dsm-firmenich crowns “comforting and peaceful” peach+ as 2024 flavor of the year

11 Dec 2023 --- dsm-firmenich has declared Peach+ its 12th annual “Flavor of the Year” for 2024. Peach+ is also inspired by Pantone 13-1023 Peach Fuzz, the global color authority’s 2024 Color of the Year. dsm-firmenich has identified “boundless possibilities” for peach and the flavor house identifies how food brands can lead with emerging trends to create F&B products with “high impact, tapping into sensory and emotional needs.”

The selection for Peach+ and Pantone’s 13-1023 Peach Fuzz are based on emerging signals in the cultural and consumer landscape where trends in “kindness, community, goodness and comfort” have all been identified by dsm-firmenich as having increasing relevancy. 

Multifaceted meanings
Peach+ is being slated as an opportunity to innovate with the flavor, to go beyond the traditional juicy sweet aspects to also consider softer, smoother, lighter, more refreshing, textural elements.

The peach is one of the oldest cultivated fruits in the world, with a 4,000-year-old history that began in China and continues to this day. China is the world leader in peach production and exportation, with over 400 varieties under cultivation. 

Across Asia, we see peach moving from being a “seasonal” flavor with a heavy bias toward beverages to one that is more consistently enjoyed all year round across all categories, Mikel Cirkus, global creative director for Taste, Texture & Health at dsm-firmenich, tells Food Ingredients First.

“Our research reveals that peach has many multifaceted meanings,” adds Jeffrey Richard Schmoyer, VP of human insights for Taste, Texture & Health at dsm-firmenich. 

“And peach is incredibly emotional. While the peach has a long history, it also has an innovative future.” 

Connecting to consumer emotion
The most prevalent areas of growth for peach NPD are carbonated soft drinks, teas, flavored alcoholic beverages, juices containing peach and fruit preserves.Cirkus believes the Flavor of the Year showcases emerging trends in food flavors. 

“This can be seen through proactive sensory experiences and creations and completes its mission year after year: to empower our customers to be leaders in global trends.”

According to Emotions 360, a proprietary dsm-firmenich consumer study that measures consumer emotions associated with ingredients, the peach is somewhat unique in that it has many innate contrasting qualities, such as being both “indulgent and pampering,” but also “refreshing and revitalizing and youthful, yet nostalgic.”

Peach has been an “evergreen fruit flavor” in many categories for decades, with a steady share of presence in innovations in most regions. Today, peach is growing in popularity in some regions and categories, both as the primary tonality and in combination with others. 

Application opportunities 
According to dsm-firmenich, the most prevalent areas of growth for peach NPD are carbonated soft drinks, nectars, candies, ready-to-drink teas, teas, flavored alcoholic beverages, yogurt and fruit preparations, dairy drinks, juices containing peach and fruit preserves.

“For brands looking to push the boat out a little further and offer consumers something more unique and unexpected, we’re seeing a rising potential for peach in plant-based dairy alternatives, functional and nutritional drinks and fermented beverages such as kombuchas, as well as more savory options including dressings and table sauces, side dishes, cooking sauces and noodles,” explains Cirkus.

“While peach itself is already a popular flavor in many food and beverage applications, there is an additional opportunity in using Peach+ alongside nutritional and active ingredients, offering benefits for consumer well-being.”

Cirkus expects to see peach pop up in many new applications next year; everything from almond drinks to zucchini fritters will be fair game for peach’s influence. “We’re especially excited to see how peach is used in functional beverages, savory sauces and marinades, protein analogs, vitamins and supplements.”

Peach also spikes in popularity across combinations with passion fruit, mango, tea and apricot.

25th anniversary of Pantone’s Color of the Year
For over 20 years, both dsm-firmenich and Pantone have observed many of the same trend sources, drawing inspiration from various influences, including culinary, fashion, art and the cultural zeitgeist. 

Pantone named PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz is slated as a “velvety gentle peach whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body and soul” as the Pantone Color of the Year selection for 2024.

The introduction of PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz also marks the 25th anniversary of the Pantone Color of the Year program. 

The Pantone Color of the Year is intended to “capture the global zeitgeist,” serving as an” expression of a mood and an attitude on the part of the consumer.” It was first introduced by the Pantone Color Institute in 1999 with the very first Color of the Year, PANTONE 15-4020 Cerulean Blue.The introduction of PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz also marks the 25th anniversary of the Pantone Color of the Year program.

A colorful and peaceful future 
At a time of turmoil in many aspects of our lives, dsm-firmenich emphasizes that society’s collective need for nurturing, empathy and compassion grows “ever more robust,” as do “visions of a more peaceful future.”

“A cozy peach hue softly nestled between pink and orange, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz brings belonging, inspires recalibration, and an opportunity for nurturing, conjuring up an air of calm, offering us a space to be, feel, and heal and to flourish from whether spending time with others or taking the time to enjoy a moment by ourselves,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director, Pantone Color Institute.

“Drawing comfort from PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz, we can find inner peace, impacting our well-being. An idea as much as a feeling, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz awakens our senses to the comforting presence of tactility and cocooned warmth.”

“With this year’s Pantone Color of the Year 2024, industry sees an increased focus on community and people worldwide reframing how they want to live and evaluating what is important — the comfort of being close to those we love.” 

“The color is one whose warm and welcoming embrace conveys a message of compassion and whose cozy sensibility brings people together and enriches the soul,” adds Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute. 

By Elizabeth Green