Why it matters:
- Snacks are a massive, $141 billion business in the United States, with consumers increasingly blurring the lines between snacking and meals.
- Traditional international snacks as well as new flavor combinations have received national retailer recognition as a 2025 food trend.
- Global flavors are engaging consumers in a cultural experience while often offering better-for-you snack options.
Whether through travel or media, consumers are more exposed to global food culture than at any other time. As a result, flavors, ingredients, and their regional nuances are permeating U.S. food and beverage categories such as sauces, condiments, and now, snacks.
Both salty and sweet snacks are developing as a platform to taste the world, with no cooking or complicated recipes involved. In addition to lesser-known snacks hitting the market, familiar products like chips, popcorn, and chocolate are serving as gateways to try new flavors. In fact, global snacks are prominent to the point that Whole Foods Market named them as a top food trend for 2025 that “introduce consumers to different parts of the world through a mix of traditional international snacks and new combinations.”
Huge U.S. snacking culture is ripe for innovation
Snacks in general are a massive segment in the U.S., generating $39 billion in 2024 with 95% of consumers reporting that they consume snacks, according to the US Salty Snacks Market Report 2025 from market researcher Mintel. When incorporating sweet snacks like confections, U.S. sales are projected to reach $141.3 billion in 2025 and poised to grow annually by 4.6%, reported Statista.
Younger adults, especially, are blurring the lines between meals and snacks, noted Mintel, creating business opportunities for nutrient-dense snacks that support healthy eating, as well as convenience. But, while nutrition is an important factor, indulgence is still a big part of snacking with flavor being key. Another 2025 Mintel report, US Trending Flavors and Ingredients in Salty Snacks, names Japanese soybean paste miso, Korean chili paste gochujang, and Hatch chilis, popular in many Mexican dishes, as emerging examples that underscore a consumer interest in global flavors.
COVID’s impact, too, continues to be felt in consumer purchase behavior. “A few years ago, when you couldn't travel, people were seeking ways to participate in a cultural experience at home,” said Matt Caputo, Owner of Caputo’s, a specialty market and deli in Salt Lake City.
Global flavors surged as a result, and the confluence of snacking culture and the desire for a taste adventure continues to create a pathway for more brands to share their cultural roots and nostalgic food memories through snacks.
[Read more: Cooking Convenience Trends Are Driving Sales for Food and Beverage Companies]
Modernized takes on childhood snack favorites fueled by culture and nostalgia
Snacks might not be the first thing U.S. consumers think of related to Indian cuisine, but it’s a big part of the culture, especially around “chai time” or teatime.
Doosra Founder Kartik Das realized snacks, one of his favorite parts of Indian food culture, didn't exist outside of traditional Indian grocery stores, where aisles of products pointed to the plethora of options. Eighteen months ago, Das created Doosra, a modernized take on classic snacks that features a mix of boondi (chickpea puffs), roasted peanuts, and caramelized white chocolate mixed with a masala spice blend.
“Doosra” means “different” or “other,” which was exactly what Das, who was born in Chennai, India, raised in Singapore, and attended culinary school in London, set out to accomplish. "I didn’t want a completely traditional snack,” he said. “I wanted traditional ingredients and flavors but combined with other ideas I learned in culinary school.” The result, he explained, creates a composed bite that isn’t overly salty or spicy.
Doosra, which is not yet found in big-box stores but is available nationally in smaller retailers, has garnered positive feedback both from South Asians who enjoy the familiarity and nostalgia and from those who simply enjoy Indian flavor.
Other companies also are aiming to share culture and nostalgia through snacks. Examples include Chuza, a brand of dried fruit snacks dusted with a salty, spicy, citrusy chili powder that evokes Mexican flavors. The founder, Daniel Schwarz, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, wanted to capture the tastes and spirit he remembered from childhood.
Sun Tropics, a first-generation Filipino American family-owned company, offers childhood-favorite treats like mochi bites in flavors like Thai Bird Sriracha and Golden Curry.
And Sugarox offers Chilipops Chamoy in flavors like tamarind, cucumber, and coconut blended with Chamoy, a Mexican condiment that mixes dried fruits, chiles, and spices.
...[T]he confluence of snacking culture and the desire for a taste adventure continues to create a pathway for more brands to share their cultural roots and nostalgic food memories through snacks.
Consumer interest in healthful foods opens opportunities
Many snacks that spotlight international flavors are also positioned as more healthful. "There is a small but growing subset of consumers, especially in the U.S., who are increasingly interested in … discovering that the source of food makes a huge difference in terms of quality,” said Patrick Johnson, Co-founder of Ziba Foods, a line of sustainably grown and harvested nuts and fruits from Afghanistan.
The line includes sweet and savory snacks like trail mix that uses ingredients like mulberries grown wild in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains of northern Afghanistan. Shakhurbai almonds are flavored with spices like sumac and za’atar.
“Things taste better from environments where they grow naturally,” Johnson said. And Ziba is appealing to consumers looking for an alternative to mass-produced snacks.
[Read more: Innovation and Artisan Options Driving Opportunity in Adult Nonalcoholic Beverages]
Creativity abounds—from salted egg popcorn to Vietnamese coffee chocolate
While some brands are introducing unfamiliar snacks, others are expanding classic products as blank canvases for the unexpected.
Tochi Snacks, for example, has a line of Asian-inspired popcorn in flavors like Milk Tea, Matcha, Ube, Black Sesame, and Salted Egg. Its founders, Dina Shi and siblings Ian and Marc Seah, all first-generation Asian Americans, aimed to infuse flavors inspired by their homeland (“tochi” means land) into functional snacks.
Chips are another category showcasing international flavors. Torres Spanish variety potato chips are the most popular brand at specialty market Caputo’s, Matt Caputo told CO—. The line comes in flavors like Iberian Ham, Fried Egg, and Sparkling Wine.
On the sweet side of snacking, Caputo has especially noticed an uptick in Asian flavors. Fossa Chocolate, for instance, is a Singaporean brand creating varieties like Soy Milk and Youtiao, based on a traditional breakfast. Youtiao are deep-fried strips of wheat flour dough that are dipped into warm soy milk. Other flavors in the line include Dark Chocolate Sake Kasu, which contains the sake lees left over from the production of the Japanese rice wine. “You would expect [the brand] to be niche, but it is challenging some classic European chocolate brands as out best seller,” Caputo added.
Another brand, Marou Chocolate, sources all ingredients from Vietnam, including its Cafe Vietnamien Au Lait coffee chocolate with evaporated milk.
Similarly, Fu Wan is a Taiwanese chocolate made from cacao grown in Taiwan. White Chocolate with Pink Shrimp is one of the brand’s latest unexpected flavor combinations.
“Brands that reflect their authentic place in the world are gaining a following,” Caputo concluded.
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