dsm-firmenich names Peach as flavour of the year, with applications including confectionery
Flavours and fragrance group dsm-firmenich has named Peach+ as the 12th annual “Flavor of the Year” for 2024, with potential applications across a number of segments including confectionery, as well as beverages and other fruit-based products, writes Neill Barston.
The Swiss-Dutch group completed its merger this summer, and is now understood to have revenues of around €12 billion, with a strong focus on delivering new innovations for the market.
As the business revealed, Peach+ was inspired by Pantone 13-1023 Peach Fuzz, the 2024 Color of the Year from Pantone, the global colour authority and provider of professional colour language standards and digital solutions for the design community.
The selections were based on emerging signals in the cultural and consumer landscape where trends in kindness, community, goodness, and comfort have all been identified as having increasing relevancy. For more than 20 years, both companies 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.
Peach+ is an invitation to dsm-firmenich customers to innovate with this beloved flavour, to go beyond the traditional juicy sweet aspects to also consider softer, smoother, lighter, more refreshing, textural elements.
“Now in its 12th year, the announcement of the Flavor of the Year is an eagerly anticipated event,” said Maurizio Clementi, EVP Taste for Taste, Texture & Health at dsm-firmenich. “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.”
As the company noted, the peach is one of the oldest cultivated fruits in the world, with a 4,000-year-old history that began in China and continues to this day. China is the world leader in peach production and exportation, with over 400 varietals under cultivation.
“Our research reveals that peach has many multifaceted meanings,” said Jeffrey Richard Schmoyer, VP of Human Insights for Taste, Texture & Health at dsm-firmenich. “And peach is incredibly emotional. While the peach has a long history, it also has an innovative future.” According to Emotions 360, a proprietary dsm-firmenich consumer study that measures consumer emotions associated with ingredients, the peach is somewhat unique in that it has many innate 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, flavoured 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 savoury opportunities for peach including side dishes, noodles, processed cheeses, and protein analogs. Peach in combination also spiked in favor of passion fruit plus peach, mango plus peach, peach plus tea, and apricot plus peach.
’’Flavour of the Year showcases emerging trends in flavour through proactive sensory experiences and creations, and completes its mission year after year, which is to empower our customers to be leaders in global trends,” says Mikel Cirkus, Global Creative Director for Taste, Texture & Health at dsm-firmenich. The company identifies countless possibilities to put the Plus in Peach for 2024, and confidently envisions how customers can lead with these emerging trends to ultimately create products with high impact and superior business relevancy.
