The holiday season is the prime time for festive treats, desserts, and foods that evoke warmth, comfort, and nostalgia. Each winter, shelves are filled with new products that offer familiar tastes with unique new blends to match consumer preferences. 

This year, holiday flavors are expanding beyond traditional categories to include plant-based options and better-for-you alternatives. Food and beverage companies use limited-time offerings (LTOs) to introduce these seasonal treats, making them a powerful strategy to balance tradition and innovation.

In this article, we’ll share the 5 key holiday flavors that influence the winter products of 2025. We’ll also discuss how you can combine international flavors and traditional spices that align with seasonal celebrations, emotional connection, and healthy indulgence.

5 Top Holiday Flavors This Season

Here are the top 5 highly popular holiday flavors you should know:

1. Cinnamon

Cinnamon has a rich history of autumnal warmth, holiday memories, and family traditions. Its warm and familiar aroma triggers nostalgia, reminding people of home and comfort during cold weather. 

Cinnamon is also a core ingredient in classic holiday foods like gingerbread cookies, apple pies, and spiced cider. Many winter celebrations, such as Christmas and Hanukkah, include cinnamon-based desserts and drinks.

It’s also linked to potential health benefits, such as antioxidant properties and blood sugar regulation, making it appealing in better-for-you products. As consumers seek indulgence with a mindful twist, cinnamon becomes a natural fit for products that promise comfort and wellness.

2. Pumpkin

Pumpkin has become a symbol of fall and early winter celebrations, making it a natural choice for seasonal launches. This ingredient is deeply connected to Thanksgiving and Halloween, two of the most celebrated U.S. holidays.

Classic dishes like pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread are staples on holiday tables, reinforcing their role as comfort food. 

Pumpkin’s mild flavor works best when combined with warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger, commonly referred to as “pumpkin spice.” 

For example, Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte is seen as a cultural event. Each year, TikTok blows up with posts of people showing off their first sips, sharing recipes, and making fun videos about the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

3. Peppermint

Peppermint is one of the most recognizable flavors of the winter season, closely tied to holiday traditions and celebrations. Its cool, refreshing taste balances perfectly with rich, sweet ingredients like chocolate and cream, making it a favorite for both beverages and desserts.

Each year, as the holidays approach, brands release LTOs with peppermint’s nostalgic appeal. This may include peppermint chocolates, snack bars, and coffee creamers with peppermint cold foam. 

4. Ginger

Ginger is a classic winter flavor known for its spicy, warming taste. It’s a key ingredient in seasonal home-based baking like gingerbread cookies, spiced teas, and holiday cakes. Ginger also has functional health benefits to improve digestion, boost immunity, and fight cold-weather ailments.

Many health-conscious consumers prefer ginger-based products to satisfy their seasonal cravings with health and wellness. Ginger also balances out the rich, sweet foods and beverages. Popular examples include gingerbread-flavored lattes, spiced cookies, and craft sodas infused with ginger.

5. Cocoa

Cocoa has a rich, warm, and soothing taste that creates an emotional connection with celebrations and holidays. Festive treats like hot cocoa, brownies, chocolates, and truffles are highly popular during Halloween and Christmas, tied to happiness.

Many companies blend cocoa with unique ingredients, like sea salt, pistachio, and citrus, to create exciting flavor contrasts for consumers. Seasonal combinations, such as cocoa with peppermint or brown butter, help brands keep winter dessert menus fresh while still offering familiar comfort.

Marketing on Nostalgic Cravings

Nostalgia and traditions are the key elements during the holiday season. According to a report, 76% of UK consumers are drawn to sweets that bring back memories of their childhood. However, these flavors are hard to find in the market on usual days, which creates demand among consumers.

Limited-time offerings (LTOs) use this emotional connection by pairing beloved flavors, textures, and aromas with a sense of urgency. Consumers eagerly anticipate these seasonal launches each year, often stocking up to relive those comforting memories long after the season ends.

At the same time, many brands add a modern twist by blending global flavors with familiar favorites. For example, ingredients like matcha, taro, chai, cardamom, and black sesame are appearing in holiday products, giving consumers the excitement of novelty while still providing the comfort of tradition.

This approach allows them to appeal to adventurous consumers while still providing a sense of comfort and recognition.

How Seasonal Flavors Present Innovation Opportunities for Food and Beverage Brands

Brands are expanding beyond traditional holiday offerings by introducing seasonal flavors in new and creative ways. Here’s how F&B brands can combine innovation and tradition to launch new products:

Cross-Category Launches

Cross-category launches refer to multiple product categories under a single flavor, theme, or concept. For example, Hershey’s offers seasonal candy, baking ingredients, and ready-to-eat treats to match the holiday spirit. 

This approach allows you to create a unified seasonal experience for consumers. By appearing in different sections of the store, you can increase visibility and encourage shoppers to purchase multiple products.

Plant-Based Options

Many consumers prefer plant-based ingredients in holiday treats. Companies are meeting this demand by producing a unique blend of seasonal flavors in dairy-free and vegan formats. These include items like oat milk lattes, non-dairy ice creams, and vegan baked goods with peppermint, gingerbread, and pumpkin spice flavors.

This strategy helps you to reach health-conscious consumers and those with dietary preferences, while still delivering festive flavors.

Better-for-You Formats

Many brands are reimagining seasonal favorites with a focus on wellness. These products feature less sugar, cleaner ingredient labels, or added functional ingredients, such as protein.

For example, RXBAR’s limited-edition Gingerbread protein bar includes classic holiday spices like cinnamon and ginger, but is made with simple, whole ingredients and no added sugar. 

This approach delivers the nostalgic holiday flavor consumers crave while aligning with health-focused eating habits.

Premium Indulgences

Some holiday products are designed to feel like a special treat rather than an everyday purchase. You can use high-quality ingredients, unique textures, and elegant packaging to create a sense of luxury.

Some of the examples are artisan chocolate truffles with brown butter ganache, peppermint bark made with single-origin cocoa, or desserts infused with bourbon or sea salt caramel. These limited-time offerings are perfect for gifting or personal indulgence, so consumers can have a memorable season.

Limited-Time Offerings that Attract Consumer Preferences

Limited-time offers (LTOs) have become a reliable strategy for brands to capture consumer attention and improve sales using holiday flavors. 

Unlike core menu items or year-round products, LTOs create a sense of urgency, test new flavors, and reach different consumer segments.

The following are some of the examples of how brands or foodservice operators leverage LTOs with holiday flavors:

• Seasonal Vegan Protein Balls: Day Out Snacks launched limited-edition holiday flavors like Gingerbread, Peppermint Bark, Pecan Pie, and Apple Cider Donut. The flavors offer classic holiday profiles with clean labels and vegan attributes.
   
• Bo-Berry Cobbler Dessert: Bojangles branched into dessert LTOs with the Bo-Berry Cobbler, mixing biscuit dough, berry filling, and sweet drizzle for a seasonal offer outside its core category.
   
• Pistachio Creamer: Coffee Mate launched a seasonal pistachio creamer (dairy-based) to tap into emerging flavor trends of Dubai chocolate for the holiday season.
   
• Pumpkin Spice Soup: New Covent Garden Soup Co. introduced a limited-edition innovative soup that blends creamy pumpkin with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of chili to bring a classic seasonal flavor to a savory format.

LTOs are only effective when they meet the consumer excitement with actual, flavorful tastes. It’s important to work with experts who use state-of-the-art science and technology to create a unique blend of flavors that actually meet consumer needs. 

Holiday flavors are an important part of the festive season. Today’s consumers expect more than just nostalgic taste. They want new flavors that combine classic flavors with global tastes, with a premium and mindful indulgence. 

Brands need to explore a variety of seasonal formats that balance tradition with innovation while offering familiar flavors, especially to meet the preferences of Gen Z and Millennials. 

Symrise partners with food and beverage brands to create flavors by combining deep consumer insights with innovative, natural ingredient solutions. Our team offers end-to-end technical guidance, from product formulation to taste balancing, to help you develop unique tastes and memorable consumer experiences.

Contact us today to learn more.