Exploring global foods and flavors

This summer, as families and friends gather from far and wide to make new memories over food, you might be wondering how you can make world flavors come together on your menu.

World flavors are very popular right now, and incorporating them into your menu can help you meet the needs of a more diverse and demanding range of diners.

We surveyed over 650 people from across the UK, US and Sweden* to find out how people are eating in different parts of the world - and what we found was that people in different locations loved to try new cuisines.

Our survey, together with current market research, has informed our latest AAK Foodservice Digest insight paper - Exploring global foods and flavors. It covers new, established and emerging flavor trends, explores which world cuisines are most in-demand, and takes a look at issues facing foodservice operators the world over.

One factor we discovered was how adventurous diners were when eating out. Across all three regions, 80% of people said they were either likely or very likely to try new cuisines when eating out.

Our research suggests there are three taste areas diners are keen to explore this summer - hot and spicy foods, dishes inspired by Asian flavors, and dishes incorporating barbecue elements.

This is also backed up by our survey - Asian cuisine was most favored by diners across the three regions combined, coming first in Sweden, second in the UK, and third in the US.

Asian flavors are extremely diverse depending on regional origin, and appeal to a wide range of people, from those who love hot and spicy food, to those who love sweet and sour combinations. Asian dishes also display a wide range of ingredients, from bao buns to crispy dumplings to hot pots, there’s a huge array of ingredients and tastes to explore.

Diners told us they also loved barbecue foods - with those in Europe enjoying them most of all - including three-quarters of those we surveyed in Sweden. Barbecue is a long-running trend, but one which shows no sign of slowing down, with new and exciting flavors like Korean barbecue, and varied sauces from different regions of the US, driving the trend further.

In terms of spice, over 50% of respondents in each area said that they enjoyed eating hot and spicy foods either ‘a lot’ or ‘a great deal’. Hot sauces have rocketed in popularity over the last couple of years, from an outlier to a kitchen staple. Piri Piri sauces are one of the most popular varieties.

We also discovered that deep frying was a popular element of world cuisine - and that some of the most exciting emerging dishes - from Malaysian curry puffs, to Indian street food, to Japanese fried chicken - are all created by deep frying.

Through our survey, we also asked diners what their favorite dishes containing butter were, with Indian inspired butter chicken curry coming out on top. Other popular butter dishes include scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes and garlic mushrooms - which are all incredibly simple to make using a versatile and money-saving butter alternative.

Make sure you read and download Exploring global food and flavors, and if you have any questions or would like to know more about AAK Foodservice, get in touch here.

*Our survey, carried out via SurveyMonkey, asked a range of diners from different ages, sexes and household incomes for their food preferences from across the UK, US and Sweden. The survey took place in May 2024.