Global cuisine and international flavors continue to rise in popularity and demand, especially in prepared foods/deli.

Brand mashups and unique flavor combinations have also been leading top food trends in 2024. Charlotte, N.C.-based Hissho Sushi is a brand that consistently stays on top of trends. Last summer, barbecue flavors were all the rage, and Hissho Sushi partnered with Jack Daniel’s Pulled Pork for a limited-time sushi roll offering. Now this past summer, Hissho Sushi partnered with Los Angeles-based Fly By Jing on a limited-time Sichuan Chili Crisp California Roll using Fly By Jing’s viral Sichuan Chili Crisp sauce. 

Hissho Sushi described the sushi roll as a “symphony of bold umami flavors and textures. Creamy avocado and crisp cucumber bring cooling balance to the fiery kick of spicy imitation crab mix. Topped with crunchy fried onions, green onions, sesame seeds, Japanese BBQ sauce, and Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp infused mayo — the roll blends heat and zest when made fresh by local expertly trained chefs.”

Matt Wilken, president of Hissho Sushi, said the company continues to be committed to crafting innovative and authentic sushi experiences for consumers and that the partnership was a significant milestone for both companies. 

“This collaboration represents a true fusion between the master craft of Japanese sushi making and the bold, flavorful essence of Sichuan chili crisp sauce,” Wilken said.

“Hissho Sushi is the perfect partner to bring the bold flavors of Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp to sushi lovers across the country,” said Jing Gao, founder and CEO of Fly By Jing. “Our Sichuan Chili Crisp California Roll isn’t traditional; it blends my hometown of Chengdu China, with my new home’s namesake sushi roll. It’s vibrant, fiery, and definitely addictive.”

Some of Hissho Sushi’s other brand collaborations include the Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Roll, Crunchy Hatch Chile Chicken Roll and Crunchy Hatch Chile Tuna Roll. Its full menu can be found along with nutritional information here. 

In addition to providing unique flavors and brand collaborations, Hissho Sushi is committed to sustainable practices. Last year, the company confirmed that 100% of the seafood in its products is sustainably sourced by partnering with advisory firm Resiliensea Group and removing menu items that did not meet the sustainability criteria.

“Whether it’s wild-caught or sustainably farmed, from Asia or South America, Canada or Indonesia, all of Hissho’s sushi is transparently certified sustainable by an independent third party and traceable to producers and vendors that comply with strict standards for food safety and quality,” Hissho Sushi said.

According to the company, Hissho Sushi is currently the second largest sushi distributor in the United States and is both Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) Certified and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Certified.

Trends driven by travel and film

At the Specialty Food Association’s 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show on June 24 in New York, Menu Matters presented a session titled “The Retail Revolution: Decoding the New Consumer Path to Purchase.”

The speakers, Mike Kostyo and Maeve Webster, noted that international travel has been influential in United States consumers seeking global cuisine at their local supermarkets after they have returned from their trips.

They reported that 69% of consumers surveyed look for foods, flavors and ingredients from a country they recently visited once they are back home.

Menu Matters’ research also found that 30% of consumers have purchased a product or visited a restaurant after seeing it on a streaming show/movie.

This data suggests that movies and shows could be contributing to the rise in demand for global cuisine, with streaming services providing increased availability for consumers to watch international films on demand.

This even applies to animated film and shows, such as the recent Academy Award winning 2023 film “The Boy and the Heron,” made by Tokyo-based Studio Ghibli. The Japanese animation studio is known among younger consumers for its beautiful illustrations of food. Clips of the food scenes from a variety of Studio Ghibli productions regularly make their rounds on social media platforms, and many content creators share recipes and video tutorials for recreating the animated foods in real life.

Social media is a powerful driver of purchasing for younger consumers, as Menu Matters found that 50% of Gen Z believes their social media algorithm knows their tastes better than their parents.

Top international ingredients

In another Fancy Food Show session on June 23, Kenny Juskowiak from Chicago-based NielsonIQ presented a session on the future of retail, which covered consumer purchasing behavior and manufacturing trends.

One thing Juskowiak pointed out was how well-known brands are meeting consumer demands with brand extensions, rather than launching an entirely new product.

Juskowiak said that a fourth of all new brand launches in the past year were brand extensions and that sales for brand extensions are 23% higher than for completely new brands in their first year in the market.

This means that consumers like the familiarity of a brand or product they already trust combined with a new experience, such global cuisines and international flavors.

Juskowiak also shared top flavor trends gathered from online, with Sriracha gaining 48% search growth. Other trending searches for international ingredients and flavors were jackfruit, yuzu, dragon fruit, maitake and ashwagandha.

Juskowiak noted that mushroom ingredients have continued to grow significantly and that the mushroom market is up by 29.3% compared to four years ago.

Mushrooms are found in many global cuisines, and Juskowiak said the umami flavor trend has been a large driver of the category, in addition to cultural fascination, plant-based, and body health trends.

Authenticity is hot

In many global cuisines, hot peppers and spices are a big part of the flavor. At the Fancy Food Show June 23, Noah Chaimberg, founder and CEO of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Hetonist, led a session on nuanced spice.

During the session, Chaimberg explained that nuanced heat is trending and that consumers expect more explanations for their spicy foods in 2024. In the past, a product could simply be labeled “spicy,” but now consumers are interested in knowing what kind of pepper and spices are used, where the ingredients are grown, what cuisines they are used in, and what the flavor profile is like.

Chaimberg used an example of fast-food chain Taco Bell’s famous sauces. For many years, the company offered one-word hot sauce flavors as simple as “Mild,” “Medium, “Hot” or “Fire.” This year, the company rolled out a new Avocado Verde Salsa. Chaimberg said the appeal of the new sauce is that it contains unique ingredients and real peppers and has authentic origins in Latin cuisine.

Credentials of spicy ingredients have grown in importance to consumers, Chaimberg said. Fans of spicy flavors are interested in where peppers rank, and many want to see if they can handle trying foods with the hottest.

Chaimberg referenced a few news headlines about Pepper X being certified the new hottest pepper by Guiness World Records in 2023 as examples, including, a “Hot Ones” YouTube video featuring YouTube content creators Sean Evans, Chili Klaus, and Smokin’ Ed Currie trying the new pepper.

Another example of a nuanced flavor Chaimberg gave was Hot Pockets expanding its brand with unique flavors. In the past, Hot Pockets offered a flavor simply titled “Spicy Pepperoni.” Now, Hot Pockets has a Hot Ones branded Smokey Green Chili Cheesesteak featuring Hot Ones Los Calientes Verde Hot Sauce. The packaging highlights that the heat level is medium but plays into consumers’ interest in ranking by adding that the heat level is 5/10.

Beyond ingredient credentials, authenticity and origin stories of brands are also important to consumers. Chaimberg mentioned the Fly By Jing brand as an example, referencing an LAtist article titled “Fly By Jing Wants To Shatter Your Assumptions About Chinese Food, One Jar Of Chili Crisp At A Time,” which details Gao’s background and how she began her company.

Comfort and curiosity

In a June 23 session, Nancy Kruse, “menu maven and trend tracker” of The Kruse Company, said consumers are craving community, comfort, and curiosity. Kruse listed the following top five menu trends in 2024:

• World stews and soups, such as birria and ramen
• Global chicken wings
• International barbecue
• Incorporating social media trends
• Grilled/cooked cheese

Many of these trends take a classic comfort food item like soup, chicken wings, and grilled cheese, and elevate those items with other global flavors and formats that are interesting to consumers’ curiosity.

Kruse also said that “nothing succeeds like excess,” which reinforces what Chaimberg said about consumers wanting longer titles and more information on product labels. Kruse added that consumers want comforting textures like “warm and gooey” plus interesting textures like “crispy and crunchy.”

As excess sells, consumers are interested in fusions of multiple international cuisines with many different flavors working together, Kruse said. Some examples from foodservice she gave were Del Taco’s Shredded Beef Birria Ramen, First Watch’s Elote Mexican Street Corn Hash and Carson Kitchen’s Mexican Street Polenta.

Two of the best examples of fusion foods with a lot going on were from Velvet Taco — a Potsticker Taco, made with seasoned smashed pork, sweet chile sauce, sriracha aioli, and kimchi slaw in a flour tortilla and a Fried Paneer Taco, made with tomato chutney, tikka sauce, raita crema, and Thai basil in a flour tortilla

As she concluded, Kruse said fusion never really went away but is back even bigger, and mashups will “remain hugely popular.” She said authenticity is also here to stay and for brands to “be prepared to back up your claim” with certified labels. 

This article is an excerpt from the September 2024 issue of Supermarket Perimeter. You can read the entire Global Cuisine feature and more in the digital edition here.