Food & Beverage Innovation: Trending Creativity and Sustainability
By Robert O'Halloran Professor & Director, Hospitality Management, East Carolina University | May 2025
F&B is an ever-evolving sector and, in recent years, has been both proactive and reactive to changes in the social and business landscape of the nation. F&B industry operators are steadily evolving, driven by changing consumer preferences and global influences. The pandemic prompted fast action for many operations just to survive. In a high-speed world of change, the F&B sector has become increasingly innovative, as evidenced by its products, service, safety, and technology operations. This discussion will review creative ideas and a variety of trends in innovation and consumer demand for F&B.
I envision the F&B industry using a sustainability framework for the industry, meaning good for the environment, good for the community, and good for the businesses. As is often noted, there is nothing less sustainable than an unsuccessful business. In each of these sustainability categories, innovation and changes continue to be seen in packaging and its impact on waste and the product supply chain. Packaging and supply chain issues continue to be part of the trends with an effort to be more sustainable. Items like single-use plastic, with alternatives including biodegradable materials, compostable packaging, and other recyclable materials are part of the sustainable focus tactics of the packaging and plastics industry.
The goal is to protect the environment and provide a positive consumer experience through the creation of an efficient and effective packaging system, reducing the amount of packaging and eliminating non-recyclable materials. Also multiple non-meat products are appearing with intentions to reduce the environmental impacts by reducing the impacts of large herds of cattle. These efforts appear to be gaining some notice.
Good for the community can be interpreted as local populations, living standards, employment, and available labor. Hotels and resorts need to be part of the community and be engaged in their decisions and future successes. For example, the movie based on a book by John Nichols, The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), illustrates a small community struggling to maintain their ability to afford to live in their own community as major resort development pushes the cost of living beyond the capabilities of the local population. A sustainable business framework could have helped this problem.
Finally, good for the business means being able to operate profitably, attract good labor and provide guests with the service and experiences they are demanding across the country. Industry news and trends note consumer trends, including health-conscious eating and the enhanced use of technology, including an array of mobile applications. Additionally, robot service for contactless interactions and efficient pickup, plus delivery and pricing options, are increasingly popular.
Factors impacting social preferences and economic conditions have once again made the home the hub for food and beverage consumption. A few factors drive this trend, including:
- Remote work: people want the flexibility of working from home.
- Inflation: cooking at home is much less expensive than eating out, even with rising grocery prices.
- Comfort: people are more comfortable at home and like having the option to wear comfortable clothes and watch TV while eating.
- Home-based social events: people are playing board games with friends at home. Ultimately, consumers are looking for value.
Value has a price and quality relationship, noting an appropriate price for a quality product. F&B professionals need to define F&B quality for their operations.
Food & Beverage and Creativity
Being creative or innovative can mean thinking, seeing, and or doing what others do not think, see, or do. Creativity is the ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form. Creative people see and think differently, and in F&B, this relates to identifying new products and using F&B products in new ways. The Innova Top 10 Trends for 2025 shines a spotlight on the F&B environment:
- Ingredients and Beyond – Elevating Standards-higher quality ingredients.
- Health – Precision Wellness- proactive health.
- Flavors – Wildly Inventive- fun and excitement in food and beverage.
- Gut Health – Flourish from Within- digestive/gut health, consumer interest.
- Plant-based – Rethinking Plants- global trends, lifestyle trends, changes in the industry, and consumer trends.
- Sustainability – Adapting to Change-Climate change and sustainable practices.
- Beauty Food – Taste the Glow- Beauty and physical appearance matter.
- Food Culture – Tradition Reinvented- honoring authenticity and heritage, history matters. The focus on heritage and home helps me to recall growing up in ethnically diverse neighborhoods, and enjoying great cooking smells and through my friends got introduced to their grandparents who were forever trying to feed us. One particular memory was my friend’s grandmother suggested that we all come back for Sunday dinner, our group asked, What are we eating? and When do you want us? We came back for a Sunday Polish feast, it was great! I also learned a great deal more about Polish food. History and heritage matters!
- Mood Food – Mindful Choices- innovation in products for mood, focus, sleep, and other benefits.
- AI – Bytes to Bites-AI is growing in use as a tool for speeding up product innovation, identifying ingredients, developing product formulations, creating flavors, automating production, protecting food safety, and supporting sustainability.
An overview of F&B creativity and F&B trends includes drinks, plant-based foods, referred to as functional health products, the new fast-casual, enhanced willingness to experiment with spices, cultural innovations for treats and snacks, One Dish Wonders or ODWs, alternative caffeine boost, self-service kiosks and Grab and Go and more. The opportunities for innovative F&B products to become sustaining trends are great, and this discussion provides an overview of F&B products, services, and operations for the future.
F&B Trends
Given an increased awareness of health concerns, consumers are on the lookout to avoid sugar and artificial ingredients in drinks. Another topic, functional F&B, meaning products to enhance hydration, stress relief, improved gut health, and energy-boosting properties. As noted in Food Navigator-Europe, some top food and drink trends for 2025 are featuring dramatic dried citrus, exotic spices for coffee and hormone-balancing cuisines. Therefore, guests will demand versatile ingredients, sustainability, hyper-personalized nutrition and a focus on diverse cuisines and flavor evolutions. Also, interest in plant-based foods continues . One example cites concerns about commercial fishing, and the environment that are driving the consideration of plant-based seafood.
The changes in work and home life patterns, i.e. convenience, food prices, cooking, and food delivery options, have acted as catalysts for hybrid meal and snack solutions. Meal kits and on-demand ingredient delivery options can and are available. Natural ingredients are in demand, and a shift from processed foods indicates a greater concern for health, and companies are removing artificial ingredients and additives. There is also increased demand for local foods. The farm-to-table efforts and local food movements have been going on for some time and relate to food or gastronomic tourism focused on local signature items and recipes.
This author worked with a colleague in Kenya a few years ago to examine local Kenyan foods as tools to promote tourism and eating local. The emphasis in the Kenya example was on local farm-to-table, culture, and marketing. Research has linked gastronomy to Kenya’s ability to create a niche market and, therefore, enhance the role of authenticity in gastronomy and a guest’s appreciation of the region’s epicurean offerings.
In the United States, consider the local and or signature food items available and the opportunities to include and promote local foods. Such foods include Alaskan King crab, halibut, and salmon, Tamales from Arizona, Maryland Crab cakes, New England clam chowder, baked beans, quahogs, and lobster. Additionally, other items include Cincinnati chili, Colorado game foods like buffalo and elk, Florida conch chowder, and Apalachicola oysters, and Georgia peaches, Louisiana Cajun food, Memphis Bar-B-Que, Mid-South catfish, Pacific Northwest salmon, San Diego fish tacos, and Vermont maple syrup and the list goes on.
A review of current trends describes these local food processes as hyper-local food systems, and they work on the principle that everything we consume is sourced from the immediate locality. This local effort will also have an impact on overall cost by eliminating or reducing transportation costs.
Finally, tech-powered supply chain transparency innovations are important, noting academia and startups that are developing "DNA barcodes" for F&B, a process that adds yeast strains to products, which can then be traced at every stage of the supply chain. Technology in F&B, as noted above, continues to evolve. From enhancing customer experiences to improving efficiency and sustainability, technology has revolutionized the way the F&B industry operates.
Service robots and restaurant digitization are everywhere, as is real-time sales data tracking in addition to enhanced ordering and delivery options. Technology can also support catering to dietary needs and assisting in reducing waste. Also, as in all businesses, efforts to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data can also provide analytics and insights in F&B and do it more quickly than traditional decision-making efforts and, therefore, support innovation and change.
Educating for Innovation
How do we educate our students and the next generation of F&B leadership to be innovative and creative in F&B and other lines of business? In a learning setting (university or business training) there is a need to provide opportunities to be creative and or innovative. This can be accomplished through resource opportunities, for example, in kitchen labs, diverse assignments and decision-making opportunities, where the future leaders make decisions.
These opportunities could be in a kitchen lab setting, on a computer, in a project, in a presentation, and more. Faculty could start by asking students to self-assess their creativity based on creativity traits identified years ago. Shared here are a couple of brief class activities adapted from a case study, which could position students to be creative and provide opportunities for creativity.
- Activity 1: Tourism cases can be particularly useful for creative stimuli. Open-ended problems for the development of a tourism site or region and/or the development of the mix of F&B products require a focus on creativity. Cases do not need to be formal or lengthy. For example, interesting articles from the food section of an online newspaper could be used as mini cases.
- Activity 2: Food product creation in food labs and for projects is a natural avenue for students to use creativity. Students can define their audience and then create given parameters from an instructor. For example, one such project requires students to interview an audience and then create new and healthy items for service to the group at a later time. This process can include the fusion of tastes, the use of ethnic spices and culturally different recipes. This assignment also gives the student an opportunity to create a plate appearance and name the item.
Additionally, an instructor can provide questions to prompt creative and innovative thought in a multitude of directions. For example, the following questions relate to food tourism :
- Is food or culinary tourism already in place for a destination or does it need to be developed?
- Should a food tourism marketing effort be coordinated by a F&B business or a tourism authority? Or by some partnership focused on F&B tourism?
- Are the local foods based on agriculture (raw products) or are they culinary productions?
Finally, research titled, Innovation in the F&B industry: The push and pull of consumer engagement , summarized some takeaways that should be part of the current content of the F&B industry. Alerting our students and employees to the innovations in the F&B industry can help guide students to develop their creative thinking skills.
- Respondents expect the industry to continue growing.
- Quality is the overwhelming driver of brand loyalty.
- Innovation drivers include supply chain and ingredient sourcing, production and technology, packaging, marketing, where customers are buying (e.g., retail outlets vs. online sales), expansion of digital retailers and the acquisition of brick-and-mortar stores by online retailers.
- Customers are demanding innovations like new products, clean labels, variety, sustainability, and sourcing.
- Respondents are trying new ways to reach customers, with a focus on advertising and social media.
- Most F&B companies surveyed currently sell less than 20 percent of their products online.
- Operational issues can be roadblocks to innovation, including employee capacity.
Wrap up
To summarize the F&B efforts in innovation, some general questions set the scene. What is innovation in F&B? What are examples of food innovation? And Why is innovation important in F&B?
To understand the innovative process, individuals and organizations need to think, research, experiment and test their ideas. Each operation and its owners, managers and employees need to keep current on what is working in the F&B industry. Part of that process is knowing and understanding who your guests are and what they want. The data needed should be inclusive of ingredients, packaging, availability, preferences and more. The business of F&B can monitor these factors by keeping pace via big data technology and AI, plus their supply chain developments.
Companies and all businesses and their employees should also have reliable information resources and data from multiple sources such as the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) , the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the Board of Innovation and others. F&B trends research and innovation trend forecasts are conducted by diverse companies and sources.
Operators should become regular readers and reviewers of these materials. For example, Nestle’s list includes the following, some previously noted. Consumers are redefining what mealtimes are and what and when consumers are willing to taste new products. A review of the list below makes me note that I have not done much to try plant-based products; my bad. As points of reference, I added comments to their list in some of these categories.
Food
- Trend 1: Spices as Culinary Change Agents- You have to love to try global spices, one of our favorite restaurants these days is called NC Spice.
- Trend 2: Global Accents Shake Up Menus- I have been fortunate to travel for work throughout my career, and we, as a family or individually, look for the local favorite places.
- Trend 3: Plant-Based Becomes a Mainstream Choice Trend- Need to try these. Historically, I have had non-meat products, but nothing recent. With one of our children I ate in the school cafeteria once and they were having beet substitute hamburgers. My hamburger was purple, sorry no thanks. I have been assured that is not the case now.
Beverage
- Trend 4: Coffee’s Cold Rus
- Trend 5: Healthful Hydration
- Trend 6: Fresh New Beverage Flavors Trend- Refreshing seems to be a key for me.
Consumer
- Trend 7: Customers Reset Mealtime Clock- Restaurants have done all day breakfast, and breakfast for dinner, and I love cold pizza for breakfast. Mealtimes are and should be flexible.
- Trend 8: The Big Experience of Dining Out -Consider why we all go out to eat. Is it convenient? or is it a special event? Conduct a self-assessment, what are your favorite places to eat and what are your favorite items?
- Trend 9: Tech Tools Bump Up Customer Service
Also, Food and Wine shares five food trends you’re about to see everywhere.
- Next-Level Spicy Foods - ghost peppers or just to feel something, excessively spicy snacks, sauces, and meals are on the rise.
- Apocalyptic Staples - travelers, outdoor explorers, or forgetful grocery shoppers. Try Salsa Queen’s freeze-dried salsa, which has a three-year shelf life, Arctic Farms’ freeze-dried ice cream (which certainly won’t melt on a hot day), or Crispy Green’s fruit and veggie snacks .
- Fancy Groceries - of restaurants packaging their greatest hits for supermarket consumers (see: Carbone’s Spicy Vodka Sauce, Taco Bell’s Cravings Dips )
- Ready-to-Eat Korean Meals - Korean food that can be heated in minutes is making an impact on American consumers, perhaps thanks in part to H Mart’s increasing footprint in the U.S.
- Honey and Seeds- Specialty honeys and honey-flavored and infused products were everywhere, as were plenty of seed-based snacks and sauces.
Another great resource is the What’s Hot 2025 Culinary Forecast published by the National Restaurant Association. This forecast notes its Top 10 Trends Overall which are shared here with my comments.
- Sustainability and local sourcing- as noted previously, sustainability is here to stay.
- Cold Brew-I like cold coffee.
- Korean Cuisine –diverse Asian cuisines with Korean food leading the way, plus Vietnamese and Filipino.
- Vietnamese Cuisine- so good. We had access to these before they were a trend when we lived in Denver.
- Hot Honey – we noted other lists for honey and seeds were a growing trend.
- Hyper local beer and wine- local craft beer or small winemakers, as well as mixologists, continue to grow in popularity and are also venues for great socialization opportunities.
- Fermented / Pickled foods- I really like these. My spouse makes quick great pickled onions.
- Wellness drinks – get your vitamins where you can.
- Creative Spritzes and Value Deals-Innovation and value for guests.
Their research also notes categories such as sustainability, smaller and more streamlined menus, healthy kids menus-always difficult to sell, continuing the trend of pop-up restaurants, convenience proteins, Limited time menus, flights and the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in foods items and product innovation This is well worth a look and my recommendation is to continue to watch the markets and your competitors.
New concepts and ideas from The Food Network and cooking shows and publications, online and in-print, can all provide new ideas and innovations. Great ideas are everywhere! Be a student of the F&B industry. Communities and neighborhoods have changed since I grew up and so have eating habits. We need to keep up with the times without forgetting the history that got us here. The ABCD framework of Always Be Collecting Data remains relevant.
Prof. O'Halloran
HotelExecutive retains the copyright to the articles published in the Hotel Business Review. Articles cannot be republished without prior written consent by HotelExecutive.
