Beck Flavors is touting four key flavors for next year. Yuzu, cherry blossom, dill pickle and honeycomb toffee flavors are expected to play a key role in the F&B landscape in 2021, the company says. Moreover, ingredients featuring immunity claims and botanical “twists” are also emerging.

“The 2021 Flavors of the Year were driven by some of these categories along with innovative concepts we see likely to emerge over the coming year,” Janie Page, senior director of marketing and new business, tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

“You have to balance the trends, as well as people’s own personal favorite’s, while still considering innovative flavors that we see becoming prevalent over the coming years. We are always asked what the next pumpkin spice will be, and you can’t always see that in the trends.” 

“We have to look into the future and forecast what will be next. But at the end of the day, our team all agreed on these winning flavors,” she explains. 

The US-based flavor house identified four key flavor categories – Fruit, Botanical, Innovative and Peoples Choice – that helped provide a framework for its research and 2021 projections.

Japanese citrus takes hold
In the Fruit category, they chose yuzu, a tart flavor that tastes like the combination of a grapefruit and a mandarin orange. 

According to Page, she expects yuzu to appear in sparkling waters, energy drinks, cocktails, alcohol and hard seltzers in the coming year. 

Cat Neville, the Emmy-winning producer and host of tasteMAKERS, the webinar which announced the Flavors of the Year – says: “Not only does it have a fun and crowd-pleasing taste, it provides an innovative twist to multiple applications.”

Yuzu can also be paired with other fruits like strawberry or pear, or it can stand on its own.

A blossoming flavor
Cherry blossom was chosen as the winner in the Botanical category for 2021. 

According to Page, cherry blossom “will be seen in tea (hot and cold), mocktails, alcohol, coffee, and hard seltzer NPD.”

With a light sweetness representing springtime and renewal, this flavor can be used in anything from tea to desserts. 

Distinct dill
In the Innovative category, dill pickle was crowned the winner. 

This flavor has recently become popular in everything from beer to popcorn, and according to Beck Flavors, it still has room to grow on the national stage. 

It is a distinct flavor profile that has some unique benefits, including relieving cramping during physical activity. 

Adam Berge from the Beck Flavors lab team explains, “It can be used in a wide range of applications including cocktails, beer, chocolate, coffee, candy, ice cream, chips, popcorn and more.”

A sweet combination
Lastly, honeycomb toffee won the Peoples Choice category and was determined by tallied online votes from people across the US. 

“Both of these flavors – honeycomb and toffee – are popular by themselves, but the combination is wher the innovation happens,” says Paul Tripi, vice president and partner of Beck Flavors.

Honeycomb toffee will be seen more frequently in “coffee, alcohol, confectionery, dessert and ice cream applications next year,” adds Page. 
Given the growing attention to health and wellness, classic flavors with a botanical twist are also emerging, Page highlights. 

According to an Innova Market Insights consumer survey, one in two US consumers associate herbal flavored beverages with health and F&B launches with a floral flavor have doubled in the last five years. 

“I don’t see any signs of this slowing down,” Page continues. “In fact, I see the opposite.”

In response to this, Beck Flavors has developed a range of flavor combinations like lemon honeysuckle, lavender cupcake, berry hibiscus and blackberry sage, to name a few.

According to Page, the functional additive trends in immune support, nootropics, stress relief and energy will accelerate and become a crucial part of formulation development. 

“Product developers will seek flavors that complement these additives,” she says. 

“Traditional flavors, coupled with new innovative flavors, like yuzu and cherry blossom, will help mask and provide differentiation in the marketplace.”

“We’ve also seen an increase in projects with not only immunity benefits, but protein, stress relief and energy additives. Flavor chemists are challenged to understand the aroma and flavor attributes of the additives to ensure that the flavor enhances or masks any unpleasant or bitter off-notes,” explains Page.

It will be a novel year for research considering the pandemic, she asserts. 

“We will see more significant shifts and focus on health as we have never seen before.”

“Consumers will likely seek ways to take care of themselves and look for ingredients like turmeric, matcha, ginger, citrus, green tea and other foods that boost the immune system,” Beck concludes.