July 22, 2026

The New Tropical Fruit Palette

A visually oriented overview of tropical fruit flavors and ingredient trends.

Elizabeth Brewster

Food Technology Magazine

Lychee, guava, dragon fruit, and other exotic fruit flavors are ripe for expansion into more mainstream products as global consumers look to explore beyond familiar tropical tastes like pineapple, banana, coconut, and mango.

“Tropical flavors resonate with consumers for both their refreshing taste and positive associations,” says Lu Ann Williams, global insights director at Innova Market Insights. “They align well with demand for uplifting, feel-good food and beverage experiences.”

Mango reigns in global food and beverage launches that include tropical fruit flavors, according to 2023–2025 data from Innova Market Insights, followed by banana and coconut. Mango is also tops in U.S. introductions, although pineapple and coconut aren’t far behind.

Market research firm Mintel reports that guava and passion fruit flavors are finding more acceptance among U.S. consumers, with passion fruit forecast to expand in categories such as yogurt, carbonated soft drinks, and chocolate. Lychee, prickly pear, and tamarind are among the top novel and emerging flavors this year, according to T. Hasegawa’s Flavor Trends 2026 report, while Kerry Taste Charts 2026 spotlights dragon fruit as a breakout star, especially in beverages.

On the rise worldwide are emerging tropical flavors such as macapuno and camu camu, says Williams, predominantly appearing in soft drinks with additional growth in confectionery and baby/toddler products. In the United States, nata de coco, tamarind, and prickly pear are beginning to make inroads, most commonly in alcoholic beverages, according to Innova Market Insights.

“The biggest opportunities [for tropical fruit flavors] are where functionality, format, and flavor all intersect,” says Kyra Appleby, manager, applications & marketing at iTi Tropicals, including functional hydration, low/no-sugar beverages, mocktails/alcohol-adjacent, hybrid beverages, and everyday applications such as yogurt, snacks, and sauces.

Young african american woman in sportswear with energy drink in gym. — © diego_cervo /iStock/Getty Images Plus

Functional Tropical Beverages

“With 14% of U.S. new tropical-flavored products in sports nutrition, these flavors are a natural fit for refreshment and active lifestyle occasions,” says Lu Ann Williams, global insights director at Innova Market Insights.
iTi Tropicals reports six emerging tropical fruit/botanical flavor blends for functional beverages in 2026: dragon fruit/lychee, guava/calamansi, passion fruit/hibiscus, mango/turmeric, pineapple/basil or mint, and guava/ginger.
Odyssey has added a tropical flavor to its functional beverage lineup, which also includes Pineapple Mango, Dragon Fruit Lemonade, and Passion Fruit Orange Guava flavors, while Funky Buddha’s new hemp-derived THC Social Tonics product line offers a mellow Passion Fruit Lime flavor.

Tropical Fruit Flavors Glossary

Acai—small blackish-purple palm fruit with a blackberry and dark chocolate flavor

Acerola—cherrylike berry with a tart but sweet flavor; also Barbados cherry, West Indian cherry

Banana—elongated, curved fruit with sweet starchy flesh covered with a peel

Calamansi—small sour fruit with orange-colored pulp and juice and thin orange peel when ripe; also calamondin, Philippine lemon, Philippine lime

Camu camu—small cherrylike berry with high levels of vitamin C and a tart acidic flavor

Coconut—large brown ovoid fruit with a hard shell covering a sweet milky liquid and white edible flesh with a rich sweet, nutty flavor

Dragon fruit—slightly sweet cactus fruit covered in hot pink leatherlike skin and green scales with white, pink, or red inner flesh and small black seeds; also pitahaya, pitaya, strawberry pear

Guava—small pearlike fruit with yellow or yellow-green skin and soft, juicy, musky flesh that is slightly tart

Jackfruit—roundish fruit that can weigh up to 120 pounds, with a yellow-green to yellow-brown textured shell and many individual sweet, light brown 4-inch fruits

Lychee—round, ovoid, or heart-shaped fruit with a soft pink-red shell and roselike aroma

Macapuno—type of coconut with sweet, soft, jellylike flesh and little or no coconut water; also coconut sport

Mango—juicy fruit containing a single large, kidney-shaped seed, with varying sweetness and skin color depending on species and ripeness

Nata de coco—chewy, translucent, jellylike product created by fermenting coconut water; also coconut gel

Papaya—soft, yellowish-orange fruit with sweet yellow or red flesh and edible peppery black seeds

Passion fruit—purple or yellow sweet/tart fruit with orange-colored juice and pulp-filled pockets or center that contains small black edible seeds

Pineapple—medium to large oval fruit with spiky exterior, a green crown of leaves, and sweet juicy yellow flesh

Prickly pear—small, juicy, pear-shaped cactus fruit in a variety of colors with a sweet, slightly tangy taste; also cactus pear

Tamarind—brown, podlike fruit with sweet, tangy pulp

Tropical fruit—fruit produced in tropical rainforest, monsoon, or savannah zones

Sources: Chef’s Resource, Datassential, EatingWell, Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences, iTi Tropicals, The Kitchen Community, Wikipedia

Camu camu health shots launched in the United Kingdom last year by Rebel Kitchen. — Credit: Rebel Kitchen

Camu Camu: The Next Superfruit?

Some industry observers are calling this small cherrylike berry from the Amazon rainforest the next acai, thanks to its extraordinary vitamin C content (up to 60 times greater than an orange):

New tropical flavor products with camu camu flavor jumped 64% globally from 2023 to 2025, reports Innova Market Insights, such as Rebel Kitchen’s two camu camu health shots launched in the United Kingdom last year. In the United States, The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley has added Camu Camu Puree to its foodservice lineup.
The $1.4 billion global camu camu drinks market is projected to grow at an 8.1% compound annual growth rate from 2025 to 2033, according to Growth Market Reports, with North America and Europe poised for big gains.