Food and beverage trends for 2025
Forecasts for the coming year reveal a more considered and targeted approach to dietary choices. Quality, nutrition, and sustainability are all subject to fresh interpretation, while familiar wellness trends explore new possibilities. Here’s what you need to know.
New Year, new opportunities
What does 2025 hold for the food and beverage industry? Which trends look set to shape consumer behaviours and influence developments? To help bring you up to speed, we take a look at some of the key trends from Innova Market Insights’ latest report1 and explore how they are predicted to drive product strategies over the next 12 months.
Quality reframed
The number one food and beverage trend for 2025 reflects a shift in how consumers define and evaluate product quality. Referred to as ‘Ingredients and Beyond’, it takes last year’s focus on hero ingredients to another level and sees multiple quality measures coming into play.
“Our top trend underscores the necessity for companies to captivate consumers by enhancing the quality attributes of their ingredients,” explains Lu Ann Williams, global market insights director at Innova Market Insights. “Freshness, nutrition, health benefits, and ingredient sourcing are all paramount to consumers. Brands can distinguish themselves in the market by offering superior quality ingredients.”
Targeted nutrition
Taking the #2 spot, ‘Health: Precision Wellness’ describes “consumers seeking balanced nutrition through easy-to-consume functional food and beverage products tailored to their life-stage, lifestyle and health needs.”
Women’s health, gut comfort, weight management, mood and performance are all tipped as important focus areas and offer huge scope for innovation. We know, for instance, that the menopause, hormonal balance, stress, and sleep are just some of the concerns that women hope to address within the increasingly nuanced gender-specific wellness space.
Mind, body and soul
For those keen to identify the most influential health and wellness platforms, three key trends look set to dominate.
- ‘Gut Health: Flourish From Within’: Renewed interest in digestive health has energized the category and driven an 8% year over year2 increase in related product launches. As the most sought-after health benefit1 in functional food and beverages, we can expect to see a new wave of concepts featuring ingredients known to optimize the microbiome and improve gut health, such as fiber, vitamin D, prebiotics and probiotics.
- ‘Beauty Food: Taste the Glow’: With more consumers making the link between inner nutrition and outer radiance, now is the time to bring beauty-enhancing benefits into food. From skin hydration and collagen absorption to stronger hair and nails, demand for products formulated to improve physical appearance is expected to rise. Given that Gen Z3 rather than Boomers are currently the biggest purchasers of food and beverage products with a skin health claim, taking a cross-generational approach to product innovation may also be well advised.
- ‘Mood Food: Mindful Choices’: Winning a place in Innova’s Top Ten due to the importance now placed on mental and emotional wellbeing – 36% of consumers say this is their primary health goal2 – this is seen as an emerging health trend with significant potential. Innovative products that speak to concerns around stress, anxiety and tiredness are starting to gain traction but general consumer awareness of mood boosting functional food and beverages is low. This creates an exciting opportunity to fill the gap with concepts centered around favored ingredients such as specific vitamins and magnesium.
Plant-based 2.0
It may have a lower profile, but the plant-based trend is going nowhere. But what has changed is that brands are turning their attention to addressing many of the barriers to consumer acceptance. As well as improving product taste and texture, they are countering negative perceptions around ultra-processing by exploring a cleaner and more natural approach to formulations.
‘Plant-Based: Rethinking Plants’ reflects this evolution and points to strong demand for standalone plant-based concepts, in addition to meat and dairy alternatives2.
Next level sustainability
Walking the line between ethical values and price rises may be challenging, but sustainability and health of the planet remain top global concerns for consumers – despite the evident hit to their pockets. ‘Sustainability: Climate Adaption’ explores this apparent tension, highlighting strong consumer awareness of climate change and its impact on food prices but also a willingness to be selective depending on the category.
This trend is all about showcasing how the industry is responding to these two significant factors and the positive steps being taken to mitigate and innovate. As Julie Impérato, marketing manager at Nexira, observes; “Companies that prioritize ethical sourcing and sustainability throughout their supply chain are likely to gain consumer trust and loyalty.”
Discover how Nexira’s extensive range of natural and organic plant-based ingredients can help you tap into the latest consumer trends.
Contact us for more information ⤵️
[1] Top 10 F&B Trends, Innova Market Insights, November 2024
[2] World of Food Ingredients, December 2024
[3] Top 10 F&B Trends 2025, Innova Market Insights, November 2024