Kerry, a global leader in taste and nutrition, has shared its 2024 Taste Charts: ‘A World Of Future Tastes’. A culmination of a year-long research effort tailored specifically for 13 distinct regional markets, including 37 counties in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA).
Kerry’s predictions date back over a decade, considering flavours here to stay long-term and flavours and ingredients bound to have ripple effects on the food and beverage industry. Each taste chart has four lifecycle categories for how it determines a flavour or ingredients market impact: Mainstream, the flavour that has remained firm favourites for the last five years; Key, the following flavours that have been firm favourites for five years; Up & Coming, the fastest growing flavour the last three years, and Emerging, the fastest growing flavours in the last year.
Each country and region’s taste chart has unique recommendations across five flavour categories: Sweet, Savoury, Salty Snack, Hot and Dairy-based Beverages, and Cold and Water-based beverages.
Kerry researchers delved into the lifecycles of two enduring flavours—orange and chocolate. The study explores how these traditional ingredients are transforming into inventive products globally. These case studies illustrate the fusion of popular and traditional tastes into new, innovative applications as brands experiment with sourcing, combining, and recombining flavours and ingredients.
Orange is a powerhouse flavour with many tonalities across all categories, from chocolate-flavoured hot beverages to blood orange desserts. There have been 16 unique orange entries in the taste charts over the past five years, with different seasons bringing refreshing and warming variations of the classic favourite.
The most common tonalities globally and in New Zealand in the past five years, excluding generic orange, are blood orange, mandarin, orange blossom, tangerine, and bergamot. Notably, there was a 17 percent growth in Aperol sales in 2022, in line with the growth of bitter orange flavour and a 44 percent growth of launches in the past five years with oranges into Cold and Water-based beverages. In 2023, the most popular tonalities for oranges were for tangerine, blood orange, and mandarin.
The diverse flavour profiles of chocolate, including the intense bitterness of dark chocolate, the creamy sweetness of milk chocolate and the rich, buttery taste of white chocolate, cater to a wide range of consumer preferences. They are often included in various drinks and dessert-style applications loved worldwide.
The top dessert style taste chart entries for chocolate in the APMEA were red velvet, and white chocolate appears as emerging on the APMEA’s sweet chart, where it is key for hot beverages in Europe. Milk is the APMEA’s most popular, followed by dark, white, and ruby.
New Zealand’s top Mainstream flavours for the last five years have been milk chocolate, raspberry, almond, strawberry, vanilla, caramel, banana, coconut, apple, and blueberry. Its Up & Coming flavours include Strawberries & Cream, Watermelon, Kiwi, Toffee, Brownie, Cookies & Cream, Coffee, Grape, Cheesecake, Cherry, Cookie Dough, Nougat, Rum, Mascarpone Cheese, S’mores, Hazelnut Praline, Gingerbread, Plum, Peach, and Caramelised White Chocolate.
Across the wider Asia Pacific region, the flavour scene remains vibrant. Avinash Lal, Market Research and Consumer Insights Director, Kerry Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, commented on the 2024 Asia Pacific (APAC) Taste Charts, highlighting the colourful flavour tapestry influenced by diverse cultural traditions and evolving consumer preferences.
Young consumers in APAC seek bold and unusual flavour combinations, driven by social media influence and a desire for novelty. This trend opens opportunities for sweet-savoury pairings like bacon milkshakes, coffee infused with black garlic, and chocolate bars with wasabi. The plant-based revolution is also gaining traction, increasing demand for creative flavour solutions in meat and dairy alternatives.
Soumya Nair, Global Consumer Research and Insights Director at Kerry, said consumers wanted tasty innovations or flavours reminiscent of their travel experiences. The ever-changing landscape presents challenges and gives brands unprecedented opportunities to capitalise on rising trends. The Kerry 2024 Taste Charts are a valuable tool for the food and beverage industry to navigate the evolving product taste environment.
