Mango habanero is up 120% on U.S. menus over the past four years, and as Datassential’s Launches & Ratings platform reveals a growing list of fruit-and-spicy combinations building on the same sweet heat flavor that made swicy trend. Mango habanero has reached 5% menu penetration and is expected to grow another 40% over the next four years, according to Datassential Menu Trends. As a side-dish flavor specifically, it’s grown 2,633% over the past four years, making it the faste

Affordability is the one attribute a meaningful share of consumers say is actively getting worse, according to Datassential’s 2026 segment guides. Between 15% and 31% of consumers call affordability declining, depending on whether they are rating QSR, fast casual, casual dining, midscale, fine dining, c-stores, or supermarkets. No other attribute measured, including food quality, cleanliness, convenience, and friendly service, exceeds 10%. In every restaurant segment, more

Gen Z consumers index highly on global pizza styles, according to Datassential’s Pizza report, led by Turkish flatbread lahmacun at 241 relative to the general population. Vietnamese pizza follows at 202, Sicilian sfincione at 188, Quad Cities-style at 174 and Colombian pizza at 170, all over indexing among Gen Z. Millennials show a similar pull toward international styles, favoring Alsatian flammkuchen (174), sfincione (166) and Turkish pide (163), suggesting the appetite fo

Functional fiber and protein are the fastest-growing attributes consumers want in refreshers this year, climbing 8 and 7 percentage points to 19% and 36%, respectively, according to Datassential’s BUZZ: Refreshers & Functional Beverages Topical report. Refreshers are non-coffee or tea beverages that usually contain caffeine or other energy-boosting ingredients. Among the attributes consumers want to see in them, antioxidants and B-vitamins remain the top picks, at 44% each. B

As a growing number of operators storm into the red-hot refresher category, consumers are spreading their buying across a widening set of restaurant segments, according to Datassential’s BUZZ Refreshers & Functional Beverages Topical report. After jockeying back and forth over the previous two years, coffee shops and bakery cafés are now tied with grocery stores at 25% each of consumers’ last purchases. Convenience stores, meanwhile, took 14%, down from 19% a year ago and 16

Consumers grew slightly more upbeat about dining out in July, even as restaurant operators’ traffic and sales confidence eased back, according to Datassential’s latest Table Stakes Tracker report. The share of consumers who cut back on dining out fell to 41% in July, down 8 points from June’s 12-month high. Looking ahead, just 34% now say they plan to dine out less often or stop entirely, down sharply from 48% in June, while 17% expect to increase their visits. To save money

Pickle-flavored items and burger mashups are garnering some of the highest Uniqueness ratings over the past 12 months in Datassential’s Launches & Ratings platform, according to the firm’s Unique & Unexpected LTOs report. Pickle appears on 46% of U.S. restaurant menus, up 6% over the past four years, according to Datassential Menu Trends. The flavor has also generated more than 80 million social media engagements over the past 12 months, according to Datassential’s Social Lis

U.S. consumers are toning down the consumption of refreshers even as interest among non users in the category grows, according to Datassential’s BUZZ: Refreshers & Functional Beverages Topical report. Nearly three-quarters of consumers have tried a refresher — non-coffee or tea beverages that usually contain caffeine or other energy-boosting ingredients — at some point, but daily consumption fell by nearly half in 2026 to 11%. Most recent consumption clustered in the past we

About six in ten consumers who are aware of cold brew still cannot explain how it differs from iced coffee, according to Datassential’s BUZZ Cold Brew Topical report. The confusion has proven durable: 64% of consumers that know cold brew were unable to explain the difference in 2020, a share that has only eased to 61% in 2026. Trial has reached 75%, but understanding has not followed. Among consumers aware of cold brew, 40% say it differs from iced coffee and know why, while

Protein has become the center of gravity in American eating, according to Datassential’s Macro Movement report. Sixty percent of U.S. adults say the amount of protein they consume is very or extremely important to their diet, well ahead of fat (46%) and carbohydrates (44%). The priority has less to do with weight management than with overall health. More than half of consumers say eating healthy is very or extremely important to them, and those who pay attention to nutrients

Nearly half of Gen Z (49%) uses TikTok to search for or discover food, beverage, and restaurant content — more than double the 23% share among consumers overall, according to Datassential’s latest Social Media Sensations report. Instagram comes in a close second, with 48% of Gen Z using the platform to search for or discover food, beverage, and restaurant content, while only 23% of that generation turns to Facebook, the platform Boomers rely on most, at 24%. Millennials searc

Operators offering reduced-lactose or lactose-free milk have seen increased use of the format at nearly double the rate of most other varieties, with 44% reporting growth, according to Datassential’s Cheese & Dairy report. The format is “the single clearest growth engine in dairy,” the report said, leaving even staples like whole milk well behind, which saw usage increases among just 22% of operators. Consumption remains narrow even as usage grows: more than half of milk cons

Cold brew coffee has gone mainstream, according to Datassential’s BUZZ Cold Brew Topical report, with menu penetration more than doubling since 2018, from 4% to 9%. The format is now in the Ubiquity stage of the firm’s Coffee Menu Adoption Cycle and ranks in the 99th percentile for future growth potential, meaning its projected trajectory is expected to outperform 99% of all other foods, beverages, and ingredients over the next four years. Menu penetration climbed 24% over th

Global cheese varieties and Indian-influenced dairy products are rising in consumption and gaining ground on U.S. menus, according to Datassential’s Cheese & Dairy report. Fewer than 10 cheese varieties saw an increase in weekly consumption in the past three years, and nearly all of them are global, spreadable, or fresh cheeses. Cottage cheese led the group, rising to 51%, followed by Mexican Chihuahua cheese (46%), and South Asian paneer (45%). Spanish Manchego posted the sh

Younger consumers are sourcing dairy away from home at far higher rates than older generations, according to Datassential’s Cheese & Dairy report. Dairy skews heavily toward at-home consumption, between 75% and 86% of last occasions happening at home depending on the category, among consumers who had that item in the past two weeks. That uniformity makes the generational divide notable: among Gen Z and Millennials, at least one-quarter of last cheese, yogurt, and sour cream/

Consumers are willing to pay more for a meal, but only if that extra money buys something they can see on their plate, Datassential highlighted in its recent State of Value webinar. That pattern held across menu categories Datassential tested. For an entrée Caesar salad priced at $10.99, purchase interest started at 40%, rising to 44% when diners could add grilled chicken for $4 more, then dropped to 35% once the price reached $18.99 for steak or salmon (an $8 upcharge). Pizz

Dinner has become supermarket operators’ single biggest growth priority within the prepared-foods department, according to Datassential’s Supermarket Prepared report. Sixty-eight percent of supermarket operators say they are actively trying to grow their dinner business, up 18 points from 50% in 2023, the largest gain of any daypart in the report. Lunch and off-peak hours are also priorities for at least half of operators, though neither moved as sharply: lunch rose 3 points

Food companies racing to eliminate artificial dyes are increasingly choosing to go colorless altogether rather than pay escalating premiums for natural alternatives. The shift comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pushed the food industry to phase out synthetic colors by the end of 2026. Bloomberg reported that natural colorant costs are poised to skyrocket as the industry races to reformulate. Carotenoids derived from pumpkins could climb roughly 600% in price

Sixty-one percent of consumers actively seek out coupons, rewards, or deals before deciding what to eat or buy, Datassential highlighted in its recent State of Value webinar. Which discounts land depends on who is being asked. Gen Z over-indexes on time-based offers such as happy hour, while Boomers respond more to permanent ones such as a senior discount. Operators have adopted some of these tactics more than others. Combo meals, daily menu specials with reduced pricing, and

Protein remains the reigning king of viral food content, pulling more engagement than any other term tracked in Datassential’s latest Social Listening Quarterly report. Protein mentions climbed 57% over the first quarter, and engagement rose 21% to 51 million, driven largely by time-saving recipes that deliver the macronutrient without sacrificing flavor: “lazy” formats, 30-minute builds, and bold Mexican- and Japanese-inspired dishes did the heavy lifting. “Over the past two