LA TEXTURE S’IMPOSE COMME UN LEVIER MAJEUR D’INNOVATION ALIMENTAIRE
A spoon cracking through brûléed sugar, the pull of a stretchy cookie, the bounce of tapioca pearls, the snap of chocolate around a soft filling: food is increasingly judged not only by flavour, but by what happens between the teeth, on the tongue and on camera. Texture has moved from technical attribute to commercial asset, helping products stand out in crowded retail aisles and social feeds.
Across markets, consumers are seeking food that delivers a stronger sensory experience. In North America, Griffith Foods’ 2026 trend forecast identifies “craveable texture” as a major driver, noting a 46% year-on-year increase in US consumers and a 43% increase in Mexican consumers seeking dining experiences that go beyond flavour and engage the senses. The same forecast reports that 43% of global consumers enjoy products with unusual textures. This reflects a broader shift: texture is no longer a background detail. It is becoming part of the reason a product is chosen, remembered and shared.
From flavour promise to sensory proof
For decades, food marketing largely spoke in the vocabulary of flavour: spicy, sweet, smoky, creamy, fruity, umami. Texture is now becoming a parallel promise. It gives consumers evidence of quality before flavour has fully registered. A crisp coating suggests freshness. A layered dessert signals indulgence. A chewy beverage inclusion turns drinking into an event.
This is particularly important in categories where reformulation, health positioning and premiumisation are happening at the same time. Snacks, desserts, bakery, dairy alternatives and plant-based meat substitutes all need to deliver pleasure while meeting expectations around protein, fibre, sugar reduction or cleaner labels. In this context, texture is not decoration. It is part of the product’s credibility.
In ice cream, chocolate and patisserie, contrast is becoming a key tool of differentiation. Smooth formats are increasingly paired with brittle inclusions, aerated layers, crunchy coatings or chewy centres. The most memorable bite is rarely one-dimensional. Consumers may still describe a product by its flavour, but it is often the texture that gives it theatre.
Asia’s chewy influence goes global
Asia has long treated texture as a central part of food culture, from the “QQ” chew associated with Taiwanese tapioca pearls to the springy softness of mochi and the elasticity of rice cakes. These textures are now travelling quickly through beverage chains, confectionery shelves and viral dessert formats.
Bubble tea remains one of the clearest examples. Its success is built not only on tea, milk or fruit, but on the pleasure of chewing a drink. The beverage becomes interactive. Fortune Business Insights valued the global bubble tea market at USD 2.83 billion (€2.63 billion) in 2025 and projects it to reach USD 5.62 billion (€5.23 billion) by 2032, supported by international expansion and continuous flavour and topping innovation.
South Korea’s recent chewy cookie craze shows how fast textural novelty can move. Inspired by the viral Dubai chocolate phenomenon, new dessert formats have combined stretchy, soft, crunchy and nutty elements in a single bite. Their appeal lies in a familiar flavour reference presented through an unfamiliar mouthfeel. The consumer is not only buying a cookie or a chocolate bar, but the moment of discovery.
The significance for manufacturers is not one product alone. It is the formula behind the frenzy: a recognisable global flavour cue, a playful format, strong visual appeal and a texture that is difficult to fully understand without trying it. That sense of curiosity is powerful in markets where consumers are exposed to constant product innovation.
North America’s crunch economy
In North America, texture is strongly linked to snackability, menu theatre and value perception. Crunch, in particular, has become a shorthand for satisfaction. It can make a product feel fresher, more generous and more indulgent, even when the ingredient list remains relatively simple.
Restaurants and foodservice operators are engineering contrast into familiar formats: crispy edges on burgers, crunchy inclusions in salads, fried toppings on bowls, crackling coatings around soft centres and carbonated drinks with added sensory layers. The goal is not just to feed consumers, but to give them a moment worth noticing.
Social media sharpens the effect. TikTok and Instagram reward foods that can be seen and heard: the crack of a shell, the stretch of cheese, the cut-through of a layered dessert, the close-up bite of a crunchy snack. Texture gives short-form video a sensory hook, even when viewers cannot taste the product. The more visible and audible the bite, the more easily it travels.
This is also changing how brands think about product development. A launch can no longer rely only on flavour, packaging and nutrition claims. It needs a physical behaviour: something to break, dip, pour, stretch, shake, snap, melt or crunch. Texture creates content before the brand has said a word.
Europe’s layered pleasure principle
In Europe, the texture trend is closely linked to bakery, chocolate, premium desserts and healthier snacking. Consumers are increasingly drawn to products that combine indulgence with refinement: flaky pastry with cream, soft dough with crisp toppings, smooth chocolate with grains, nuts or caramelised elements.
The same movement is visible in better-for-you snacking. Vegetable chips, protein snacks, seeded crackers and baked alternatives need to feel pleasurable enough to compete with more traditional crisps, biscuits and confectionery. Grand View Research estimated the European healthy vegetable chips market at USD 930.9 million (€866 million) in 2024, with projected annual growth of 7.7% from 2025 to 2030. Texture is central to that proposition. A snack can be plant-based, fibre-rich or lower in fat, but it still needs to deliver the bite consumers expect.
For the food processing industry, this creates demand for ingredients and technologies that can stabilize crunch, improve mouthfeel, support aeration, preserve freshness and maintain sensory performance after transport, freezing or reheating. Texture is therefore both a consumer-facing trend and a manufacturing question. It influences formulation, processing, packaging and shelf-life strategy.
A global trend for the SIAL Network floor
Texture’s rise is likely to be highly visible across the shows of SIAL Network. Each market brings its own sensory codes: chewiness and elasticity in parts of Asia, crunch and snackability in North America, layered indulgence and premium mouthfeel in Europe.
The importance of texture is ultimately a reminder that food innovation is not only about what a product contains. It is also about how it behaves. As global consumers seek pleasure, novelty, reassurance and shareable moments, the foods that crack, stretch, melt, bounce and crunch may be the ones that travel furthest.
Photo credits:
Damir Omerović for Unsplash
Sas Kia for Unsplash
Alexander Grey for Unsplash