March 7, 2025 – Globally, consumers are becoming more health-conscious, seeking products that combine natural flavor ingredients with indulgence. Natural flavor ingredients are in the spotlight, reshaping how taste and nutrition coexist in consumer’s favorite products. Through Innova’s 360 research, we explore the latest flavor trends in natural flavor ingredients, consumer preferences, and the factors driving this flavor shift towards naturalness in the food and beverage industry.
This article is based on Innova’s Natural Flavors in Food & Beverage – Global report. This report is available to purchase or with an Innova Reports subscription. Reach out to find out more
Flavor Trends
Added flavors’ role is simply to improve taste and strengthen core flavors in food and beverage products. These flavors are also vital in masking unpleasant odors and delivering consistent flavor, irrespective of off-note ingredients. The natural flavors market satisfies quality needs in more complex recipes. For instance, healthy recipes like Munk Pack’s breakfast bar contain proteins, prebiotics, and probiotics. Brands prefer added flavor like natural cinnamon in the recipe to adjust taste. These flavors also aid in marketing and promotion by meeting consumers’ flavor expectations, offering novelty, and catering to varied needs. This reinforce positionings and improves consumers’ appeal.
Flavor Naturalness Trends
Consumers prefer naturalness when purchasing nutritious food. Naturalness is the sixth-most important consideration in food and beverages. Flavor trends show that consumers seek natural flavored products primarily for health and taste. Other notable aspects include natural sourcing, not artificial or synthetic, and unprocessed flavors.
The top 3 focuses of consumers in clean labels include no artificial ingredients, no additives, and clear and understandable labels. They actively limit sugar, fat/oil, and salt ingredients in consumption.
Natural Flavor Ingredients
Globally, half of new food and beverage products contain added flavors. The natural flavors market remains more than twice as important as artificial flavors in these launches. However, they grow slowly compared to artificial variants. Added flavor ingredients are high in America and Australasia, with Latin America marking an increase in preferences over the past five years. Consumers in Europe prefer low levels of added flavor ingredients compared to other regions.
Labelling legislation influences the inclusion of flavors in food and beverage products. For instance, in North America, due to regulations, only 8% of products do not specify whether they contain natural or artificial flavors in packaging. In contrast, Asia and the Middle East and Africa launch more than 30% of products without labelling the natural or artificial flavors. Europe and Australasia witness extremely low preference for artificial flavors in new launches.
Artificial, synthetic, and nature-identical flavors lead in bakery, confectionery, soft drinks, snacks, and dairy categories, while the natural flavors market spans all food and beverage categories. Natural flavors are fast-growing in plant-based food and beverages, showing the highest growth in fish and seafood, red meat and pork, and poultry substitute subcategories.
These flavors are preferred in complex and value-added beverages including flavored wines, other flavored alcoholic beverages, and flavored coffee. Flavor trends show that natural flavor compounds maintain their position among other important taste ingredients for adjusting taste in products. They surpass fruits, nuts and seeds, and botanical ingredients but remain less dynamic than herbs and spices and herbal extracts.
Flavor Clean Claims Trends
Globally, 7% of new food and beverages launches display clean flavor claims over the past year. This is due to consumer demand for more natural formulations in their consumption. Consumers in Australasia and North America are more likely to prefer clean-label products than other regions.
What’s Next in Natural Flavor Trends?
Consumers strongly associate naturalness with health, seeking flavors with added health benefits. They view natural diets as synonymous with healthy living. Natural flavorings have the potential to enhance health positionings, as consumers attribute health benefits to specific tastes and raw materials. Brands can consider using natural flavorings as value-added components when marketing products on health platforms. Flavor trends show that natural and clean label claims related to flavors are increasing slowly, indicating consumer’s growing expectation for the absence of additives products. Brands can establish naturalness as a norm by building around clear natural credentials and maintaining short, recognizable ingredient lists.
Plant-based foods and specialty beverages are attracting more natural flavors, meeting challenging taste requirements. The natural flavors market successfully mimics tastes in plant-based foods and delivers indulgent flavors in specialty beverages. Brands can exploit natural flavors to further enhance taste advantages, demonstrating that artificial flavors are not essential for achieving the best results.
Flavoring agents are significant in food and beverage development for palatability and as marketing tools. Brands are likely to formulate natural flavors in food and beverage products to reflect growing consumers’ demand.
This article is based on Innova’s Natural Flavors in Food & Beverage – Global report. This report is available to purchase or with an Innova Reports subscription. Reach out to find out more
