SINGAPORE — A new trends 2025 report from Ai Palette calls out hyper-personalization, tech-enhanced experiences, mood-enhancing products, new flavors and textures and eco-conscious consumption as trends to watch for in the coming year.
From Farm to Face: The Fusion of Flavor, Technology, and Tailored Beauty Personalization, Tech, Wellness & Sustainability in Food & Beauty drops Nov. 20, along with a webinar from the Singapore-based artificial intelligence-based consumer insights platform.
The report addresses trends Ai Palette sees coming both in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and in the beauty and personal care industry (BPC).
In the area of hyper-personalization, the report projects more customization of products. As a result, Ai Palette is analyzing how dietary choices are changing across categories, Ashish Jha, head of growth consulting, told Food Business News.
“Consumers are willing to spend more for more customization,” he said. “We’re also looking at allergen detection and broad trends around that. And, of course, around nutrition that (consumers) are taking in.”
Jha added that the “free-from” trend continues to be big in food and beverage as well as in personal care.
“We see a lot of new and emerging brands that are resting on claims of natural and free-from,” he said.
“Farm to face” is an expanding term that Jha said also may be applied to both sectors and to individual companies and their category positioning. The term typically means products manufactured from local ingredients and processed without harmful chemicals.
The Ai Palette report projects increasing tech-enhanced and “gamified” experiences involving AR/VR (augmented reality and virtual reality).
With food and beverage, this could mean smart appliances and interactive games. An example of the latter is a limited-edition bottle Coca-Cola rolled out two years ago in India with a Bluetooth-enabled cap that would only open when the person who sent it was present with their mobile phone.
While mood-enhancing products aren’t new, they’re branching out from addressing physical health to mental, emotional and spiritual health as well, Jha said. Conversely, he said that prebiotics and postbiotics, once limited to food and beverage, are appearing in skin care products.
“Anti-aging was mostly in skin products, but now you see anti-aging drinks,” he said.
New flavors and texture trends are expected in 2025, according to the Ai Palette report, and texture is becoming just as important as flavor. Umami continues to be a big thing, Jha said, with the savory flavor now showing up more in juices.
“We’re seeing unexpected combinations such as bitter and sweet with lots of products being launched,” he added.
Colors also are influencing consumers’ perspective of a product and carrying strong associations, Jha said, giving the example of when someone thinks of energy, the color they associate with it is green.
Eco-conscious consumption, along with sustainable containers and waste reduction, is an ongoing trend Ai Palette’s report sees continuing to grow in 2025. Jha said companies are using biodegradable packaging and renewable energy, and consumers are making brand choices based on this positioning.
“They are inclined to buy products that are better for them and better for the planet,” he said. This trend influenced an Australian campaign to encourage consumers to reduce waste by refilling containers at the store and not buying a completely new bottle.
Jha said category subtopics Ai Palette is exploring include local farmers, sustainable sourcing and sustainable suppliers.
