After an extensive, year-long research process involving flavour experts across five worldwide regions, McCormick has uncovered three themes:

• Food Stories recognises both a flavour, and the story behind it. From professional chefs and restaurant operators to the grandmothers passing down recipes to keep generational techniques alive, this year’s food story celebrates the power of women in food and flavour in a contemporary way
• Plus Sweet looks at how sweetness finds new dimensions through subtle and unexpected flavour combinations. Consumers are moving away from overly sweet tastes and incorporating a symphony of other flavours to achieve surprisingly balanced results
• Time as a Luxury Ingredient highlights time as an irreplicable and precious ingredient, after periods of isolation and reflection have put the value of time into perspective. Many are rethinking the ways they use time in food, whether investing it to build flavour, or finding smart shortcuts to spend quality time outside the kitchen

Ian Craddock, senior research chef, UK (EMEA) discussed the Plus Sweet theme: “As we experiment with global ingredients more and more, sweet flavour pairings are evolving and taking new directions.

"Think of miso caramel as the evolution of the ever-popular salted caramel, or sweet floral and smoky flavours coming to the forefront in drinks, deserts or marinades.”