Texture is having a crunchy, gooey moment in the food and beverage industry. For many people, the way a menu item or packaged snack feels in the mouth has become as big a draw as flavor, although consumers don't always recognize the part texture plays in their cravings for crispier takeout, frothier coffees, and juicier candies, according to industry experts.
The trend is a global one. Stretchy yogurt is a fast-growing trend in China, while Swedish confectioner Cloetta just released Sprinkled Foamies, which have a crunchy coating and a marshmallow center. Parisian bakers are experimenting with new pastries like the crookie, a crispy croissant with a melty chocolate chip cookie inside.
Texture is so integral to the act of eating that people often describe how a food feels when they're asked how it tastes, said Patrick Kalotis, the executive vice president of texture and healthful solutions at Ingredion, an Illinois-based ingredient provider. "You know, 'This drink is fizzy' or 'I love the creaminess of the yogurt,'" Kalotis said. "They think they're talking about taste, and of course the texture helps propagate the taste, but they're actually describing texture."
Food makers have long played with consistency. Pillowy Japanese mochi and stretchy Turkish ice cream date back centuries. But interest in texture has exploded in recent years, said Jenny Zegler, the principal strategist for food and drink at market research company Mintel. With food, qualities like chewy, soft, gooey, and melt-in-the-mouth are seeing fast-rising demand in online product searches, according to Mintel data.
Zegler thinks the craze around the Cronut - a doughnut-shaped pastry with a crispy fried outside and an airy, buttery inside like a croissant - started a fascination with food textures about a decade ago. Multilayered products like Dubai chocolate and sound-enhanced social media videos of influencers breaking crackly peanut brittle and slurping creamy noodles heightened the interest.
Shannon Weiner, senior director of consumer insights at candy company Ferrara, said layers of texture create contrasts, which heighten people's perceptions of indulgence and quality and encourage them to pay closer attention to what they're eating.
Meeting consumers' texture demands and preferences is a growing challenge for the food industry. The rise of meal delivery has left restaurants searching for ways to ensure food retains its texture while it's in transit, Kalotis said. Ingredion has developed potato starch-based coatings that can keep french fries crispy for 30 minutes; it's working on extending the time to 45 minutes, he said.
Food companies are trying to find ways to make products healthier or more affordable by changing ingredients without disturbing familiar textures. For example, Ingredion makes additives that help keep reduced-sugar yogurt creamy.
In the meantime, Kalotis said, food companies need to do a better job of illustrating and explaining textures on product packaging. Mintel found that 59% of packaged foods introduced in the U.S. this year had no textural claims on their labels despite customers actively seeking out foods with novel physical properties.
"In a lot of ways, texture is one of the most powerful and yet somehow underrated parts of the food experience," Kalotis said. "It makes a snack more satisfying."