Each year, the Symrise team heads to the Winter Fancy Food show in San Francisco to check out the year’s latest and upcoming trends from producers all across the country. We’ve selected a few of the category’s sweetest trends that we experienced out west such as: Next Wave Super Foods, Healthy Sweets, Smart Treats and Oats Go Wild!

PART 1: Top 12 Trends from the 2020 Winter Fancy Food Show

The first trend we spotted was Next Wave Super Foods; here we saw the sweet categories targeting health in an exciting way with exotic super foods. Baobar features the superfood baobab, which has a nice citrus flavor. The baobab tree grows in Australia, the Middle East and parts of Africa. Rich in vitamin C, baobab is believed to have antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Next, we tasted Elemental, a superfood seed bar made with mulberry, organic raw cacao and spirulina which tasted both sweet and a little salty with a blast of nutrients. Additionally we saw maca, mulberry, hemp, and acai make appearances across the sweet category.

We saw the trend Healthy Sweets, Smart Treats across many sweet categories and right now we are calling out better for you frozen treats! We indulged in Frill, a plant based frozen dessert offered in four flavors; Bursting Berries, Intense Chocolate, Nutty Caramel and Refreshing Green. Frill’s Refreshing Green blended fruit, vegetables and herbs from the field with dates, pineapple, basil, spinach, mango and macadamia nuts.

RELATED: Trends in Better-For-You Sweet LTOs

Sticking within the subcategory of frozen treats, we came across Green Girl Bakeshop’s reishi and chocolate flavored plant-based gelato. We know we know, what the heck is reishi? Reishi is one of the most widely studied medicinal herbs. It was initially called the "mushroom of longevity" in China and is believed to heal the spirit and support healthy immune function. In addition to reishi, Green Girl Bakeshop relies on a variety of functional ingredients. The chocolate is derived from superfood cacao. Cacao contains over 40 times the antioxidants of blueberries, has more calcium than cow’s milk, and is an incredible source of plant-based iron, and magnesium. It even works as a natural mood elevator and anti-depressant.

Lastly, Oats Go Wild was a standout trend at this year’s Winter Fancy Food Show. Oats have broken into unconventional sweet categories over the last few years. Officially the “cool kid” in school, oats are now the alternative dairy hero. We’ve tracked oats in ice cream, chocolate confectionery and dairy, just to name a few categories. Oat milk is replacing dairy everywhere—we tasted oat-based creamers from Elmhurst and even saw oat milk chocolate from Endangered Species Chocolate in flavors such as Forest Mint, Tart Raspberry and Cinnamon Cayenne Cherry. Rucksack Foods showcased Oatzarella, a high quality, dairy-free cheese that features, you guessed it, oats. Oatzarella comes in traditional plain and as well as savory Italian Herb. As the dairy alternative market continues to grow, we are excited to see what traditional grains break through!

Sweet categories and products are adapting to change within the North American market at a rate like never previously experienced. Fortunately, the Symrise team is here to help you stay at top of the latest trends and flavor experiences. Reach out today if you’re interested in learning more about what we believe will be the most popular beverages and flavors from 2020 and beyond.

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