Flavor of the year: Firmenich pegs “Classic Blueberry” as 2020’s hottest taste trend

09 Dec 2019 --- Swiss flavor company Firmenich has hailed “Classic Blueberry” as its flavor of the year for 2020. This is due to the fruit’s longstanding association with wellbeing and its role in ushering a new wave of F&B options for global consumers. This marks the eighth consecutive year that Firmenich has cast its vote for the hottest flavor of the forthcoming year. “What’s classic is new again,” says Emmanuel Butstraen, President of Firmenich. “With blueberry, we celebrate a flavor that is timeless and enduring, but also increasingly relevant.”

The announcement from Firmenich comes as the color blue is in the spotlight. Last week, Pantone listed Classic Blue as its color of the year for 2020 in line with a rising industry trend for vibrant blue hues and cerulean tints in F&B applications. 

Meanwhile, GNT Group highlighted that “Shades of Aqua” will be a key color trend for 2020. Vivid blue and green hues in food are set to drive innovation as consumers seek products that “reconnect them with nature,” the company noted. 

According to Butstraen, blueberry has been a “beloved flavor for centuries in many markets and today, is being rediscovered and growing to be one of the most relevant flavors in many categories,” he explains. 

Swiss flavor company Firmenich has hailed “Classic Blueberry” as its flavor of the year for 2020.“Blueberry is a fantastic flavor to work with because it is robust and multi-faceted,” Jeffrey Schmoyer, Vice President Global Sensory & Consumer Insights at Firmenich, tells FoodIngredientsFirst. “It is renowned for its standout floral notes and distinct tanginess, while also bringing fresh green and sweet elements to the overall profile. It even includes subtle hints of citrus, vanilla and spice notes giving it a complexity that will accentuate and pair with many flavors,” he continues. “Beyond the classic pairings with other berries, there are many less obvious matches, such as black tea or habanero, that can be explored.”

While blueberries are no doubt highly photogenic and shareable, for us, it is much deeper than that, Schmoyer muses. “Blue is a very rare color in the plant world. When nature creates this color and does so in such a way, it signals something special is inside. We believe consumers understand that blueberries and their berry cousins are special and unique on an intuitive level. This is only compounded by the positive emotions they deliver, at a time when consumers crave optimism,” he explains. 

In industry today, consumers are confronted with more and more choices, as the digital age has connected everyone and everything. It has made all the world’s variety an endless exploration, and the increased focus on sustainability and wellness has led to a large influx of new F&B products in the market, notes Schmoyer. “This creates tremendous excitement around the discovery of the new, but it also raises anxiety levels,” he continues. “The uncertainty of what to expect draws them to classic flavors like blueberry, which bring comfort and familiarity to these novel and endless options. Blueberry itself is most associated with happiness and positive emotions, allowing people to understand the eating experience they will have even before taking the first taste.”

Tiny but mighty 
Consumer interest in blueberries overall has surged in part due to a strong connection to wellbeing. In a recent Firmenich social media study of online discussions around “superfoods,” berries were the number one food mentioned and blueberry was the number one berry. 

“As consumers are being introduced to an expanded offering of choices, more traditional flavors like blueberry are being used to help them experience these new food trends,” explains Mikel Cirkus, Global Creative Director Foresight & Trenz for Firmenich. 

“This choice of a more traditional flavor as our ‘flavor of the year’ actually represents a more significant shift in the food industry toward more intentional and emotional design,” notes Schmoyer. “Consumers are more inclined to try something unfamiliar to them, such as kombucha or a cashew yogurt if it’s flavored in a way they can connect with on an emotional level. We see blueberry playing a bigger role in the coming years in helping product developers introduce new food concepts around the world,” he adds. 

Dairy, baked goods and snack products are the most frequent in terms of product categories that use blueberry as a flavor. Blueberry also plays a notable role in many confections, gums and desserts, Schmoyer explains. However, in terms of growth rates, there is an emerging story in snacks, especially healthy snacks and infant food.” There is also a significant acceleration in growth for beverage applications, particularly within specialty drinks, energy drinks and flavored alcoholic drinks,” he adds. 

In the culinary world, long gone are the days when berries were relegated to supporting roles in salads or dressings. Today, blueberries are also found in countless savory items, including pizzas, grain bowls and meat dishes. “Blueberries can even be used in noodles as a good source of vitamin C and for color,” says Oana Ocico, Vice President of Firmenich’s Global Savory Business. 

Traditional is now trendy 
Trend forecasting is often associated with discovering what is on the fringes, shedding light on ideas that have yet to be incorporated into the mainstream. However, as a new decade begins, Firmenich is comfortable placing its bets on something classic.

Through both internal analysis and the company’s work with syndicated data partners, Firmenich notes that there are around 2,000 products launched using blueberry as a flavor worldwide each year. The popularity of blueberry does vary by region, with North America leading in demand and percentage of usage in all innovation launches. However, blueberry is growing faster in other areas, especially in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa and Asia.

“Our consumer research on color and emotion associations shows that darker shades of blue are broadly associated with positive feelings, but with nuances consistently dependent upon the region of the world in which you live,” Schmoyer explains. In North America and European countries, darker blue brings a sense of comfort. In Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, it is more commonly associated with happiness,” he asserts. Meanwhile, in Asia, consumers find darker blue to evoke, especially strong feelings of revitalization, Schmoyer concludes. 

By Elizabeth Green