From SmartBlog on Food and Beverage:
Sweet, salty and spicy flavors have been captivating consumers for years, but a new taste is carving out a space on menus and supermarket shelves. The rise of bitter flavors began in earnest this year as consumers’ continued love of kale, Brussels sprouts and bitter IPAs carried over into an appreciation for black coffee, cocktail bitters and charred foods.
The trend may stem from consumers’ desire to be “challenged” by new flavors, Mintel analyst Marcia Mogelonsky told FoodNavigator earlier this year. “Salty/sweet used to be cutting edge, and now it is so routine,” she said.
Other menu categories are getting a dose of bitterness from eggplant, bitter greens and exotic offerings such as bitter melon. Menu descriptions highlighting bitter flavors have increased 95% in the last four years, and 15.6% of all menus now include the word bitter in the description of at least one item, according to Datassential.
“Bitter as both a description and food/flavor has been growing and we do predict this to continue at this pace for at least another year or so given the menu adoption cycle — we are seeing menu penetration move from fine dining to quickservice and fast casual introductions,” said Datassential’s Colleen McClellan.
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