The Flavor Funnel: How to Make The Leap from Product Trial to Staple Status 

Flavors trend all the time, but few earn a permanent spot in the pantry.  Based on a national consumer survey, the 2027 MorganMyers Food & Flavor Trends Report set out to understand what separates fleeting flavor moments from lasting household staples. Our research revealed a key takeaway for food and beverage marketers: awareness and trial are relatively easy to achieve. Turning a flavor into a repeat purchase and ultimately a household staple is much harder. 

The 81-point gap between product trial and staple status, what we call The Great Flavor Drop Off, is one of the biggest opportunities facing food and beverage marketers today. 

To overcome The Great Flavor Drop Off, food and beverage marketers must influence consumer decisions at multiple points along their journey, through product innovation, retail, social, sampling, consumer outreach and more. 

That’s where the Flavor Funnel comes in. We identified four stages consumers move through before a flavor becomes a staple: The Spark, The Pantry Test, the Repeat Buy and The Staple Status. Each stage requires different goals and triggers to move shoppers from discovery to trial and ultimately brand loyalty. 

The Spark: Getting Discovered is Easy

Before a flavor can become a staple, it first has to get noticed and be considered worth exploring. The Spark is how a food or flavor gets on a consumer’s radar. At this stage, marketers need to make the flavor interesting enough to investigate and approachable enough to try. 

Luckily for marketers, generating awareness is easier than ever. The challenge is that consumers are constantly being exposed to new food trends in the grocery aisle, on their social feeds and through friends and family recommendations.  

Your flavor may earn attention, and potentially even a first purchase, but that doesn’t mean consumers understand what it is, where it fits into their lives, or why they should buy it again. Too often, marketers treat awareness as the finish line when it’s really the starting line. 

Our research found that consumers still want to try new flavors, but they’re becoming much more selective about what earns their attention and their dollars.  

TRY NEW FLAVORS OFTEN/ALMOST ALWAYS

• 63% 2025
• 51% 2026

Why the drop in trying new flavors in 2026?

Consumers’ budgets are tighter as grocery costs rise, some are using GLP-1 medications, and seeing a new food or beverage product on social media is no longer enough to convince them to buy it.

Why the drop in trying new flavors this year? Consumers’ budgets are tighter as grocery costs rise, some are using GLP-1 medications, and seeing a new food or beverage product on social media is no longer enough to convince them to buy it. 

For marketers, that means discovery alone is no longer a competitive advantage. Food and beverage brands need to connect the flavor to a clear benefit, occasion or use. When consumers encounter your product, can they quickly answer these questions? 

• What does it taste like? 

• How do I use it? 

• Where does it fit into meals I already make? 

• Is it worth the risk? 

The Spark is about more than getting noticed. It’s about creating enough interest and confidence for consumers to take the next step. 

The Pantry Test: Is This Worth Buying?

Marketers often invest heavily in generating awareness and driving a first purchase, but getting a product into consumers’ carts is only the beginning. Now, the real trial begins: The Pantry Test.  

The Pantry Test is where consumers decide whether a flavor deserves a place in their routine or remains a one-time purchase. This stage is where food and beverage marketers have some of their greatest opportunities to turn a trial into a staple, but it’s also where many flavors stall. 

Price, packaging, grocery displays and sampling can all help reduce uncertainty and give consumers confidence that your flavor is worth trying. The question in this stage is no longer, “Should I try this?” but “Is this worth it?” 

Many of these barriers center around uncertainty. Consumers need more than curiosity to make a flavor part of their routine. They need reasons to buy it again. If those reasons aren’t immediately obvious, your flavor may not pass The Pantry Test.  

The Repeat Buy: Making a Flavor Stick

In the Repeat Buy stage, the product must move beyond consumer curiosity and earn a regular space on the shopping list. 

Looking back at The Great Flavor Drop Off, the gap between the 92% willing to buy a new flavor again and the 11% who have turned newer flavors into staples shows that awareness and trial are only part of the equation. 

The flavors that bridge this gap aren’t asking consumers to change their behavior. They’re showing how they fit naturally into consumers’ lives, meals and routines.  

The Staple Status: Habit is Where the Real Work Begins

Reaching Staple Status, and keeping it, is a little like hitting your fitness goals. Congrats, you made it! Now the real work begins. 

The flavors that win in 2027 will be the ones that are easy to use, easy to find and easy to justify purchasing again. With staple status comes great responsibility. Stay present after the trend story fades. 

What This Means for Marketers in 2027

The biggest lesson from this year’s research is that discovery alone isn’t enough. It’s getting consumers through the entire Flavor Funnel and earning a place in their routines.  

The food and beverage marketers most likely to overcome The Great Flavor Drop Off won’t treat discovery, or even a first purchase, as the finish line. The real goal is earning a permanent spot in consumers’ everyday life.  

Download the MorganMyers 2027 Food & Flavor Trends Report for additional consumer insights and strategies to help your flavor move from first purchase to everyday staple.