Dairy’s Role in Whole Foods Market’s Top-8 Food Trend Predictions for 2027.

 

This week Whole Foods Market published its Top-8 Food Trend Predictions for 2027. Protein, dairy and fiber were barely mentioned, not because their appeal is going away. It’s because they are here for the long run. All things dairy will continue to build momentum in 2027. The industry can get some innovation ideas from Whole Foods Market’s list. It’s already happening.  

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1. Terroir’s New Territory

This is Whole Foods’ first forecasted trend. Terroir refers to the soil, climate and geography that shape a product’s taste and character. Dairy has always played in this space without really making a big deal about it. It’s time. Think grass-fed milk, “made with California milk” and Parmigiano Reggiano direct from Parma, Italy.

Here are two new fun ones. 

Adirondack Creamery will soon be rolling out Chestnut Spice Ice Cream, a limited-edition fall and holiday flavor made in collaboration with The Great Chestnut Experiment, a New York-based company working to bring the chestnut back into American food culture. The pint swirls The Great Chestnut Experiment’s Spiced Chestnut Crème, inspired by its signature Chestnog, into Adirondack Creamery’s rich vanilla ice cream. It brings an ingredient most Americans know only from a holiday song into the everyday freezer aisle.  

Legend has it that a squirrel could once travel from Maine to Georgia without touching the ground, hopping across the branches of American chestnut trees. The chestnut was a pillar of Eastern forests and kitchens and made up as much as a quarter of the forest canopy in the Eastern US. Its nuts fed families and livestock, and its rot-resistant wood built countless barns and homes.  In 1904, a deadly fungus was found on chestnut trees at the Bronx Zoo. The chestnut blight spread quickly, and by the 1950s it had killed an estimated four billion American chestnut trees.  

Before the blight, chestnuts were everyday American food. Street vendors sold them roasted from carts on New York City corners, and home cooks put them in stuffings, soups and stews. Today they survive mostly as a lyric, “roasting on an open fire,” that millions of people sing every December. Yet most Americans have never tasted one, and most chestnuts sold in the U.S. are imported. That’s starting to change. Farmers across the Northeast and Midwest are planting blight-resistant chestnut trees, and American-grown chestnuts are easier to find every year. 

“We’ve always built our flavors around simple ingredients with a story and that connect customers to the small farmers that produce them,” said Paul Nasrani, founder of Adirondack Creamery. “Few ingredients have a story as American as this one. When we tasted The Great Chestnut Experiment’s Spiced Chestnut Crème, we knew it belonged in a pint. Every scoop helps efforts of farmers to bring this tree back.” 

Adirondack Creamery Chestnut Spice Ice Cream will be available in November and December at Wegmans, FreshDirect, Union Market and specialty grocers for $7.99 to $8.99 per pint, while supplies last.  

Jeni’s Ice Creams is on the terroir trend, too. The company just released Appalachian Acorn Pie, a new limited-edition fall flavor, half a decade in the making, crafted with flour milled from foraged Ohio oak acorns, available online and in Jeni’s scoop shops.

The new flavor is a testament to the lengths Jeni’s will go when they get curious about something. About five years ago, the Jeni’s R&D team asked what felt like an innocuous question: “Would it be possible to make an ice cream with acorns?”

The answer seemed simple enough. Acorns are abundant in the U.S. and have historically been a food source for indigenous Americans. But acorns also aren’t commercially regulated or distributed, and so Jeni’s started by looking to international sources.

“The problem was, those early international sources for acorn flour gave us a first taste of what this ice cream could be, which was so fragrant and nutty and beautiful. It was unlike anything I’d ever eaten, but also felt wildly familiar,” said Beth Stallings, senior director of innovation at Jeni’s. “From that moment, we knew we had to find a way to make this flavor, whatever it took. And it took a lot of amazing work.”

After those international sources fell through, the team realized if they were going to make an acorn ice cream, they would need to build their own supply chain from the ground up. This was the first time the team ever did this. 

Jeni’s partnered with Route 9 Action Network, an agricultural cooperative based in Carroll County, Ohio. Their main crop is chestnuts, but they were interested in expanding. So, Jeni’s signed multiple grant letters to help Route 9 grow their business so that they could forage and process the acorns needed for this ice cream. This included washing and leaching the tannins from the acorns so they would be safe to consume.
From there, the acorns went to a nearby Amish farm to be milled into flour. This required a few extra layers of communication. Jeni’s had to use snail mail, a community phone and in-person visits to stay in contact, all to achieve the end result: beautiful, fragrant, Appalachian grown and milled acorn flour that Jeni’s could fold into cream.

After five years of foraging, milling and testing, Jeni’s is releasing a very limited supply of Appalachian Acorn Pie, an acorn ice cream with a graham cracker swirl. It’s nutty and sweet, somewhere in the realm of hazelnut, coconut and chestnut. 

2. Beautrition

Moving on to Whole Foods’ second predicted trend for 2027: beautrition. “Beauty from within” is gaining momentum as consumers are turning to ingredients rich in collagen, antioxidants, healthy fats and hydration to support skin health. 

I am going to stop right there because we all know dairy is inherently loaded with nutrients that support beauty from within. Many dairy products are also an ideal carrier for other functional ingredients, with collagen being popular. Let’s get loud about dairy’s beauty powers.

3. The Yōshoku Effect

Third on the list is the yōshoku effect. From pillowy milk bread to savory-sweet curry, Japanese comfort food is gaining momentum in the U.S., and much of that interest centers on yōshoku. Rooted in the adaptation of European and American dishes to Japanese tastes, this culinary tradition transforms familiar formats into nostalgic, highly craveable foods, such as Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co TomaRashi. This is a semi hard, creamy, buttery cheese infused with Japanese Shichimi Togarashi spice blend, offering gentle heat, umami and nutty notes. 

4. Dish Reinvention

Dairy has reinvented itself over the past few years, so we’ve got this trend. Think cottage cheese!

Consumers are increasingly embracing playful transformations of beloved dishes into entirely new forms, creating eating experiences that feel both nostalgic and novel. The concept is quickly moving into grocery aisles, inspiring products such as Van Leeuwen’s Mango Sticky Rice Ice Cream.

5. Ingredient Minimalism

From eliminating artificial colors and flavors to putting “dairy back into dairy” and removing chemical-sounding performance ingredients, dairy foods formulators have been very proactive with ingredient minimalism. 

This is good, because the trend in “less is more” promises to gain momentum in 2027. Fueled by viral “read your labels” social content and growing scrutiny around additives and ultra-processed foods, shoppers are embracing pared down ingredient lists as a marker of quality. 

6. Bitter Done Better

I’ve been writing for the food trade for more than 30 years. Soon after I started, so did the conversation about taking a stealth approach to reducing saltiness and sweetness in foods in order to change our taste preferences. It looks like we’ve arrived. 

It was not that long ago that concentrated dark chocolate was shunned. Now it’s the prize confection. 

People aren’t just taking the bitter with the sweet; they’re choosing it instead, shifting toward more complex flavor profiles, according to Whole Foods. Driven by expanding palates, digestive wellness and the sober-curious movement, bitter ingredients are showing up on restaurant menus and in packaged goods and beverages.

Müller Yogurt & Desserts has collaborated with Myprotein in the U.K. to launch Top Hat High-Protein Yogurts. The "top hat" is a nod to the dome of mix-ins atop the yogurt container. One variety is Strawberry Greek yogurt with dark chocolate and protein cereal granola.

This is space we need to explore more and start getting creative. 

7. Zero Waste 2.0

While food waste reduction has been gaining traction for years, consumers are now embracing a broader zero-waste mindset, looking for ways to reduce waste across their daily lives. Rather than viewing sustainability as a series of individual actions, shoppers are embracing more circular systems that maximize resources, and minimize what ends up in landfills. Upcycling has moved beyond the produce department, which led this trend to become a source of product innovation in other categories.

The dairy industry is a leader in this space. Think whey! But we can do more. 

8. The Bean Boom

Thie final forecasted trend complements the balanced protein movement. These are meat, poultry, dairy, egg or seafood products that substitute at least 30% of the animal-based ingredients for ingredients made from plants, cultivated animal cells or microbial fermentation, according to San Francisco-based The Balanced Protein Consortium and NECTAR. Examples of balanced dairy products include milk, cheese and cream that blend traditional dairy with plant proteins, such as soy, pea, fava bean and oat.

You can read more about this HERE in an article I wrote for Food Business News titled “Getting the ‘balanced dairy’ category off the ground.”

The concept has been well received in Europe, mainly the Scandinavian countries. PlanetDairy, Denmark, for example, produces and markets hybrid milks and cheeses. The Pizza Mix is 31% plant-based ingredients, namely starches, plant-derived oils and fava bean protein. The mozzarella content is 40%. There’s also milk protein in the product. 

One U.S. brand that has had success with hybrid dairy is Plucky Pickle Dip. The base for the product is a blend of white beans and cream cheese. 

Thanks Whole Foods for the inspiration!

 

 

NACS 2026: Everyone is Making Protein Convenient

 

The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) expo took place this week in Las Vegas. And wowza, what an expo it was! From cheese snacks to frozen novelties to protein beverages, dairy showed up in convenient formats and buyers were buying them up. Dairy proteins were also the star ingredient in varied food formats. Make sure your dairy foods are controlling the dairy protein narrative. 

While all things dairy put a smile on my face, as well as my fun photos with branded imagery and characters, the highlight of NACS 2026 for me was an upfront seat to see and hear Jason Sudeikis, aka Ted Lasso, speak about anything and everything. FYI, prior to his Saturday Night Live debut, he worked at a few different grocery stores to make ends meet. He was quick to point out they were not c-stores but assured the audience that he shops them often. 

In case you were wondering, there were 151,975 c-stores in the U.S. at the end of 2025. Foodservice contributed 28.5% of in-store sales in 2025, up from 11.9% in 2005, according to the State of the Industry data from NACS. 

 

 

Foodservice is made up of the categories of prepared food; commissary food; and hot, cold and frozen dispensed beverages. The largest category is prepared food—pizza, chicken, burgers, sandwiches/wraps, salads, etc.—which accounted for 73.9% of foodservice sales, up from 66.4% in 2021. 

Following prepared food, packaged beverages comes in as the second biggest category within c-stores, accounting for 18.7% of in-store sales, up 0.8 points from 2024. Among the other categories, the alternative snacks category—namely, protein-forward products—saw a particularly strong sales increase of 7.9% in 2025, which can be attributed to the rise in GLP-1 users, according to NACS. 

Dairy plays in all these spaces. 

"Protein is the magic word that has sustained dairy in recent years,” according to Ludovic Meilhac, expert partner at McKinsey & Company, who recently wrote on the topic, referencing McKinsey’s eighth annual dairy executive survey. 

“If a dairy product has a label indicating high protein content, it sells better,”  according to Ludovic Meilhac, McKinsey & Co.

Link HERE to the McKinsey survey, which was expanded to include Europe. 

“Protein has always been a rock star. People have always said it’s good for you, and you should consume more of it,” Meilhac said. “More recently, people have come to understand that the quality of the protein matters, too. Dairy proteins are great because they’re easily digestible and have an amino acid composition that closely matches the body’s needs, so they’re hard to replicate with plant-based sources alone.”

He explained that there have been two big recent “events” in the dairy protein phenomenon: the introduction of Greek yogurt and the introduction of ultrafiltered milk. Both are all about concentrating protein.

“Both Greek yogurt and ultrafiltered milk are now multibillion-dollar industries,” said Meilhac. “The protein trend has helped the dairy industry reverse the narrative. Just five or so years ago, plant-based alternatives were growing fast, and some people believed that within a few years the dairy industry would be dead. That hasn’t happened.

“Consumers today want a lot of dairy protein, especially whey protein,” said Meilhac. “It’s a versatile ingredient…and there’s been a lot of innovation in dairy protein. 

 

“In the past three years, U.S. dairy processors have invested an unprecedented $13 billion in building dairy plants,” said Meilhac. “That investment reflects confidence in what lies ahead for the industry. Consumer demand remains strong, AI is helping companies improve performance, and high-quality dairy protein continues to open up new possibilities.”  

And protein was everywhere at NACS 2026. Mars Snacking is putting dairy protein in its new Cheez-It Protein crackers. The crackers are also made with 100% real cheese.

Rich Products is bringing protein to its blend it yourself f’real brand in the first quarter of 2027 with Tropical Mango Protein and Peanut Butter Banana Reese’s Protein Smoothies. Each Protein Smoothie is made with real fruit, delivers 20 grams of protein from milk protein isolate and contains fewer than 250 calories, with no artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners.

“Consumers are increasingly looking for products that deliver both indulgence and function, and our new Protein Smoothies are designed to do exactly that,” said Megan Grinstead, Vice President of Customer and Consumer Marketing at Rich Products Corporation. “Together with our bold new packaging and next-generation B8 Blender within our Blend n’ Sip platform, we’re elevating every part of the f’real experience. These innovations help us deliver more engaging consumer experiences, greater operational confidence for our customers and a strong foundation for future innovation across the brand.”

 

The Simply Good Foods Company, which has owned Quest Nutrition since 2019, and Legendary Foods, which is owned by the founder of Quest Nutrition, both had a bold presence at NACS. These companies are all about dairy protein in convenient, portable, single-serve formats. From pasta cups to beverages to doughnuts and all types of bars and chips, these two companies are big buyers of milk proteins and whey proteins.  

Barebells was one of many brands promoting Protein Soda. Barebells’ offering is a sugar free, sweet and sparkling soda with 200 milligrams of caffeine and 10 grams of clear whey protein. It comes in four flavors: Classic Cola, Pineapple Sunrise, Sweet Cherry and Wild Strawberry.

To read more about protein sodas, link HERE to an article I wrote on topic for Food Business News. 

SPYLT, the ready-to-drink protein milk for those who refuse to grow up, was serving up its new limited-time-offerings of Maple Donut and Banana, along with its core line. Each can packs in 20 grams of protein, 0 grams of sugar, 90 calories 60 milligrams of caffeine. It’s made with lactose-free ultrafiltered milk.

“What’s always set us apart is our craveable, playful and unexpected flavors,” said Josh Mendenhall, Co-Founder and President of SPYLT. 

Craveable, playful and unexpected flavors, coupled with dairy protein and served in a convenient format, is the way forward for dairy in the c-store channel.