Food for thought: Bet on long-term menu trends, not summer flings

In the build-up to spring and summer seasons, away from home operators take the opportunity to refresh and innovate food and drink menus in time for the hotter weather.

Regularly updating menus helps operators to stay relevant amidst tightening household budgets and rising high-street competition. It also provides a testbed for new flavours and formats that add value for existing consumers or attract new ones.

However, predicting the success of new flavours and formats can be challenging. While some ingredients, such as matcha, are increasingly popular and successful, it remains unclear whether others, like hōjicha, will be as appealing to consumers.

As a result, operators need strategies that allow them to separate fad from fashion.

Rather than focusing on a single ingredient or format, operators and suppliers should focus on the underlying trends shaping consumer behaviour that can highlight the opportunities for new flavour and format innovation.

From our recent research trip to London, some of the standout trends include:

• Premiumisation of convenience.

• Contrasting flavours.

• Popular flavours executed at scale.

Premiumisation of convenience

Consumers continue to value convenience, especially as the warmer weather encourages many to travel and be on the move more.

Despite tightening household budgets, the food to go sector remains resilient. Compared to other sectors, food to go is often part of consumer routines and may be seen as an affordable treat. Many have already cut back on other out of home spending, and may be reluctant to reduce food to go purchases to protect habitual experiences. 

Operators are responding by redefining convenience. Premium easy-to-eat and drink options, such as Joe and the Juice’s spicy Caesar sandwich or Costa’s chicken gyros-style flatbread, elevate the sandwich into a hot meal-like choice.

Suppliers with well-known brands are also elevating food to go. Sandwich Sandwich and Heinz, for example, are using Heinz’s strong brand awareness and Sandwich Sandwich’s premium fillings to signal quality to consumers.

McDonald’s Café and Sprite are also collaborating to create premium soft drinks. While the McDonald’s Café brand signals consistency, Sprite gives consumers a reason to trade up from unbranded options.

Contrasting flavours

As competition for spend continues to rise, operators must adapt to stay relevant. While consumers seek interesting and novel options, they may be less
willing to step outside of their comfort zone as prices rise and disposable household income falls.

Food and drink operators are addressing this tension. Shake Shack’s Hot Honey Chicken and Black Sheep’s Cherry Blossom Matcha may be different products, but have something in common: they blend contrasting yet complementary flavours with familiar food and drink formats.

Popular flavours executed at scale

It’s no secret that matcha continues to grow. Over the past five years, the Japanese green tea has become increasingly popular, especially among younger consumers who value its jitter-free caffeine release and aesthetic appeal.

This popularity is marked by the rise of independent matcha specialists, such as Jenki and Blank Street, and the rollout of Matcha in larger operators.

Caffè Nero even partly attributed its H1 2025 +5% like-for-like sales to Matcha, with the drink’s iced format seeing a 42.5% increase in sales during summer and autumn 2025.

It is unsurprising, then, that matcha is a key ingredient for spring and summer 2026.

While iced matcha will likely be a key sales lever as temperatures rise, the green tea’s popularity presents challenges for operators and suppliers.

• For operators, the challenge is operational: matcha is a powdered green tea that must be whisked and diluted. This can be a lengthy and delicate process, particularly as iced drinks sales pick up over summer.

• For suppliers, the challenge is quality and consistency: fast-growing global demand is straining supply, putting pressure on prices, and leading to shortages, especially of high-quality ceremonial grade varieties.

Next season’s flavour and format trends

It is challenging to predict the success of every concept that comes to market. Rather than chasing every flavour and format, operators and suppliers should focus on the underlying trends shaping consumer behaviour.

By focusing on the premiumisation of convenience, remaining relevant through contrasting but complementary flavours and scaling popular flavours, operators can create robust NPD strategies tailored to paradigms of consumer expectations.

By focusing on consumer interests, likes, dislikes and desires, operators can understand what drives behaviour and invest in the concepts most likely to succeed.

This should not rule out agile innovation. Rather, operators should use flavour and format trends as a source of inspiration and a barometer for innovation.