Truly Good Foods predicts 2020 snack trends
Sweet heat flavors, mood-boosting ingredients and alternative flours are just a few trends expected to breakout in 2020, according to Truly Good Foods, a bulk and packaged snack maker based out of Charlotte, N.C. that has private brand capabilities for its snack bags and resealable cubes. This is the company’s sixth-annual snack trends report.
Truly Good Foods, which harnesses a roster of more than 3,000 products, expects to see continued innovation in snacks in the year ahead. A few trends from the report include:
- Unique fruit flavors. An overseas influence could infuse more fruits like yuzu, lychee, prickly pear, Japanese plum and more into product flavor profiles.
- Sweet heat. With sugary sweets carrying more of a negative health benefit, spicier sweet flavors could have more of an impact, particularly in the candy category, per the report.
- New flours. Banana flour, chickpea flour, Tigernut flour, coconut flour and others that help promote a grain-free lifestyle expect to trend in the year ahead, becoming new alternatives to alternatives such as cauliflower flour often seen in pizza crust.
- Mood-boosted food. Snacks have function and one of them is to boost a consumer’s mood. Snacks with ingredients that have that added benefit expect to be on the rise.
- Hybrid snacks. The pressure to innovate has never been higher for snack companies and one way to do just that is to combine styles of products into hybrids. For example, birthday cake-flavored popcorn or alcohol-flavored gummies, as the report noted.
Another notable mention in the report is a trend toward consumers seeking more than just flavor from their foods. Textures and other sensory food experiences could impact snacks. The study said that, according to research from Innova, 70% of consumers feel texture provides a more interesting experience with food.
Lastly, plant-based foods, beverages and snacks expect to continue to grow in 2020. The Innova research said nearly 90% of global consumers expect companies to invest in sustainability, up 22% compared to last year.
The full list of Truly Good Foods trends can be found here, and a snazzy video presenting some results can be watched here and below.