While 2025's food forecast highlighted consumers' growing interest in "designer produce"--think, new produce varietals such as Koyo strawberries from Oishii–and an increasing curiosity in unique tropicals such as breadfruit and mangosteen, Baldor's 2026 Food Forecast has emerged with a number of new produce-related trends for the year. Here are some of the report's highlights:
Women in agriculture: "On family farms, we're increasingly seeing daughters stepping up and taking leadership roles," says Heather Hart, senior category manager, fruit, noting that the company is partnering with a growing network of farms with prominent female leadership, including Hudson River Fruit, Meadows & More, Perry & Sons, Lady Moon Farms, Bay Baby Produce, Kitchen Garden Farm, and Hepworth Farms.
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L-R: Lavender, Bachelor's buttons
Botanicals blossom: Once largely only used as a garnish, floral and botanicals are taking center stage with syrups such as lavender and elderflower being incorporated into specialty lattes as well as desserts via, perhaps an elderflower-prosecco granita.
Meanwhile edible flowers such as Bachelor's buttons and borage flowers are becoming functional ingredients that contribute taste and aroma to refined dishes and cocktails.
The popularity of Afro-Caribbean flavors: As the report notes, this moves beyond the well-known jerk seasoning and includes items such as Scotch bonnet peppers, okra, and tamarind. These items are finding a home in a variety of menus–from fine dining tasting menus to fast-casual concepts.
Yuzu gains ground: Sour citrus continues to accelerate in popularity and Baldor noted unprecedented growth in Yuzu last year–a trend that's earned triple-digit sales increases over the last few years. While the report notes that the first wave of Yuzu was found in 100 percent juice, puree and infused sparkling waters, it's now being incorporated into fermented condiments, kombucha drinks and more.
Matthew Rendine, director of merchandising, Baldor Specialty Foods, notes that beyond yuzu, Baldor is seeing growing interest in several other sour and tart fruits, including finger limes, gooseberries and green mango as well as sudachi–a smaller, more intensely aromatic Japanese citrus being used in everything from ceviche to vinaigrettes to desserts. "These ingredients are increasingly being used by chefs across both savory and beverage applications as part of a broader embrace of bold, acidic flavor profiles," he says. 
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The Koginut squash.
Plant breeding: Not GMOs, plant breeding is well underway to develop new fruit and vegetable varieties specifically for restaurant efficiency. For instance, in partnership with Norwich Meadows Farm, Cornell University breeder Michael Mazourek, who developed the Honeynut squash, Koginut squash, and Habanada pepper, has released the Sweet Bea squash–a sweet, rich squash that's four times larger which is ultimately a more practical foodservice size. He also introduced the Red Gemelli Mazinna pepper, the so-called "Jimmy Nardello 2.0" with more uniformity (think less rolled up and wrinkly) for ease of cutting.
Retro dining: Baldor's merchants have picked up on a renewed demand for nostalgic dining trends with feature dishes such as Caesar salads–particularly those made with specialty lettuces such as Babe Farms' Ro-Mini baby romaine–and Twice-baked potatoes.
© Baldor FoodsSnacking tomatoes now come in a number of varieties.
Snacking tomato: It's hard to not notice the exponential growth in the snacking tomato category, which now includes a number of varieties such as Flavor Bombs, Lolli Bombs, Honey Bombs, Sugar Bombs, Umami Bombs, Bahama Bombs and Sunset Sprinkles and more. They're also a chef-appreciated item given their consistency for plating and concentrated flavor.
For more information:
Baldor Foods
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