New year, new flavours?

Or are we in store for more of the same?

There were some huge successes in the chocolate world in 2025 and some huge cacao prices too. Many of our mass market chocolate bars got smaller or were tweaked to have a little less cocoa in and this trend will probably still continue, but there is some hope that the cacao pricing has stabilised and we are not in for another year of ever-increasing prices. There is still a movement looking at man-made cocoa alternatives though and the research in this area is set to grow.

In terms of flavours, Fix took the chocolate world by storm when it went viral with it's Dubai based chocolate and the love for Pistachio flavoured Dubai-style products continues unabated into 2026, with many mainstream chocolate brands now offering this flavour.

Dessert-inspired flavours are also predicted to expand, with flavours borrowed from favourite bakes and desserts, such as banoffee pie, lemon meringue, tiramisu, key lime pie and bringing those layers and textures into chocolate bars.

The popularity of the Dubai-style bars shows there is very much a market for sensory experience that plays well with the chocolate world, so expect to see more indulgent creations with a nod to comforting and classic flavours with great marketing campaigns behind them.

Another area which could be coming to chocolate is fermentation. The beans already go through a fermentation process in order to create chocolate but could this be taken further to create 'Kefir'-style chocolate bars which offer extra depth of flavour through cross-fermentation with fruits and botanicals and perhaps increased antioxidants as a result.

The shop shelves are already full of Easter chocolates, which is way too early after the excesses of Christmas, but I am looking forward to seeing what new flavours appear in the chocolate world this year and tasting a few of them (assuming it doesn't need a flight to Dubai!)

Let me know if you discover any good ones.