If you thought the future of food was all protein bars and oat milk, think again. Anuga 2025 was a buffet of contradictions: over-engineered hydration pushed up right next to clean label claims; fiber’s growing role as nutritional armor versus protein’s continued popularity; and even new and interesting formats for insect-based foods that I actually enjoyed. 

Here’s my round-up of the 5 trends that left me amused, amazed, and occasionally mildly alarmed.

I think drinking water in Europe is being a tad over-engineered. The water enhancers category at Anuga left me thirsty, not for cucumber-lime flavor concentrate, but for perspective. I saw squeezable concentrates, dissolving sachets, and gadget-y contraptions, all claiming to help people drink more water. Every exhibitor told me the same thing: “People don’t drink enough water.” As if hydration (or lack of) were a moral failing solved by peach flavoring.

If someone wants flavored water, how hard is it to drop a few cucumber or fruit slices or squeeze in some lemon? Or add a spoon of syrup if you must. But apparently, that’s too DIY. So now we have R&D departments dedicated to making adults chug water with religious fervor, hydration as a belief system.

I couldn’t help thinking that in much of the world, people can’t drink water straight from the tap. Access to clean water is still a global challenge and a fundamental human right under the UN SDGs. Yet here we are, inventing new ways to convince Europeans to drink something they already have, for free, on tap!

It’s the same infantilization I talked about with functional F&B innovation, as though grown-ups need to be tricked into taking care of themselves. And yes, I just heard myself say that and realized I’ve officially become the “just drink water” meme. It’s fine. I stand by it.

To be fair, some people really do struggle with hydration (elderly folks with dementia, for instance, often forget to drink or don’t sense thirst properly). Innovation is all very well, capitalism, free market, rah rah rah, but this one’s a bit much to swallow. What happened to clean labels and ingredient minimalism? We’ve turned water into a chemistry set.

I’m now looking for my tin foil hat, wondering if this is some kind of waterganda – subtle propaganda from flavor houses convincing us that plain water just isn’t enough anymore to sell more flavor… Just saying.  

And speaking of over-engineering, Europe also seems busy redesigning meat and milk by blending them with plant-based ingredients, all in the name of sustainability.

First off, I owe Dutch retailer Albert Heijn a massive apology for crapping all over their hybrid milk. Sorry guys, for calling your dairy + fava bean milk the Borg of the dairy world.

Turns out, they’re not the only ones making hybrid or blended foods – primarily done with the aim of reducing carbon emissions. I had also questioned Albert Heijn’s carbon reduction angle last time. But in fact, Albert Heijn is the world’s first grocery retailer to share ingredient-level product climate footprints for over 1,000 of their private label F&B to help consumers better understand the impact of their purchases. 

And now combining animal and plant ingredients is a tactic now being employed by other meat and dairy players to cut the emissions linked to just animal products. This is all in service of abiding by the Dutch Climate Act, which has a 55% greenhouse gas emissions reduction target by 2030 (compared to 2019 levels) and a climate neutrality target by 2050.

But more broadly, sustainability is definitely a bigger conversation in Europe than it is in Asia and I was told that the Dutch are among the most eco-friendly consumers, with some 80% preferring to buy eco-friendly products. 

But it isn’t just them. A few folks I spoke to told me that retailers in parts of Europe are now insisting on lower carbon products to stock on shelves, forcing brands to get creative with plant ingredients. And interestingly, all of them call out lower carbon emissions quite prominently. 

Another aspect of this blending is the cost. Meat prices are at an all-time high right now and consumers are struggling through a cost-of-living crisis. These hybrids have the potential to help consumers not give up on meat altogether, especially in Europe as prices of many plant-based meats have reached parity with meat.

I’ve seen these blended/hybrid meats in the past and they died a quick death. But with the current economic and climate concerns that are directly impacting consumers, maybe these do have a shot at offering a compromise that everyone can live with.

And of course, if we’re blending plants with cows, we might as well start eating crickets too.

Europe doesn’t have a very strong history of consuming insects (it’s there, but it’s small) and so I found the fact that there were companies operating in this space rather interesting. It is still small – about US$303.5 million in 2024 – but is projected to grow at a whopping 28.9% CAGR till 2032 to reach US$2.3 billion. Crickets are the most popular insects for consumption here, but meal worms pop up on occasion too. And the reason for the growth is a growing demand for protein as well as for eco-friendly food sources.

I’ve covered insect snacks in the past from tradeshows in Asia and more often than not they are just the whole insect cooked/fried/baked with seasoning or they are in flour or protein powder format to be used in shakes, baked goods, and the like.

But not here. While the flavored whole insect option was definitely available, there were a lot more interesting formats that make you forget that insects are one of the main ingredients. Snack bars, breads and various baked goods, salty snacks, jerky, ramen, and even spreads included cricket ingredients like flour or protein.

The push towards insects is also linked to the use of sustainable ingredients that can take some of the pressure off the supply chain for other types of protein sources as these are easy to transport. The familiar formats can also go a long way in helping more willing consumers get over the ick factor that edible insects often elicit. 

After all that crunch, let’s move on to a different kind of buzz...

In a world where one is so used to hearing about robusta and arabica as the only coffee options, I’d only heard whispers of the existence of this rare (mythical?) variant. Finding the brand L1ber%ca was kind of like stumbling across a unicorn.

No, not really, but I was terribly excited. L1ber%ca, part of Malaysian beverage major Power Root, has a 50-acre plantation in Johor, Malaysia, where they produce some 20 tons of liberica every year. The brand has a range of coffees, from pure liberica to blends with other types of coffee. 

So, what is this liberica, you ask. 

Think of it this way. If arabica is the diva and robusta the workhorse of the coffee world, liberica is the wild child: it’s unruly to grow, hard to process, and doesn’t really play by the coffee rules. It’s native to West Africa, but now grows mainly in Malaysia, the Philippines, and parts of Indonesia. Liberica accounts for about 1% of global coffee production, which makes it rare even by specialty standards. Liberica’s beans are larger and irregular compared to the other two and are said to have notes of jackfruit, florals, or spice. It also has a lower caffeine content compared to robusta or arabica, which might be an appealing trait to many.

What makes liberica so interesting now is its resilience: it thrives at lower altitudes, tolerates high temperatures, and is resistant to many of the pests and diseases that threaten arabica. As climate volatility and soaring prices threaten to put a damper on our coffee addiction, these traits are getting serious attention from growers and researchers alike. This is pretty much the story of every crop that we have managed to standardize and make into monocultures. Then we have to go looking for alternatives.

But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Liberica is notoriously hard to cultivate and process. The trees can reach 20 meters so it’s hard to harvest, the fruit is thick and slow to dry, and the beans roast unevenly because of their irregular shape. Its low yield and high labor demands keep production limited and prices niche. Standardization – vital for coffee enthusiasts – is complex. 

And so, despite its hardiness, liberica is economically unattractive for most producers. 

The demand for coffee continues to grow rapidly, and with tea-drinking China and India quickly taking to the habit, we need more coffee options. We do have companies coming up with innovative bean-free coffee alternatives, but these may not find takers in markets that are entrenched in coffee culture, as GourmetPro expert Jérôme Dupont pointed out to me. These may be more for consumers who are just starting their coffee journey. 

Until recently, the global market had little appetite for a species that didn’t fit arabica’s flavor profile or robusta’s price bracket. Now, as climate change squeezes both, that equation is shifting. Liberica could thrive wherever arabica is struggling, but it needs investment, breeding research, and market education to scale sustainably. 

A slide from Innova’s presentation on sustainability trends highlights how important coffee is globally for consumers.

Protein was the clear nutritional superstar of the past decade, but it looks like its fiber’s time to shine now. Mintel’s presentation at Anuga predicted that it would be the next big nutrient trend for Europe, a shift from muscle to metabolism.

This growth, according to Mintel, would be a result of growing digestive issues, constipation linked to GLP-1 use, and a backlash against ultraprocessed foods. Their data showed increasing fiber use across different countries in Europe too (though you’ll have to squint a bit, apologies for the blurry image). And it’s no longer just a middle-aged concern. It’s becoming relevant to all ages. 

On the floor, I could see how tangible this shift was. Brands were flaunting fiber front-of-pack, right next to their protein counts and clean label claims. And these weren’t your standard health brands either; multiple categories had found ways to incorporate fiber (or highlight it) into their offerings, from drinks to plant-based foods, from fruit snacks to more traditional indulgent snacks.

Emerging science may further the importance of dietary fiber linking it to a major modern environmental anxiety: microplastics in our bodies. 

Researchers have found that people who consume at least 30g of fiber daily have far fewer microplastics in their blood and tissues. Fiber acts like a natural barrier in the digestive tract, preventing plastic particles from crossing into the bloodstream and helping the body excrete them safely. Mintel predicted that fiber will become the nutritional armor against microplastics, a claim that feels on-brand for our plastic-laden times.

I know I’ve been a little harsh on some of this year’s innovations, but it’s part of the fun, really. Underneath the gimmicks and head-scratching contradictions, I genuinely love watching the industry experiment, stumble, and sometimes strike gold. Every trade show reminds me that curiosity still drives food forward, and that’s worth showing up for. Every time.

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