Rose petals and orange blossoms are turning up in yogurt and the newest drinks touting antioxidants double as high-octane cocktail mixers.
If you haven't seen these products yet, you will.
Exotic and extremes foods like these and many others are turning on consumers' appetites, according to food trend experts appearing here at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting & Food Expo. Look no further than the explosion of bottled water that's packaged, priced and marketed into vastly different consumer categories.
“You can find it from simple to premium: 12 cents a bottle to $38 Bling,” said Lu Ann Williams, senior analyst with Innova Market Insights based in the Netherlands.
“For every trend there is a counter trend,” said pointing out several international trends affecting U.S. food. Japanese staples such as sushi and sashimi are everywhere, and Japanese-influenced products, including lox wrapped with seaweed, are turning up in the marketplace.
In food service, restaurants with upscale atmosphere and low-end prices reflect consumers evolving preferences, a restaurant category called “polished-casual.” Ethnic flavors including Brazilian, Thai, Latin American and Mediterranean continue to influence menus as diners seek out unfamiliar bold-flavored foods, according to Joe Pawlak, vice president of the Chicago-based food research company Technomic.