Extreme flavors becoming mainstream, says new report

Excerpts from an article in FoodNavigator.com by Caroline Scott-Thomas, 25-Mar-2011

‘Extreme and edgy’ flavors are increasingly moving into the mainstream, according to a new trend report from the Center for Culinary Development (CCD) and market research organization Packaged Facts.

This new report, “Extreme & Edgy Flavors: Culinary Trend Mapping Report”, claims that Americans are always interested in new flavors as long as they are not “too far out”, and will pay attention to edgy flavor combinations as long as they taste as good as they sound interesting.

CCD’s collaborative reports with Packaged Facts are based on trend mapping, which it says is guided by the premise that new flavor trends often go through five distinct phases on their way to becoming mainstream.

New trends tend to emerge at upmarket dining establishments, it says, passing into specialist consumer food magazines and television programs, before being picked up by mainstream chain restaurants, then begin to appear in family-oriented consumer magazines, and finally appear in grocery stores and/or quick service restaurants.

Young men are in it for a big kick, women for a possible health benefit on the side, Latinos and Asian for familiar flavors in new places and everyone for the rounder, more balanced flavors all of these trends offer.”