July 31, 2025 – Consumers have many product expectations, not just healthy and natural, but also quality, affordable price, health benefits, and excitement. They define value differently today. Because of the economy, private label products are appealing. Health and wellness among younger generations focuses on sleep. Brands are meeting these consumer needs with functional ingredients for mental wellness that also are well-crafted and can be personalized. Innova Market Insights Top 10 Trends 2025 demonstrates the impact of consumer expectations on the food and beverage marketplace.
Top 10 Trend 2025 Trend #1: Ingredients and Beyond
Consumers are demanding added value, so product quality is essential, reflecting current food trends. Asian and Latin American consumers in particular say that quality of private label products has improved. Changes to private label include premium alcoholic beverage, desserts, and ice cream, as well as meat and dairy.
Private label meat launches are growing, including premium meats and deli meat. One example is Kaufland hypermarkets K-Classic Gourmet Sliced Smoked Garlic Salami, a deli product with a high Nutri-score and a high score on Germany’s Haltungsform animal welfare scale. Lidl US recently launched a new branded meat line, Butcher’s Specialty, with high end but competitively priced products such as Wagyu ground beef and organic, antibiotic-free, grass-fed ribeye steak. These appeal to quality conscious but cost-conscious younger consumers. Other new meat products include seasoned products ready for the grill.
Innova is monitoring growth in private label premium dairy, including cheese and especially premium semi-hard and hard cheeses. Aldi Suisse is shining a spotlight on its Swiss raclette cheeses.
Top 10 Trend 2025 Trend #2: Precision Wellness
Precision wellness means meeting personalized nutrition needs throughout life. For Millennials, this can include dietary supplements. Millennials seek better sleep but they also are morning coffee drinkers. Several brands are enhancing coffee products with adaptogens and nootropics, including lion’s mane, ashwagandha and L-theanine. These ingredients can help consumers withstand stress, think clearly, and get quality rest at times of the day when the benefits are needed most. Functional mushrooms such as lion’s mane have boosted sales for Laird Superfood, a producer of coffee creamers and other products.
Laird Superfood Creamers have a coconut milk base plus functional mushrooms and are available in powdered and liquid forms. A combination of the nootropic lion’s mane mushroom for cognitive balance and adaptogenic reishi for stress management help meet consumer needs. The company is meeting consumer demand for protein with a new protein-enhanced latte powder made from pea, hemp and pumpkin seed protein plus functional lion’s mane, chaga, maitake and cordyceps mushrooms.
Maverick & Farmer Coffee, in partnership with Nuvedo, recently introduced a premium coffee with an extract of lion’s mane mushroom. The coffee is positioned for midday consumption, when consumers may need focus and mental clarity without jitters or caffeine ups and downs. Next Level Boost uses functional mushrooms to replace caffeine in its evening mushroom coffee for consumers who want to sleep better. Its coffee, available with or without kava, contains the functional mushrooms lion’s mane for sleep, chaga for calmness, reishi for stress relief, and cordyceps for better sleep quality. Other functional ingredients are skin-, joint-, and hair-boosting collagen, relaxing L-theanine, gut-friendly fiber, and soothing botanicals.
Top 10 Trend 2025 Trend #3: Wildly Inventive
Consumers want to be surprised and wowed by new products. Products can deliver the wow factor in several ways, including cross-category mash-ups, new flavors for meal parts, or surprising cultural combinations. One example is a South African flavor combo in Woolworths Deep Cut Mzansi Tangy BBQ Potato Crisps. Another is Dian Erwa’s Bitter Buckwheat Spicy Strips with a bold chili coating and crispy crunch. Maple pancake mochi from Royal Family offers a chewy, bite-sized product with a maple filling and mochi exterior.
Coffee, Tea and the Cold Revolution
Food trends show that younger consumers, namely Gen Z and Millennials, are moving toward ready-to-drink iced coffee and iced tea products. This is supporting new product innovation and launch growth in these two subcategories. Also supporting innovation – younger consumers are willing to try new products that combine energy and wellness health benefits with indulgence in a convenient format.
Younger generations are moving toward iced coffee in the morning, which is different from the coffee habits of Boomers. That trend is sparking innovation in breakfast-friendly iced coffee products. The People’s Republic of China now has the most coffee outlets in the world, and the most popular type, driven by Gen Zers, is Americano, according to Innova’s 2025 Category Survey. Nihooo offers its Americano Black Coffee that can be boosted with espresso shots.
Wake Up Smoothie Mix from Wise By Nature combines freeze-dried coffee, oat milk, banana, cocoa, and pea protein. Additional benefits include its environmentally friendly water-free formula and carbon offsets. In iced coffee flavors, caramel is growing fastest. Coop Switzerland’s Prix Garantie Caramel Cold Coffee combines 100% Arabica Fairtrade-certified coffee extract with skimmed milk.
Food trends reveal that consumers also look for function and indulgence in iced coffee. They want a combination of energy, health, and indulgent flavors. Protein-fortified iced coffee launches meet consumer desire for protein. Lattes and milk-based iced coffees are on the rise. Starbucks responded by focusing product descriptions on protein. Two examples, from Denmark, are its Caramel Hazelnut Protein Drink with Coffee and Caffè Latte Protein Drink with Coffee combine health with indulgence. Califia Farms adds a plant-based twist with its Califia Farms Protein Vanilla Almond Latte that is free from dairy, soy, gluten, carrageenan and added MSG, and is Non-GMO Project Verified.
Protein-rich cold brew lattes from Healthee USA include protein and functional ingredients for skin, bone, and joint health. Indulgence sells in South Korea, where products like Harim Today’s Protein Dolce Latte combine richness with benefits for brain health in a low sugar format. Nooz Cold Brew Coffees offer cognitive benefits from L-theanine and MCT oil in a sugar-free product line.
Iced tea is growing but not as rapidly as iced coffee. Black and oolong teas are the most popular. Natural, sugar-related, and calorie-related claims resonate most with consumers. Fair Hills Farm’s Organic Black Teas are naturally sweetened with apple juice. Zoi Ice Tea features natural and nature-identical flavorings and no added sugar. China-based Jiaxiang Guoyuan sweetens one new iced tea with a combination of sweeteners and another with no sweeteners. Kombucha teas lean into natural claims.
Innova expects continued innovation in iced coffee and tea, driven by younger generations. New products are likely to have clean bold flavors and functional ingredients. Brands will use AI and digital tools to spark new product ideas.
F&B Launch Highlights for July 2025
Launch highlights include products with CBD and new functional products. These include a limited-edition THC lemonade by Nowadays and THC- and CBD-infused feel-good functional drinks from BRĒZ. Kate Farms introduced a functional high protein shake for weight management and to support GLP-1 users with plant protein, fiber, and key vitamins and minerals in a sugar-free format. Laird Superfood, Inc., recently launched two clean, organic, functional mushroom coffee products, Perform Whole Bean Coffee and Perform Decaf Coffee. Z Natural Foods introduced Organic Cognitive Cacao and Coffee with Matcha, MCTs & Mushrooms to its superfood beverage line. Bragg Live Food Products, Inc., is expanding its apple cider vinegar line with Bragg Pineapple Turmeric Apple Cider Vinegar Blend.
This article is based on Innova’s Global Food Trends: Insights from July 2025 report. This report is available to purchase or with an Innova Reports subscription. Reach out to find out more
