Nutrition and ingredients company dsm-firmenich has crowned Peach+ as the 12th annual Flavour of the Year for 2024. Peach+ was inspired by the Pantone 2024 Colour of the Year, Peach Fuzz.
The peach is one of the oldest cultivated fruits in the world, with a 4000-year-old history beginning in China. China is currently the world leader in peach production and exportation, with over 400 varietals under cultivation.
For more than 20 years, both dsm-firmenich and Pantone have observed many of the same trend sources, drawing inspiration from a wide variety of influences, including culinary, fashion, hair and beauty, packaging and multimedia design, home decor and interior design, architecture, art, and the cultural zeitgeist. The 2024 colour and flavour selections were based on emerging signals in the cultural and consumer landscape where trends in kindness, community, goodness, and comfort were identified as having increasing relevancy.
dsm-firmenich said Peach+ was an invitation customers to innovate with the flavour and to go beyond the traditional juicy sweet aspects to consider softer, smoother, lighter, more refreshing, textural elements.
dsm-firmenich EVP for taste, texture and health Maurizio Clementi said the announcement of the Flavour of the Year had become an eagerly anticipated event.
“The delicate and natural qualities of Peach+ call for diverse applications across multiple food and beverage industries, and we are excited to see the innovations of our clients upon receiving this news,” said Clementi.
Customer insights
According to Emotions 360, a proprietary dsm-firmenich consumer study that measures consumer emotions associated with ingredients, the peach has qualities that contrast, such as being both indulgent and pampering, but also refreshing and revitalising, and youthful, but nostalgic.
Peach has been an evergreen fruit flavour in many categories for decades with a steady share of presence in innovations in most regions.
Today, peach is growing in popularity in some regions and categories both as the primary tonality and in combination with others. The most prevalent areas of growth for peach new product development are carbonated soft drinks, nectars, candies, ready-to-drink teas, teas, flavored alcoholic drinks, yogurt and fruit preparations, dairy drinks, juices containing peach, and fruit preserves.
Other areas showing promise for growth are functional drinks and powdered soft drinks, as well as more savory opportunities for peach including side dishes, noodles, processed cheeses, and protein analogues. Peach in-combination also spiked in favour of passionfruit plus peach, mango plus peach, peach plus tea, and apricot plus peach.
dsm-firmenich VP of human insights said Jeffrey Richard Schmoyer said research had revealed that ‘peach’ had many multifaceted meanings.
“Peach is incredibly emotional. While the peach has a long history, it also has an innovative future,” said Schmoyer.
