, but the results are clear – consumers want flavor.

Color My World – Like exotic flavors, unique or exciting colorings can make staple foods or flavors seem brand-new. Innova’s data says that coloring ingredients are trending, with what they say is a 2% annual growth over the last five years. The highest percentage goes to confectionery, with caramel color being the lead color ingredient during that time period.

The use of color additives derived from natural sources, commonly referred to as natural colors, to color foods & beverages is increasing, according to IFT.org,  and synthetic color additives’ use in food & beverage products is decreasing. Major food companies have steadily been removing synthetic color additives and replacing them with natural colors to appeal to consumer demand and synthetic colorings’ perception as “unhealthy.”

On To 2024

The trends of 2023 help set the heading for food & beverage in 2024. Exotic flavors and colors; ingredients for health and wellness; and getting the most value for food expenditures are sure to remain top-of-mind for most consumers in 2024.