In 2024, expect brands to help consumers live longer, healthier lives; balance their needs for health and pleasure; and unlock new conveniences from technology. Here's a look at each area.

Keeping up with flavor trends in a globalized era of constant and viral information can be challenging. After all, these days a single online influencer can spur the interest of millions of consumers with a single tweet. Nowhere is this more evident than among the so-called Gen Z demographic, a generation of adults in their late 20s and younger, with some of the highest purchasing power and the strongest trend impact.

Fresh Express® announced its newest salad kit, French Blue Cheese, and three new offerings in its line of best-selling chopped salad kits: French Bistro, Smokehouse, and Twisted Caesar Enchilada.

Consumers of all ages are most willing to try ethnic cuisines in their home cooking, at restaurants, and when traveling. They name Asian, European, and Latin American flavors as the most influential and Asian as the most familiar and inspirational. Preferences for specific ethnic cuisines, however, vary somewhat based on food and beverage category.

Plant-based consumer demand is shifting. No longer just a substitute meant to mimic animal products, plant-based is becoming a standalone segment, creating a wide new space for brands to let their innovation instincts grow.

This annual report combines leading industry research findings with the latest data from T. Hasegawa’s product development and marketing teams to analyze what consumers are looking for in food and beverage categories and predict upcoming trends through next year.

Exclusive to Thrive Market’s 1.2M members, the LesserEvil x Thrive Market Elote flavor is a co-branded creation, alongside crowd favorites including Olive Oil, Salted, Vegan Butter, and Sweet and Salty. 

iTi Tropicals, Inc. (iTi), a supplier of bulk tropical fruit juice purees and concentrates, announced the opening of a new passion fruit production facility in Vietnam. The new facility, operated by passion fruit industry leader Quicornac, offers iTi customers greater flexibility in budgeting, expanded product offerings, stability of production, increased availability, diversity in applications, and more. 

MGP Ingredients, Inc., launched of Proterra® Crumbles, a line of chef-seasoned plant-based protein crumbles developed for foodservice operations. Ready to serve in just minutes, Proterra pea protein crumbles can help cafeterias meet growing consumer demand for plant-based foods.

The next wave of pasta products boasts a world’s worth of influences and a host of new nutritional benefits, all introduced through ingredients novel to noodles and largely nonexistent in the pasta and prepared pasta meal spaces. Exploring beyond Italian and Asian, product developers have turned to cuisine cultures ranging from Eastern Europe to Turkey to North Africa to bring greater variety, and nutrition, to the humble noodle dish.