Flavour trends 2026 summary
- Consumers favour bold intense flavours sweet savoury fusions and comfort foods
- Matcha popularity rises 87 percent with fusion variants growing sharply worldwide
- Banana strawberry pistachio and yuzu matcha fusions show triple digit growth
- Savoury indulgence grows with beef tallow hot honey sazon popularity increases
- Cannabis CBD hemp and foundational flavours decline as consumers seek excitement
What flavours are trending in 2026? Consumers are seeking bold and intense flavours, embracing fusions of sweet and savoury, and looking for comfort foods.
Meanwhile, many basic flavours are falling by the wayside, as consumers look for more excitement.
Matcha fusions see explosive growth
The rise of matcha knows no bounds. Already a resoundingly popular trend, its star power as a flavour continues to grow, according to analytics company Tastewise.
The base ingredient is up by 87% globally in terms of popularity, according to the company. The flavour remains beloved of consumers worldwide.
Matcha fusions have seen an even bigger boost. For example, banana matcha is up 594% year-over-year. Strawberry matcha has seen a 134% increase, pistachio matcha a 99% increase, and yuzu matcha a 94% increase.
These flavours can be seen reflected in product launches, such as Oatly’s recent strawberry matcha drink.
The rise of matcha is linked to several trends, explains Miriam Aniel Oved, head of integrated marketing at Tastewise. The popularity of Japanese cuisine is one, as is its positioning as a wellness and trendy product. Another driver is consumer demand for emotionally comforting experiences and stress-release foods.
Savoury indulgence picks up
Indulgence hasn’t gone anywhere, but now we’re seeing particularly strong demand for savoury indulgence.
This trend stems from the increase in popularity of several key flavours. Perhaps the most prominent of these is beef tallow, which according to Tastewise has seen a year-over-year popularity increase of 106%. This “would have been unthinkable in the clean-eating era of five years ago“, says the Tastewise’s Oved.
This can be seen reflected in product launches such as Gourmet Tallow’s cooking spray.
Other such trends include hot honey with 52% growth, and the spice sazon with 91% growth.
The savoury indulgence trend also includes the increasing popularity of sweet flavours such as cookie butter and cold foam, which are used in combination with savoury.
“The bold and savoury food trend is fueled by the rise of comfort eating, a growing preference for intense flavours, and increasing demand for sweet-and-savoury combinations“, says Oved.
Cannabis, CBD and hemp see decline
Cannabis as a flavour has seen significant decline. “Cannabis as a food and beverage flavour has collapsed faster than almost any ingredient trend in recent memory“. The flavour has seen a decline year-over-year of 50%.
Other related flavours have also seen significant decline. CBD is declining by 45% year-over-year, and hemp is declining by 29%.
“These ingredients share a common origin story: they arrived on menus and shelves as functional health claims first and flavours second”, says Oved.
CBD is experiencing difficulty in the European market due to regulatory pressures.
‘Foundational flavours’ are losing popularity
Flavours considered ‘foundational’, such as dates, orange and mayo, are losing popularity, according to Tastewise.
“Pantry staples and long-established flavour profiles are losing relevance as palates shift toward intensity, novelty, and the kind of bold experiences that matcha fusions and hot honey deliver.”
For example, the popularity of dates has declined by 18%, mayo is down by 12%, orange and turkey have declined by 11%, and apple and jam has seen a 9% popularity reduction.
Consumers want the excitement and boldness of newer flavours and fusions, at the expense of these old favourites.
