Pineapple is flavour of the year. Gochujang is trending. Functional ingredients are everywhere. But should you jump on these trends?

Maybe. But only if they fit YOUR product base, brand, and consumers. Because chasing trends without strategy is how brands waste thousands launching products that flop.

In this episode:

• 7 major flavour and consumer trends shaping 2026 (from fermented flavours to healthy ageing)

• Why "trendy" doesn't mean "right for your product"• The 3-step framework to evaluate if a trend is worth pursuing

• Real examples: When trends work vs. when they destroy products

• The critical warning every brand needs before chasing flavour of the year

💌 Want to dive deeper?

Read the full ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠transcript of this episode here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you found this episode helpful, leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on whatever platform you're listening to this podcast. Your review genuinely helps this podcast grow and makes it more visible to other food and drink brands who are struggling with the same challenges you might be facing. 🙏

_____________________________________________________________

👋 Hi, I'm Manon Galizzi, a food scientist and flavour expert with over 10 years in the food industry.

If your food or drink product sales are dropping, reviews keep saying the taste isn't right, or you're launching something plant-based or functional but can't figure out which flavours will actually work, you are not alone! I see this all the time with the brands I work with.

That's why I help established food and drink brands create products from scratch, choose the right flavour direction, or fix flavours that just aren't performing.

And here's the thing: unlike most flavour houses or co-man that just throw samples at you and disappear, I actually guide you through the entire process. I stay with you, tweak on the day, and help you understand what's really happening in your product.

Because here's the truth research keeps showing year after year: flavour is the number one driver of repeat purchase.

Get it right, and your customers keep coming back. Get it wrong, and they buy once and never return.

In each episode, I share what I've learned from helping food and drink brands like yours, turning confused tastings into confident decisions, and underperforming products into ones that actually sell.

👋 Connect with me directly on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or via my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠.

2025 has been a year of incredible learning, challenging projects, and some hard-won lessons about what really works when it comes to flavour strategy.

And if you're a food and drink brand launching something new in 2026 or struggling with a product that's not performing, these insights might just save you months of back and forth.

This year, I worked on some of the most challenging projects I've ever taken on. A 16-month plant-based barista milk that had to foam properly, stay stable in coffee, and use only clean-label ingredients. Functional products with earthy, bitter, fishy bases that required thinking completely outside the box.

And I kept hearing the same thing from brands: "I wish I'd found you sooner. We've received a lot of samples from our supplier/co-manufacturer and we're not getting anywhere."

Here's what I realised. Food and drink brands know they need flavours, but they don't know there's a strategic process for selecting the right flavour profile for their specific base. They think it's just "ask for vanilla" or "add some fruit juice concentrate" and that's it. But a vanilla is not just a vanilla.

In this episode, I share:

• Why I simplified from 9 services to 3 (Create, Choose, Fix)
• The brands I love working with (clean label, plant-based, functional, allergen-free)
• What I learned from 16 months developing a barista milk from scratch
• Why brands come to me after wasting hundreds of samples elsewhere
• The gap in understanding that's costing brands time and money
• What's coming in 2026 (guest interviews, webinars, and more ways to connect)

Thank you for being part of this journey. Let's make 2026 even better.

💌 Want to dive deeper?

Read the full ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠transcript of this episode here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you found this episode helpful, leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on whatever platform you're listening to this podcast. Your review genuinely helps this podcast grow and makes it more visible to other food and drink brands who are struggling with the same challenges you might be facing. 🙏

_____________________________________________________________

👋 Hi, I'm Manon Galizzi, a food scientist and flavour expert with over 10 years in the food industry.

If your food or drink product sales are dropping, reviews keep saying the taste isn't right, or you're launching something plant-based or functional but can't figure out which flavours will actually work, you are not alone! I see this all the time with the brands I work with.

That's why I help established food and drink brands create products from scratch, choose the right flavour direction, or fix flavours that just aren't performing.

And here's the thing: unlike most flavour houses or co-man that just throw samples at you and disappear, I actually guide you through the entire process. I stay with you, tweak on the day, and help you understand what's really happening in your product.

Because here's the truth research keeps showing year after year: flavour is the number one driver of repeat purchase.

Get it right, and your customers keep coming back. Get it wrong, and they buy once and never return.

In each episode, I share what I've learned from helping food and drink brands like yours, turning confused tastings into confident decisions, and underperforming products into ones that actually sell.

👋 Connect with me directly on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or via my ⁠website⁠.