At Puratos Fourayes, we have a dedicated team of Fruticians who do and make beautiful things with fruit.
9 Jan 2025
Our Mincemeat Masterclass ensures that all key team members involved in mincemeat production become our Mincemeat Magicians, and this is when the magic happens.
Each year, we delve into consumer and flavour trends to understand how best to offer our innovative skills to develop the best quality and tasting mincemeat for our customers' festive creations. We work with our customers to develop innovative concepts that will stand out on retailers' shelves.
In 2025, as insights shared by The Food People, we see that Harnessing AI, Umami 3.0, and Retro Throwback are trend drivers that will define and guide our innovation. AI is the future and is revolutionising food innovation globally. Umami is evolving and becoming the flavour of choice, leading the hunger for savoury flavours. Classics and nostalgic trends are here to stay, having trended in 2023 and 2024, and they look set to lead innovation in 2025 too. We also see trends like Feeling Fruity, Smoke & Char, and Citrus alongside colour trends of Black, Pink & Purple, with Cheese and Croissants everywhere. Trend-setting cuisines like Japanese, Italian, British/Classic UK, and sustainably and locally sourced ingredients are taking centre stage. Pistachio is up and coming, a little more heat is being added with flavours like Chilli Chocolate and Hot Honey appearing, and Herbs and Florals are being used to add bursts of fragrance.
When we look at trends for mincemeat, we also consider what is trending in beverages, as mincemeat can include alcohol. AI predicts emerging flavour trends to be umami, spice, tropical, floral, jalapeno, guava, turmeric, chilli, and tamarind. We are seeing alcoholic beverages like Mezcal – a smokier version of Tequila – becoming popular. Citrus links closely to the consumer trend of Tangy Twist (Puratos Taste Tomorrow Research) and lends itself well to the influence of Italian flavours like Limoncello. Ginger is a flavour that not only has health benefits but also adds a bit of heat and depth of flavour, creating the perfect culinary fusion when combined with citrus flavours. Citrus peel is used in the majority of our mincemeat to enhance those festive flavours. We see the use of peels being introduced to the beverage category to combat waste, enhance flavour, and add vitamins, minerals, and fibres.
Japanese influences and flavours are being seen in culinary dishes, bakery counters, and beverage innovation. This type of innovation welcomes savoury flavours like miso and soy, bringing through the true Umami experience. Pastry Stouts & Milkshake IPAs seem to be making an impact on innovation in the beer category, with flavours such as Battenburg, Cinnamon Bun, Peaches & Cream, and so much more.
When evaluating how retailers have innovated this popular festive treat, there is an increase in shelf presence of the traditional mince pie, innovated not only with new and exciting mincemeat flavour variations but also with the pastry casings and toppings.
Mincemeat innovation opportunities for 2025 are truly exciting, and these are some of the flavours we have proposed:
• Japanese Inspired Matcha Mince Pie: Sake & Cherry Blossom Mincemeat
• Smoke & Char with Citrus Inspired Luxury Mince Pie: Smoky Whiskey & Orange Mincemeat
• Classic UK with Pastry Stout Inspired Rhubarb Stout Mince Pie: Rhubarb, Vanilla, Ginger & Stout Mincemeat
• Feeling Fruity with Citrus and a Global Trending Fruit: Guava Inspired Fruit Sensation Mince Pie – Guava & Clementine Mincemeat
• Chocolate Chilli Mince Pie: Dark Rum, Chocolate & Chilli Honey Mincemeat
AI generated images above
Get in touch with the team to discover the rest of our mincemeat flavours and to develop your unique innovative mincemeat for 2025. Let's create something magical together!
Sources:
Taste Tomorrow by Puratos
The Food People
British Baker
Innova Database
