Last spring was the season of the lavender latte. This year, floral flavors are set to make an even bigger impact, particularly at bars and cafés through beverages.
Interest in lavender coffee is coming right back around: searches for these beverages increased 60% month-over-month in January on YouTube, Shannon O’Shields, Rubix Foods marketing VP, told The Food Institute in an interview.
What’s more, “hibiscus lemonade” and “elderflower liqueur cocktails” were breakout search terms on YouTube with “hibiscus tea” alone jumping 130% in YouTube searches, she explained. The search engine is a popular tool for food and beverage discovery, particularly among Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
A recent Rubix report charting Gen Z consumer need states found that 67% of the demographic is interested in seeing more floral-infused food and beverages.
“Fragrant flavors with a delicate sweetness that accumulate a lot of buzzy attention…have a lot of potential for driving traffic with Gen Z,” read the report.
Additional insights include:
- 47% of Gen Z likes/loves hibiscus; over the next four years, it’s projected to grow 32%
- 60% of Gen Z say lavender is in; over the next four years, it’s slated to jump 30%
- 40% of Gen Z respond positively to cherry blossom; over the next four years, it will likely increase 12%
The mocktail and cocktail space has a history of leveraging these flavors, but even there, recent burgeoning growth projections signal a strong year ahead.
Floral’s delicate flavors can help balance dishes with strong flavors while providing a strong differentiator. Lavendar, for example, can help offset bitter notes in a coffee product, mused O’Shields.
Datassential’s February 2025 MenuTrends report found that lavender is projected to grow 71% over the next for years, and elderflower will likely shoot up 57%. It also revealed rosewater is primed for a boom, anticipated to increase 136%.
Maybe Everything Is Coming Up Roses
Accelerated rosewater interest likely coincides with the fact that rose itself has become a salient flavor trend rife for menu innovation.
“I anticipate we may see a lot of rose-flavored things. It has a lot of unique functional properties that people can play into. It also has a health halo and a very feminine elegant or elevated perception,” she explained.
Additionally, these characteristics ladder up to the macro trends around prioritizing one’s well-being while offering a plethora of rose-flavored global products that manufacturers and chefs can sample and take inspiration from, particularly across the Middle East and South Asia. Think Indian sweets like rose barfi or Middle Eastern baklava.
The Engine: Consumers Want What’s New
Consumers today crave innovation. Market forces have created a space where the philosophy “innovate or die” has become table stakes.
“There will come a time where we will need to get ‘back to the core,’ but for now, we’re at a tipping point where so many different things are happening at once because of our access to social media, global flavors, blurring segment lines, and value being a central conversation point,” said O’Shields. “These have driven consumers, especially young shoppers, to want to try new things, so much more so than ever before.”
Floral trends play into larger market dynamics around accelerated interest in health and global flavors. As such, they offer a safe way for foodservice and CPG brands to develop unique takes on their product assortment.
The key, however, is authenticity; however today’s interpretation is more nuanced. Consumers respond positively when flavor innovation is used to put a unique spin on one’s brand. As a result, shoppers become excited by trying it out. On the other hand, younger generations are less interested in portraying the flavor as traditionally authentic.
A Datassential report cited in the recent FI monthly report on globally inspired flavor trends found authenticity has become less rigid for younger generations: over 33% prefer fusion preparations of global cuisines to traditional dishes, and nearly 40% are less likely to trust food items labeled “authentic.”
When taking inspiration from ingredients that play a role in another’s culture; however, tact and precision are required. Last year’s “bobagate” controversy showed that leveraging international flavors and dishes could lead to appropriating a community’s culture and tradition, if improperly handled.
To learn more about how international flavors are shaping domestic flavor trends, become an FI member to access all our monthly reports.
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