Food flavor trends are constantly changing. For food manufacturing companies, following, analyzing, and adopting the top food trends customers are craving plays an important role in attracting and retaining customers.
Create the phenomenal flavors your current and potential customers are seeking with the help of Butterball® Farms. We understand what it takes to help you stand out from competitors—top-tier ingredients, innovative flavors, and consistent quality. With our custom flavored products, your customers will be calling to place repeat orders in no time.
What Makes Certain Foods Trendy?
Many factors impact current food flavoring trends, including:
More Travel
It’s been a few years since the height of the pandemic. After spending so much time confined to their homes (where innovative flavors are scarce), many people are getting back to jetting off to new places.
As a result of these adventures, customers are seeking bold, international flavors to enjoy when they return home. You can deliver bright Asian-inspired flavors with a yuzu-infused finishing sauce or a spicy Mexican Tajín and lime marinade for chicken, pork, or steak tacos.
Cravings for Comfort
In addition to being a form of escapism, fantastically flavored food is also a comfort for many.
Customers are facing external stressors every day. Providing a meal so mouthwatering that it makes the rest of the world fade away is possible with custom flavored food products from Butterball.
Whether indulging in pasta topped with a rich, buttery, scampi sauce, or dessert drenched in salted caramel glaze, the right food satisfies the soul—and helps food manufacturers see repeat orders.
Focus on Health
As much as comfort food is a consistent craving amongst Americans, healthier choices are just as sought after.
In 2023, non-dairy alternatives are a hit. Expand your offerings with Butterball’s high quality dairy-free butter, which can be added to all kinds of dishes. One example vegan customers will appreciate: milk-free mac and cheese, as rich as the original.
Dishes with less sugar are another high ticket item. Butterball’s custom flavor creation services allow you to create a “Goldilocks” product that features natural sweeteners, like maple or honey—not too sweet, not too savory, but just right.
Social Media
As it has been for the last few years, shareable food is in, and it’s here to stay. Bright colors and novel ingredients grab attention and allow audiences to seemingly taste from the timeline.
Butterball offers tantalizing toppings, fillings, dips, and sauces for everything from sandwiches to desserts to veggie-forward dishes. We’ll help you create punchy flavored products that are as palatable as they are shareable.
Top 2023 Food Trends
Simultaneously Sweet & Savory
One-note dishes are drab, dull, and no longer enough to entice modern eaters. Spice it up with a satiating combination of sweet and spice. When opposing flavors are added together (think pumpkin spice, watermelon lime, or mango habanero), it not only creates a memorable tasting experience, but also encourages customers to dig in for more.
A few winning pairings we recommend trying out include chocolate and chili (a Mexican mole sauce is a must-try), hot honey (or spicy maple, for an even more unique take on a growing favorite combination), and apple and bacon. Creating custom spicy and sweet sauces, spreads, and marinades is made easy with Butterball.
Fresh & Healthy
Certain light, refreshing flavors, like those with citrus and herb, are associated with health and wellness due to their positive properties, including reducing inflammation and strengthening immunity. Help your customers feel their best physical selves without sacrificing bold flavor with Butterball’s citrus garlic butter dollops (a light finish for salmon or chicken) or a chili lime cilantro aioli (a spicy, zesty dip perfect for sweet potato fries).
International Comfort Food
When you mix a desire for feel-good food with the adventure many Americans are seeking, global-inspired flavors are at the forefront of 2023 food flavor trends. For people who aren’t able to travel, food is an easy and delicious way to discover more about the world around them.
Black sesame, a popular flavoring agent found in many Asian countries, has a strong, nutty flavor profile that complements many proteins and baked goods. Harissa, a spicy chili paste from North Africa, is great on tacos, burgers, and in stews. Consult with the team at Butterball about how we can help create international-inspired flavored butters, sauces, and toppings for your organization.
Custom Food Flavoring with Butterball
Butterball Farms is the leading expert in creating custom, innovative, memorable flavors. Custom flavored products from Butterball aid food manufacturers in achieving punchy flavors that customers are seeking out with minimal changes to their manufacturing processes.
Custom Flavored Butter
It’s common knowledge that butter makes all kinds of food taste better, but Butterball butter products take it a step further. Our flavored butter comes in a variety of forms, including individual dollops, spreads, and sauces, so you can add a creamy, rich depth of flavor to whatever you’re cooking. Pasta, chicken, steak, fish, vegetables, baked goods, and desserts can all benefit from high-quality butter.
Find classic favorites like garlic herb butter, horseradish and blue cheese, and brown butter with sage, or create the custom butter product your customers have been waiting for.
Custom Marinades, Glazes, & Gravies
Perfecting a marinade, glaze, or gravy can mean the difference between an okay dish and a delectable dining experience your customer raves about for days. Butterball’s flavor development team will find the perfect, complex balance of acid, heat, and sweetness for a mouthwatering marinade—teriyaki or chili pineapple being some of our favorites.
When it comes to a good glaze, subtle flavors that add to a dish—without overpowering it—are what takes the cake. Sweet glazes, like brown sugar-infused, are great not only for desserts, but also when paired with carrots or pork dishes.
Gravies have a reputation for being the backbone of any good meal of turkey and mashed potatoes. When infused with flavors such as black pepper or black coffee, they’re able to shine for the complex, rich toppings they are.
Custom Sauces
No dish, whether for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert, is complete without a succulent sauce. Our sauces hold all sorts of flavors, adding moisture and richness. Create a custom dipping sauce for bread, complete with notes of parmesan, or a cherry and chocolate dessert sauce that is great on everything from brunch time waffles to post-dinner brownies.
Custom Fillings & Toppings
Fillings and toppings are an easy way to quickly add new depth of flavor to a dish. Create a custom filling for mushrooms, like cream cheese and garlic, or a tasty topping for steak that combines butter, shallots, and wine. Our customization options are endless, and we’re excited to collaborate on craveable, culinary masterpieces with you.
Custom Aiolis and Cream Cheese
Rich, creamy, and perfect for dipping, dunking, or spreading, aiolis and cream cheese carry sweet and savory flavors unbelievably well. Beyond just fries and bagels, these smooth and spreadable toppings can level-up a simple sandwich (think chimichurri aioli on a crab cake) or infuse decadence into an otherwise seemingly dull dish (like garlic herb cream cheese mixed into a plain pasta—welcome to the clean plate club!).
Our Process
You’ve got a lot on your plate—we’re here to make it more flavorful. Ordering a custom flavored product from Butterball is easy.
- Inquire with your ideas: First, send us a message to let us know a little bit about your needs. Let us know what your goals are, and we’ll get you in touch with our talented culinary team.
- Discuss flavor combinations: We have expert food scientists who are excited to sit down and collaborate with you on a custom butter, sauce, marinade, spread, glaze, gravy, topping, etc. The opportunities for flavor are endless!
- Utilize research & development: Our top-tier development team will take your flavor notes and refine your product until it’s perfect.
- Receive a sample: Once your custom product is created, we will send you a sample to guarantee that the flavor combination and balance are unmatched and utterly delicious.
- Get ready to impress your customers: After you’ve sent us the seal of approval, it’s time to send in the order. We offer bulk quantities, so you’ll never run out of your custom product.
Customize Phenomenal Flavors with Butterball
Send us a message today to learn more about creating unmatched flavors that your customers are currently craving.