SWICY

Summer is fast approaching, and with that means the approach of new flavors to try as dips for our pizza nights, sauces for our wings, and dressings for our salads. The continued popularity of apps like TikTok and Instagram, which make sharing short-form content easy and accessible, has created the perfect place for customers to share new finds and share their cultural experiences. Bold and complex tastes are dominating the flavor world right now, especially flavors that have a very heat-forward profile. Customers are looking for tastes that are familiar, but also have a new twist to give them a new experience. 

An obvious way to add spice to a dipping sauce is by adding big flavors like ghost peppers and Carolina reapers. Another way is to combine global pepper flavors like Harissa, peri-peri, and Sichuan to give customers that favorite combination of heat with a taste of something new. This gives depth to fusion dishe, especially.

Perhaps a not-so-obvious way is something we like to do at Savor Seasonings all the time, to combine old familiar favorites with big, exciting flavors that may not have been thought of before. That is why our flavor highlight for the month is Sweet-spicy, or “Swicy”, as the internet has dubbed the combination. Putting together sweet and spicy flavors appeals to consumers who love dipping their food into sauces that give them the heat they crave as well as appeal to their other senses with the hit of sweetness.

Swicy flavors include chili-infused chocolate, spicy honey, and maple syrups with a kick. Mango chili is also trending. These flavors can be found in a variety of places, from cocktails to candy bars to snacks like nuts and chips. TikTok especially has helped the popularity of this flavor over the last year, as videos of creators making food from their hometown have gained thousands of views and as many people curious to try the new flavors. As we continue to stay globally connected through social media, the desire to try international flavors with a spice profile consumers already know is going to grow.

We see plenty of opportunity for innovation with the Swicy flavor trend. Utilizing flavors like Korean gochujang to create an aioli for a burger and fries meal would bring that kick of spice consumers are looking for as well as the international tastebud travel they enjoy. There is space to depart from the normal hot BBQ dipping sauces we all know and love and instead embrace sweeter flavors like maple syrup with a spicy pepper kick. Wings could use a new sauce, why not experiment with a spicy ranch or sweet chili sauce? Another possibility is to innovate salad dressings that add some zest to an otherwise boring salad.

Moving into sweet treats, spicy chocolates have enjoyed long-standing popularity. Looking towards international flavors can bring in new consumers who miss their country of origin and long for that taste of home, as well as entice American natives to try something new. Making a soft pretzel dip with a chocolate and chili sauce is a great twist on a classic snack. Spicy caramel popcorn could provide consumers with a light snack that packs a punch in flavor, proving you do not have to skimp on the seasonings to enjoy fewer calories.

Swicy flavors are versatile and flexible, meaning they can apply to a variety of foods and sauces. With consumers already looking forward to the food they will be eating this summer as they head out to their bonfire nights and pizza parties, creating new spices and sauces they can dunk their wings and fries into will give them exactly what they need. Swicy flavors fit that need, which is why it is out flavor highlight of the month!