For foodservice operators looking for innovation in their menu offerings, Monin’s newly released 2024 Flavour Trends report provides interesting – and useful – food for thought.
Months in the making, the Monin team of internal flavour experts and consumer-insight specialists sought out opinions from operators, chefs, distributors, product-development specialists, data analysts, and consumers to uncover the top five flavour trends that will set the course for the industry in 2024 and beyond.
This year’s trends lineup points to a shifting landscape being powered by social media and the influencer generation, a growing fondness for timeless classics (with a modern twist), and consumers’ never-ending passion for bold, new global flavours (e.g., Southeast Asian and Central American), as well as the creative fusion between kitchen ingredients and beverage service.
“The 2024 Flavour Trends report really shines a light on what is going to happen in our industry and the food-and-beverage space,” says Stasha Johnston, SVP Marketing for Monin. “Trends play a huge role in our product development and shaping the foodservice landscape. As leaders in the realm of flavours, we want to make sure we key into all angles to get it right for our customers.”
Monin begins the process of identifying trends months before the release of the report, she explains. “Throughout the year we consider the history and the future of what customers are looking for. We look at what’s going on not just in our industry, but in the entire food and beverage space, both on and off premise. From the produce and dairy aisles to the flavour applications that we see in restaurants, bars, hotels, and coffee shops in the U.S., Canada, and around the world…all angles are considered in our research process.”
In keeping with the trends outlined in the research, Monin named Ube, a bright purple yam from the Philippines, as the 2024 Flavour of the Year.
The company’s newly launched Ube Syrup is bright and colourful, blending ube’s sweet, earthy flavour with notes of fig, vanilla, and cinnamon. “It’s the perfect combination of sweet and savory that consumers are craving, and offers a unique, global twist on classic ube,” says Johnston. “We’re really excited about bringing it to our operators and partners in the Americas. Ube Syrup is exotic yet approachable, it’s bright, and it’s beautiful. Its colour is also very Instagram-able, making it more than a triple threat.”
Ube Syrup is also versatile, she adds. “It can be used any part of the day for beverages and with any hot and cold menu item, from lattes and milkshakes, to lemonades, iced tea, and cocktails. It fills every creative need.”
