Trends that should stay buried in 2026
Some trends have an afterlife. Make sure yours deserves one. Explore three fading food and beverage trends, the consumer needs living on beneath them, and what deserves a place in your 2027 pipeline. Built on Tastewise US consumer panel and menu data.
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Dubai chocolate: Is consumer interest alive?
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Freeze-dried candy: Can texture survive?
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Dirty soda: Is the protein pitch flat?
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A little due diligence before the séance
Three fading trends. the needs outliving them, and three questions to ask before you bring an old concept back to life.
Dubai chocolate has unfinished business. Mostly on menus.
Consumer interest fell 81% from its March 2025 peak, while menu presence grew more than sevenfold in a year. Follow the crunch into feuilletine to see where the appeal lives on.
Freeze-dried candy’s novelty has an expiration date.
Consumer interest fell 70% over two years. Meanwhile, Swedish candy is building a weekend ritual. See how texture and a repeat occasion can give your next concept more staying power.
Dirty soda’s protein pitch went flat.
“Protein” as a reason for choosing dirty soda fell 65%. Consumer interest in protein soda grew 106% over the past year. Explore how the treat and the functional benefit are finding their own paths.
Tinned fish would like a word with the coroner.
Consumer demand, menu presence and home recipes are all growing. Convenience and protein help explain its appeal; “trendy” doesn’t make its top ten reasons. Meet the report’s example of a trend with a pulse.
Before you resurrect that concept, check for a pulse.
See where consumers are moving on, which needs still matter, and what to question before committing your next launch budget.
Questions from the land of the living
The report examines declining interest in Dubai chocolate and freeze-dried candy, plus the weakening protein pitch behind dirty soda. It also follows the needs finding new life in feuilletine, Swedish candy and protein soda.
The reason consumers loved it may still have value. Dubai chocolate’s crunch, for example, lives on in other formats. The report helps teams examine which parts of a trend deserve a place in the next concept.
Compare the direction of consumer interest with menu growth, then examine why consumers choose it. Expanding menus alongside declining interest deserves a closer look, especially when novelty carries the appeal.
The findings draw on Tastewise US consumer panel and menu data. The report includes changes in consumer interest, menu presence and reasons for choosing specific foods and beverages, with comparison periods identified alongside the findings.
Use it to review concepts, challenge trend-led briefs and sharpen your buyer story. Ask three questions: Are consumers and menus moving in the same direction? How much demand rests on “trendy”? Which reason is growing among the consumers who stay?
