Five of Our Favorite Citrus Trends
Citrus is back – in a big way. Lemons, limes, tangerines, oranges, mandarins – they’re all popping up all over shelves and on menus in a wide range of applications. We expect to see a continued boom in the popularity of citrus in the next year or two, with yogurt, frozen desserts, nutrition bars, sports gels and powders, and many more products all getting a citrus twist.
One of the trends we’re seeing is a slant toward more exotic citrus flavors as food companies strive to appease today’s adventurous consumer. That means that restaurants and other businesses in the food industry are including more exotic citrus fruits in their creations – think finger limes, kumquats, ugli fruit, kaffir lime, yuzu, and buddha’s hand – as well as combining citrus flavors with other, unexpected flavors in delightful ways such as lemon-tarragon, lime-cucumber, orange-coffee, and grapefruit-vanilla, to name just a few.
One of the major advantages of citrus is that it’s not only available year-round, but its personality also lends itself equally well to summer and winter vibes. From lemonade and Key lime pie in hot weather to citrus-scented cheesecake or blood-orange sorbet to signal the onset of autumn, citrus can play an impressive variety of roles. Some of our favorite citrus trends we see now include:
- Candied citrus fruits. As consumers become more interested in the zero-waste movement, candied citrus is growing in popularity as an efficient way to use the entire fruit.
- Smoothies and juices. These delicious and functional beverages have exploded over the past few years with endless combinations of ingredients and flavors.
- Sophisticated lemonades. Using flavor accents strategically lets flavorists take lemonade far beyond summer. Intriguing flavor additions include fresh herbs, pomegranate, cucumber, and alternative sweeteners.
- Citrus flavors can take oils to the next level. Meyer lemon oil on salad, citrus and paprika oil on grilled octopus, and orange oil alongside rum and lime juice in daiquiris are just a few of the trends we love this year.
- Lemons sugar, citrus salt, and blood orange bitters are all examples of evocative and delicious flavors with which to experiment. One tip to get the creative juices flowing: think thinly sliced pears infused in lime juice and then dipped in melted bittersweet chocolate.
It’s easy to see that the sky’s the limit when it comes to using citrus flavors to create new and exciting products for the upcoming seasons. Take advantage of all citrus has to offer with natural citrus flavor ingredients from Advanced Biotech.