R&D Trends

Food trends don’t happen overnight; they move through a cycle of inception, adoption, proliferation, and ubiquity. A flavor might start in niche circles, gain traction on social media, spread across restaurants and retail, and eventually land on mass-market menus. But success isn’t just about being new. The trends that last are those that balance novelty with relevance, shaped by cultural influences, wellness priorities, and sustainability values.

At Itaberco, R&D plays a central role in navigating this cycle and turning ideas into scalable flavor compounds that work across categories. From Dubai pistachio chocolate to brown butter and “swicy” mashups, this blog explores today’s top food trends and the innovations guiding their journey from concept to consumer.

Common R&D Trends Shaping the Industry

Clean Label & Natural Ingredient Innovation: Consumers demand transparency, like clean extracts, all-natural coloring, and botanical infusions instead of artificial additives.
Functional Flavor Compounds: Flavor is now expected to do more, with compounds that add wellness benefits like antioxidants, adaptogens, or probiotics.
Sustainability & Upcycled Ingredients: Upcycled cacao shells, fruit pulp flours, and vegetable byproducts are becoming everyday flavor sources, supporting circular innovation.
Hyper-Regional & Cultural Flavor Mapping: Local inspirations like black sesame in pastry or chili lime in snacks are moving into mainstream formats, blending tradition with novelty.

Top Food Trends to Watch

Food trends move fast, often accelerated by social media, retail adoption, and cultural curiosity. These trending food ideas illustrate how R&D teams identify what’s next, test its staying power, and decide whether it will remain a fleeting novelty or evolve into a market staple.

Dubai Pistachio Chocolate’s Ubiquity

Few flavors illustrate the inception-to-ubiquity lifecycle more clearly than Dubai pistachio chocolate. Created in 2022, it gained early traction on TikTok in 2023, spread through adoption in 2024, and by 2025 has achieved global ubiquity. What began as a regional specialty is now everywhere: McDonald’s offers pistachio doughnuts in Spain, Italy has a Pistachio McFlurry, and U.S. retailers like Trader Joe’s, Costco, and Shake Shack have embraced it as well.

The popularity has been so overwhelming that a pistachio shortage was announced in April 2024. For R&D teams, this is a textbook example of how quickly a novelty can accelerate into a global staple and why monitoring lifecycle stages is critical for anticipating demand.

Brown Butter’s Cozy Resurgence

Brown butter was once a niche ingredient in gourmet ice creams, such as Jeni’s Brown Butter Almond Brittle (2009), Häagen-Dazs Salted Brown Butter, and Hershey’s Brown Butter Bourbon Truffle, but has now expanded far beyond frozen desserts. Restaurants like Super Bueno in New York are now experimenting with brown butter in unexpected applications, including a brown butter–infused tequila. Its rich, nutty depth makes it a natural fit for the fall season, and many in the industry are forecasting that it could become the “new pumpkin spice”, a cozy, versatile anchor that feels seasonal without oversaturation.

Fall Flavors

Autumn has always been synonymous with comfort, but consumers are beginning to look beyond the pumpkin spice dominance of the past decade. Starbucks helped set the stage in 2024 by spotlighting apple crisp and pecan, signaling a broader move toward flavors that still feel seasonal but offer new experiences.
As Itaberco’s R&D Manager, Jamie French, observed,

“Pecan is such an underrated fall flavor. I’d love to see more creative twists on it. Not just traditional pecan pie, but something playful, like a pecan pie ice cream. It has so much potential beyond the classic format.”

Together, apple, pecan, and brown butter present an opportunity to redefine cozy fall flavor profiles while providing relief from pumpkin spice fatigue.

Dill Pickle & the Power of the Unexpected

Dill pickle began as a novelty but has steadily carved out space as a legitimate flavor trend. What might have seemed quirky a few years ago is now a cross-category staple, appearing in everything from beers and Cup Noodles to Goldfish crackers, Heinz Pickle Ketchup, Trader Joe’s mini hot dogs, and even Shake Shack’s fried pickles. The bold, briny flavor has even jumped into bakery, with Baked by Melissa releasing a dill pickle cupcake.

Emerging Beverage Trends

The beverage category is undergoing a fascinating transformation, with growth happening at both ends of the spectrum. On one side, consumers are increasingly embracing alcohol-free alternatives that align with wellness and moderation. On the other, cocktails are enjoying a creative renaissance, with mixologists reinventing classic formats like the martini in bold, unexpected ways.

Non-Alcoholic Beverages on the Rise

The “sober curious” movement has gained significant momentum, and the numbers tell the story. In 2024, the global non-alcoholic beer category grew by 9%, while overall alcohol consumption declined by 1%. Heineken’s 0.0 posted 14% growth in the first half of the year. Industry forecasts predict that NA beer could become the second-largest beer category by 2029, growing 8% annually while traditional ale declines.

At the same time, fine dining establishments are reviving NA pairings. Top NYC restaurants are introducing chef-led non-alcoholic tasting menus that rival wine programs. For R&D, this trend underscores the importance of developing flavors that translate beyond desserts into sophisticated, standalone beverage experiences.

The Martini Renaissance

On the opposite end of the spectrum, martinis are having a revival. After years of espresso martinis dominating menus, bartenders are pushing boundaries: onion soup martinis, filet mignon martinis, za’atar martinis, and more. High-end restaurants are even offering martini programs where guests can choose their spirit base, garnishes, and ratios. It’s proof that classic formats can be endlessly reimagined when R&D leans into experimentation and cultural remixing.

Global and Cultural Inspirations

What once felt niche or regional is now moving confidently into the mainstream, with consumers eager to explore new taste profiles that carry both novelty and authenticity.

Asian Inspirations

Ube may have opened the door, but Asian ingredients like pandan, miso, black sesame, and yuzu are now being embraced across categories:

Bub & Grandma’s, LA: black sesame croissant
République, LA: miso white chocolate almond croissant
Overstory & Bar Clemente, NYC: yuzu and pandan cocktails
Supermoon Bakehouse, NYC: miso crème brûlée and white sesame soy gelato

These examples show how Asian inspirations are being adapted into bakery, beverages, and frozen desserts, proving their staying power as everyday flavor staples.

Sweet + Spicy (“Swicy”) Flavor Boom

The marriage of sweet and spicy, now called “swicy”, has moved beyond experimentation to become a true cross-category driver. Pastry chefs are laminating dough with gochujang, chili-lime sweets are gaining popularity, and restaurants are serving bold creations like jalapeño chocolate cake. At the mass-market level, Chipotle’s Hot Honey Chicken proved that swicy can scale, setting the stage for further innovation. Other flavor explorations, from tajin and guajillo to pimento cheese twists, show just how versatile the trend can be.

Tea-Inspired Innovations

Tea profiles are also becoming a creative playground for R&D. Earl Grey, hibiscus, and rose are migrating from traditional beverages into unexpected categories like bakery and confectionery. In New York, Radio Bakery is offering Earl Grey croissants, Librae has developed an Earl Grey olive oil cookie, and Hani’s is drawing attention with a hibiscus rose morning bun.

How Itaberco Innovates with R&D

At Itaberco, research and development is about more than chasing the next big flavor. We balance innovation with consistency and give customers the flexibility they need to succeed.

Seasonality plays a role, with flavor compounds like cherry blossom in spring or gingerbread in fall cycling in and out to keep flavors timely and relevant. New ideas typically begin with trend spotting or customer demand, then move through supplier screening, R&D testing, management review, and company-wide evaluation before release.

Itaberco also balances limited-time offers (LTOs) that drive excitement with long-term flavors that provide stability for customers. And because flexibility is central to our philosophy, the team adapts flavor compounds or develops new ones to meet specific customer requests.

Strategic Flavor Innovation for What Comes Next

From cozy classics to daring mashups, today’s flavors show that innovation is everywhere, but impact requires intention.

For brands, the challenge isn’t simply identifying what’s next: it’s knowing which ideas to invest in, how to scale them, and when to evolve them. That’s where Itaberco’s R&D process provides value: combining trend awareness with rigorous testing, cross-category adaptability, and customer collaboration to transform emerging flavors into compounds that deliver both creativity and consistency.

As food trends continue to accelerate, Itaberco will remain a partner in helping brands translate today’s trending food ideas into lasting, scalable flavor solutions.

Let Itaberco help you harness today’s trends and design the flavors that will define tomorrow. Contact us to get started!

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