The quotes are Innova’s own from literature presented at Anuga. Check in tomorrow to get the research firm’s gen on trends in the Middle East, Africa and Australasia.
NORTH AMERICA:
Retro Soda: Lemonade, pink lemonade, root beer and cream soda have been ‘reincarnated’ in blends and in alcoholic drinks.
Differentiated Flavors: Blue raspberry, white peach, huckleberry, kombucha tea and dark chocolate ‘demonstrate the trend towards the use of more flavour specifically to differ from the norm’.
Fruit Flavors: Cherry is gaining ‘superfruit’ status, with red and black cherry flavors emerging. Watermelon is growing and cactus/prickly pear is a ‘new generation superfruit flavour’.
Citrus: Increasingly used for alcoholic drinks, lime is being paired with cherry and berry flavors.
Vegetable Flavors: Celery, cucumber, beetroot and kale (2012-) complement fruit flavors in juices, smoothies and teas, and add ‘health-giving phytochemicals’.
Hot & Spicy Beverages: Black pepper, pepper and chilli lend spicy heat to both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in North America.
LATIN AMERICA
Superfruits: Starfruit/carambola, guanabana/soursop, pomegranate and mangosteen are fast-growing flavors in concentrates, while juices are used in sports, energy drinks.
Pink Grapefruit: On trend in flavored waters, sports and energy drinks.
Blackberry: Establishing a niche in juices and energy and sports drinks.
Coconut: ‘Coconut’s health halo has spread to Latin America, where there are increasing numbers of coconut-based drinks.’
Tropical Fruit: On the rise in sports and energy drinks.
Lemonade: Used increasingly to flavor juices and other non-carbonated soft drinks.
WESTERN EUROPE
Spices: Ginger, cloves, black pepper and cinnamon are popular in RTDs and herbal tea
Berry Varietals: Chokeberry, elderberry, lingonberry and bilberry feature strongly, principally in new juices, teas and alcoholic drinks.
New Generation Superfruits: Guanabana/soursop, cloudberry/aronia, cactus/prickly pear, blackcurrant. As per the US, new superfruits are increasingly used in soft drinks, spirits and liqueurs, tea and beer.
Cherry: Morello, sour, black and red cherry varietals are especially common in juices.
Herbal Flavors: Coriander is seeing success as a beer flavour and lemon balm is emerging in tea, while herbs are cropping up in CSDs, spirits and liqueurs and tea.
Honey: Featuring in flavoured beer, spirits, liqueurs – its flavor especially suits that of brown spirits.
EASTERN EUROPE
Tropical Fruits: Passion fruit, guava, kiwi and mango crop up in tea and other soft drinks.
Coffee & Tea Flavors: Latte macchiato, latter, mocha, chamomile are rooibos represent the “widespread flavour differentiation” for tea and coffee worldwide.
Tangerine/Mandarin: Mainly used to flavour CSDs and juices.
Superfruits: Goji, sea buckthorn and pomegranate are increasingly used to flavour juices and tea.
Herbal Flavors: Mojito is a growing flavour in non-alcoholic drinks, while peppermint, spearmint, mint, sage, echinacea, nettle and lemongrass are found mainly in herbal teas, iced teas and other soft drinks.