Top Food & Beverage Flavors for 2025
Tracking emerging flavors poised to impact menus next year and beyond
PHOTO CREDIT: LUNAMARINA/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
PHOTO CREDIT: Robert Patrick Briggs/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
PHOTO CREDIT: domnicky/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
PHOTO CREDIT: Valente Romero Sanchez/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
The speed in which emerging flavors, ingredients and cuisines move through the trends cycle today is nothing short of astonishing. The quick pace of flavor discovery is exciting for the consumer, but arguably even more thrilling for the menu developer. The challenge is choosing which trending flavors to focus on in the development process. We’ve pinpointed four flavors for 2025, each representing opportunity for differentiation while aligning with larger, sustaining trends. As we see them take shape on restaurant menus, each also promises opportunity in the retail space, offering a parallel path for consumer exploration and adoption.
1. Concha
This Mexican sweet roll stands out with its striped, seashell-like appearance and crispy, sugary topping. Look for iterations next year that take the concha into fun mash-up territory. Indeed, the “croncha,” a craveable combination of a croissant and a concha, is already making a splash. The “manteconcha” could be next, thrilling consumers with a marriage between a muffin and a concha. The concha also offers runway as a starchy sub-in, seen in a French toast riff at Calaca Mamas in Anaheim, Calif.
2. Café De Olla
We’ve seen great pick-up with Mexican beverages over the last few years, including horchata, a rice-based drink, and the carajillo, Mexico’s answer to the espresso martini. Next, look for café de olla to emerge on menus and move onto grocery shelves. This ancient drink is cozy and comforting, featuring coffee brewed with cinnamon and piloncillo, and sometimes orange peel, anise and cloves.
3. Elderberry
Propelled by the Scandinavian trend and bolstered by an immunity-boosting positioning, the elderberry is poised to make moves in 2025. Mildly sweet and bitter, tart and earthy, this fruit boasts a floral, woodsy, wine-like profile. It’s most often brought to market as a concentrate or juice, with applications that run from vinaigrettes and marinades to smoothies and ice cream desserts. Look for pairings that showcase a fall vibe, with partners like cinnamon, allspice, star anise, clove and vanilla.
4. Salsa Negra
It’s no surprise that the Mexican pantry offers so much inspiration—not only is the cuisine rich with flavor and variety, it also offers a familial vibe to consumers; even if they haven’t heard of a particular ingredient or dish, they’re at home with Mexican cuisine and willing to experiment more readily. Take a closer look at salsa negra, a smoky, spicy, rich sauce boasting black garlic two types of dried chile, garlic and sesame. Richard Sandoval Hospitality Group features it at a few of their concepts, including in the Filete en Salsa Negra, sporting beef tenderloin, tres chiles gastrique, heirloom carrot, butternut squash and agave purple mashed potato.
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