Unilever lists top 2026 food trends

Unilever Food Solutions has shifted its annual menu-trend report into a broader 2026 platform built around four themes it says are shaping restaurant menus worldwide. The April 23 launch named Streetfood Couture, Borderless Cuisine, Culinary Roots and Diner Designed as its core areas for chefs and operators to watch. The company said the update is meant to move beyond a static report and give operators more practical guidance on menu design, profitability and guest preferences. (prnewswire.com) Unilever Food Solutions is part of Unilever’s foods business, which reported 2025 turnover of 12.9 billion euros. ### Which trends did Unilever Food Solutions put at the center of its 2026 outlook? The April 23 announcement from Unilever Food Solutions listed four themes for 2026: Streetfood Couture, Borderless Cuisine, Culinary Roots and Diner Designed. (prnewswire.com) On its U.S. Future Menus page, the company describes those as elevated street-food formats, cross-cultural cooking, heritage-driven dishes and personalized plates. Streetfood Couture was framed by the company as a shift toward value created through technique and presentation rather than only higher-cost ingredients. Culinary Roots was described as a reinvention of heritage cooking for younger diners, while Diner Designed focused on personalization and adaptation for different guest needs. Borderless Cuisine, the company said, extends beyond simple fusion into dishes tied to chefs’ own cultural storytelling. (prnewswire.com) ### Why is personalization showing up so prominently in the 2026 material? Unilever Food Solutions said Diner Designed is intended to help operators serve more tailored dishes without losing operational control. The company’s U.S. site says the recipe concepts tied to its trends were developed with costs, execution and skill levels in mind, linking personalization to kitchen practicality as well as consumer demand. (prnewswire.com) Sarah Siddiqui, head of portfolio strategy at Unilever Food Solutions, said the company saw “a critical gap” between static trend reports and the daily problems chefs face. In the April 23 release, she said the goal was to build a system that helps operators address menu profitability, operational complexity and the need to appeal to new demographics. (prnewswire.com) ### How is the company saying it built the 2026 report? Unilever Food Solutions said the 2026 platform uses what it called an “experiential intelligence model” powered by proprietary AI. The April 23 release said the system synthesizes browser analytics, consumption signals and sentiment insights to identify diner expectations and menu opportunities. (unileverfoodsolutions.us) Bizcommunity, citing the latest Future Menus report, said the work also drew on millions of online searches, real consumer behavior and input from more than 250 chefs in 75 countries. Unilever’s own U.S. trend page says its in-house chef network numbers 250 and has 5,000 years of collective experience. ### How does this compare with Unilever Food Solutions’ earlier trend reports? (prnewswire.com) The 2025 Future Menus report from Unilever Food Solutions used the same four headline categories: Street Food Couture, Borderless Cuisine, Culinary Roots and Diner Designed. That earlier edition was presented as “Volume 3” and was described as an annual trends report aimed at helping chefs and foodservice professionals plan menus. (prnewswire.com) The April 23, 2026 release said the new version marks the fourth iteration of the initiative but changes its format from a once-a-year report into what the company called an action-oriented program. The company also said a personalized AI recipe tool is forthcoming as part of that shift. (bizcommunity.com) ### Where does this sit inside Unilever’s broader food business? Unilever said on May 15 that its foods business is using AI to improve innovation, visibility and personalization across brands including Hellmann’s, Knorr and Unilever Food Solutions. In that article, the company said its foods division generated 12.9 billion euros in 2025 revenue. Unilever’s brands page says Unilever Food Solutions provides professional kitchens with products and end-to-end solutions, including annual Future Menu Trends insights and culinary training. (prnewswire.com) On March 31, Unilever also said it had agreed to combine Unilever Foods with McCormick, a transaction that would place brands including Knorr and Hellmann’s into a combined business with $20 billion in revenue based on 2025 data. (prnewswire.com) ### What comes next for chefs and operators using the platform? Unilever Food Solutions said Future Menus 2026 is now live on its platform and that the next step is a forthcoming AI recipe tool tied to the new intelligence model. The company said the system is intended to help chefs and operators turn the four themes into menu ideas, guest experiences and operational changes. (prnewswire.com) (unilever.com 1) (unilever.com 2)