Cold tea beverages incorporate Eastern taste profiles for consumer allure
Implications - Spicy, ethnic flavors hailing from the East have been making their way into traditionally sweeter fare, such as desserts and coffee, in order to satisfy a growing consumer desire for flavor reversal. Cold beverages are following suit, adding a spicy kick to an otherwise refreshing experience, while simultaneously providing North American consumers with international variations of iced drinks. The expansion of fusion from food to beverage signifies a consumer appreciation for new incarnations of familiar flavors.
Workshop Question - Describe a new way to a inject Southeast Asian influence into your product or service.
Trend Themes
1. Spicy Flavor Profile - The use of spicy, ethnic flavors in traditionally sweet drinks like tea communicates consumers' interest in innovative taste combinations.
2. Fusion Beverages - Food and drink cultures are blending as consumers become more adventurous and interested in the next iteration of familiar flavors.
3. Traditional Beverage Makeovers - Disruptive innovation opportunities arise from updating traditional beverages to suit modern taste preferences, like cold tea with a spicy kick.
Industry Implications
1. Beverage Production - Innovative takes on traditional drink recipes provide an opportunity for beverage producers to experiment with new flavor combinations and capitalize on consumers' expanding palates.
2. Culinary Innovation - Innovation opportunities arise from the fusion of various international flavors for food and beverage production, such as with the emergence of spicy, ethnic flavors in traditional sweet drinks like tea.
3. Packaging Design - The opportunity to capitalize on the beverage industry's race to the top means that packaging design is a potential avenue for companies to pique customers' interest and stand out from competitors, such as with the use of labels inspired by vintage Eastern medicine packaging.
