As the year draws to a close, we’re dusting off our crystal balls to predict the biggest food and drink trends set to shape 2027. Except… it’s not the end of the year. In fact, we’re not even halfway through. So what’s going on?
Confused? You won’t be alone once you dive into our trend forecast below. Your mission: identify the genuine, insight‑driven trends worthy of inspiring manufacturer innovation pipelines – and separate them from the ones best left to the imagination.
Happy April Fool’s Day!
Fibre gets cool, finally
Move over protein, you’ve got a new competitor: fibre.
In 2026, we’ve seen protein continue to take centre stage. But the balance is now shifting, with consumer interest in fibre not just growing, but skyrocketing. What started as a niche social media trend – fibremaxxing – has become a front-of-pack claim food and drink manufacturers are eager to secure. ‘Source of fibre’ and ‘high in fibre’ are among the most popular, driven by consumer demand for satiety and better gut health.
We expect the fibre trend to evolve into something far bigger, with an even greater focus on gut health and the microbiome. Where diet alone can’t deliver, other levers are emerging. Faecal microbiota transplants (yep, poop therapy) are one option for rebalancing the microbiome.
But starting with higher fibre intake is a far more accessible first step.
Quiet food...shhhh!
Texture and mouthfeel have dominated food innovation pipelines in recent years. Consumers want foods that snap, crunch and even crackle on their tongues. Think ultra-crispy lentil crisps, or ear-deafening corn chips from crinkly ASMR-inducing packaging.
But in 2027, all that’s predicted to change. And the reason? A slow, post-COVID return to the office. Yep, as more and more businesses demand their employees return to the office on a full-time basis, noisy food is out and quiet food is in.
Just like colleagues don’t appreciate you opening that tin of tuna at lunchtime, they also don’t want the crisp, crunch and crackle of mid-afternoon snacks. We predict the trend for quiet food – think fluffy sandwiches, jam roly-poly puddings and stale biscuits – to dominate the confectionery and snacking aisles in the coming year. And manufacturers would do well to take notice.
TikTok marketing takes centre stage
As we inch closer to the end of the decade, it’s not just food trends that are evolving. But also, how those foods attract consumer attention.
Social media plays a major role here, and one platform in particular is taking centre stage. TikTok can be credited with the rise in a wide range of food trends, from bubble tea to matcha, angel hair chocolate and hot honey.
In some extreme cases, TikTok food trends have contributed to the collapse of well-established supply chains: matcha and pistachios are two ingredients to have suffered shortages in recent times, as consumers clamour to buy fluoro-green matcha lattes or exorbitantly priced pistachio-filled chocolates.
The impact that TikTok has had on food trends is so great that brands are monitoring the platform more than ever. Showing no sign of abating, we’re forecasting TikTok to continue to dominate trend-tracking for 2027.
Trend-tracking? It’s all about MySpace
The TikTok food trend buzz is squarely focused on younger generations. It’s the Generation Alphas, Gen Zers, and to a lesser extent, Millennials that turn to ‘the Tok’ to keep up to date on happenings in food and drink. But for most Millennials, Gen Xers and above, they’re working out what’s hot and what’s not from another well-known social media platform.
MySpace reached its heyday in 2008, when around 115m visitors used its site monthly. It was also around this time the social media platform was generating close to $800m (€694m) in revenue. Although MySpace has been in decline ever since, its nostalgia lives on. And for those that fondly recall the immense time and effort that went into curating personalised MySpace profiles, there seems to be no better place to turn to for the latest food trends and fads.
All the biggest crazes, from cottage cheese to Greek yoghurt and Oreo cakes can be credited to a resurgence in MySpace use. For those approaching middle age, it’s this platform that garners trust and spouts authenticity – a trend we expect to continue to be revived in the coming months and years.
Muscle mania
Protein has dominated food formulation for years now. And according to our crystal-ball gazing, this trend isn’t going away. Consumers continue to seek out protein-rich products to boost the feeling of fullness for better weight management.
But in 2027, it won’t just be satiety that’s driving the protein trend. As more consumers start taking GLP-1 drugs, muscle mass will matter more than ever before.
GLP-1 drugs can help users lose weight. But the medication doesn’t always differentiate between fat and muscle. So if a user wants to lose fat and retain muscle, protein intake and resistance training will be key. It’s expected protein will continue to expand into categories previously untouched by the important macronutrient, from crisps through to soda, all with the aim of preventing muscle loss in the GLP-1 era.
Will protein or fibre win in 2027? The two will need to fight it out. But as long as GLP-1s remain popular, high protein formulations will here to stay.
Bubble booze
If you haven’t yet heard of bubble tea, you’ve been living under a rock. Bubble tea, or boba tea, originated in Taiwan but the cold, texture-forward beverage has since taken western cultures by storm.
And while it’s true that the idea of sucking up tapioca pearls through a thick straw may not sound appealing to all, the Gen Zs and Gen Alphas of this world can’t get enough of it.
So what if you’ve heard of bubble tea, but not of bubble booze? Well in that instance, you’ve been living under a...pebble. Bubble booze – otherwise known as tapioca tipples – is bubble tea’s lesser known cousin, but it’s produced in much the same way. The base mixture (an alcohol like a beer or seltzer) is mixed in with tapioca pearls and served up in a plastic cup with a thick straw.
Unlike the bubble tea craze, we’re predicting this trend to drive sales among older generations, from Gen Z to Millennials and Boomers. Since they’re the consumers continuing to drive growth in alcohol sales, they’re also the consumers we expect to see lining up at the bar asking for a new take on this old classic.
