Almond Innovation & Trends

How AI and Metabolomics are Discovering New Almond Bioactives | IFT FIRST 2025

As interest in personalized nutrition grows, AI and metabolomics are enabling scientists to examine foods at unprecedented molecular depth.

This Hot Topics Studio discussion from IFT FIRST 2025, featuring Josette Lewis (Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Research & Innovation at the Almond Board of California) and Clay Bloszies (Associate Director, Metabolomics at Brightseed) shared how emerging AI and metabolomics technologies are uncovering novel bioactives in almonds with promising implications for personalized health. This session highlights cutting-edge research using advanced analytical tools to identify six previously unidentified bioactive compounds in almonds with links to brain, immune, metabolic, and gut health, as well as cellular aging. Learn how these findings are shaping the future of functional food innovation and opening new doors for health-focused product development.

The Art of Snacking: Unlocking Almond Versatility for Feel-Good Snacking.

Check out the Almond Board of California’s webinar, The Art of Snacking: Unlocking Almond Versatility for Feel-Good Snacking.

Explore the future of snacking with almonds as a key ingredient. The session features insights from Tastewise's Lauren Witham on industry trends, and a live culinary demonstration from Chef Jill Houk of Culinary Culture, showcasing the versatility of almond flour and almond butter in creating healthy, delicious, and feel-good recipes.

Connect with ABC at IFT FIRST 2025

ABC is returning to IFT FIRST in Chicago, IL from July 14-16 to demonstrate how almonds can be an essential ingredient for innovative new products. There are plenty of ways for attendees to learn more at the show!

Attend ABC and Brightseed’s Hot Topics Studio Chat

How AI and Metabolomics are Discovering New Almond Bioactives | Tuesday, July 15 from 11:40-12:00 PM

Head to the Hot Topics Studio (Booth S100) to join ABC for a 20-minute chat with Brightseed, a bioactives company dedicated to restoring human health. This discussion will explore Brightseed’s AI-powered discovery of six new bioactives never before found in almonds and share valuable insights to inform the creation of new products tailored for personalized health. 

As interest in personalized nutrition grows, AI and metabolomics are enabling scientists to examine foods at unprecedented molecular depth. In this session, attendees will learn how artificial intelligence—combined with mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography—was used to uncover six previously unidentified bioactive compounds in Nonpareil, Independence, and Monterey almonds. These compounds are associated with brain health, immune health, metabolic health, gut health, and cellular aging.

Emily Fleischmann, vice president of global market development at the Almond Board of California, will interview Clay Bloszies, associate director of metabolomics at Brightseed, about the research approach and how AI facilitated pattern recognition across complex datasets. Attendees will gain insights into how these findings can inform new product development for precision nutrition and how similar techniques may be applied to other ingredients. This case study illustrates how technology is transforming functional food discovery and innovation.

Try Samples and Get New Resources at ABC’s Startup Pavilion Kiosk 

ABC will sample a new recipe each day of the IFT FIRST Expo, including a future-forward jerky snack, an almond-based spin on nostalgic toaster pastries, and a sandwich cookie with an all-out almond experience. 

Visitors can meet with ABC experts and Chef Henry Hill (Hill’s Research Kitchen), to discuss a variety of topics and get the latest updates on almond R&D trends, sustainability, nutrition and more. Take home the latest resources, including recipe cards and new fact sheets about almond flour, almond butter, R&D myths and more.

ABC’s Kiosk is located within the Startup Pavilion area at the “Sponsor 1” Kiosk, across from Booth #S3668. Search for ABC in the online floor plan.

Three Trends for Almonds in 2025

Almonds Are the Ideal Ingredient for Wellness and Flavor Innovation

With 2025 in full swing, consumers are focused on foods that improve their health without compromising on flavor and innovation possibilities. Almonds have over 14 versatile forms that give you the confidence to tackle wellness, flavor and product innovation trends in 2025 and beyond. Keep reading to learn more about what trends and consumer needs to consider responding to in 2025.

Trend 1: Optimize Your Health, One Bite at a Time

Almonds, due to their well-rounded nutrient composition, will support precision wellness and top health needs like gut health and weight management. One ounce (28 g) of almonds provides 6g of protein, 4g of fiber, 13g of unsaturated fat, only 1g of saturated fat, and 15 essential nutrients, including 77mg magnesium (18.3% DV), 210mg potassium (4% DV), and 7.27mg vitamin E (50% DV).

• Digestive Health is the #1 aspect for which consumers buy functional food and beverages.¹
  • Prebiotic claims saw +46% CAGR on launches with almond protein, almond flour and almond meal.²
  • Microbiome claims saw +32% CAGR on launches with Almond Butter.³
  • Digestive/Gut Health claims saw +28% CAGR on launches with almond milk.
• Weight Management is a top health concern that consumers tackle by focusing on exercise and fitness (#1 approach) and a nutritionally balanced diet (#3 approach.)¹
  • Almond protein is the fastest-growing almond form in the sports nutrition category. 

Weight Management is the fastest growing claim on launches with almond protein (+73% CAGR2).⁴

Trend 2: Savoring the Spectrum of Flavor

With a subtle nutty flavor that can be amplified or subdued, almonds are a blank canvas for sweet and savory flavor innovation. Almonds’ fat content (13g of “good” unsaturated fats and only 1g of saturated fat per ounce) also contributes to perceptions of richer texture or mouthfeel and adds an indulgence factor.

• Some of the fastest-growing cuisines according to Tastewise include Caribbean Chinese Fusion (+279% YOY), Filipino Mexican Fusion (+104%) and Caribbean Japanese Fusion (+69% YOY).
• Intense (+62%), complex (+61%) and rich (+58%) are the fastest-growing flavor profiles for almonds.⁵ Here are some suggested almond ingredient parings, courtesy of Tastewise:
  • Unlock intense flavors by pairing almonds with shitake mushrooms, cajun seasoning, ghost pepper, and calamansi.
  • Introduce complexity by coupling almonds with black sesame, rose petal, orange blossom, and soursop.
  • Create rich flavors by incorporating almonds with brown butter, herbal salts, maple sugar, and desiccated coconut.

Trend 3: Elevating Tradition through Innovation 

Almonds have been the #1 nut in global new product innovations since 2006⁶, and the food and beverage industry keeps finding fresh avenues for innovation. Consumer preferences for new products vary widely, with a strong preference for old/traditional flavors (64%) alongside a significant interest in the “wow” effect from crazy and indulgent creations (43%). Finding a way to merge these desires with new uses for familiar and trusted ingredients can help pave the way for inventive products.

Almond Ingredients to Innovate With:

• Almond protein is growing in dairy (+43%), snacks (+41%), soft drinks (+19%) and hot drinks (+19%). This Almond Champurrado (Mexican Hot Chocolate) recipe uses almond protein powder to create a keto-friendly beverage with a richer mouthfeel.
• Almond Paste is growing in snacks (+19%), desserts & ice cream (+16%), confectionery (+14%), cereals (+13%) and soft drinks (+10%). Almond paste is used in this Almond Oatmeal Date Bar recipe as a binder in the crust layer. 
• Almond Flour is growing in meat substitutes (+32%), sauces & seasonings (+19%), desserts & ice cream (+17%) and confectionery (+14%). Almond flour is used in this Vegan Patty recipe along with pea protein to create a plant-based and flavor-packed meat alternative.

New Trend Report: Almond Innovation in Snacking

Almonds Are An Ideal Snacking Ingredient

Almonds are leading innovation in snacking. All the almond health benefits help meet consumer demands of health and indulgence.

Three AI- and Almond-Powered Snacking Insights to Leverage in 2024

The world of AI is growing into all industries and sparking innovation in the world of food creativity. Here at the Almond Board of California (ABC), we allow AI—Almond Intelligence—to inform our understanding of food trends.

Using Tastewise, the end-to-end Generative AI platform for modern food & beverage brands, ABC is allowing this new technology to analyze and understand real-time consumption data. Tastewise analyzes billions of social media posts and photos, restaurant menus, recipes and more to help understand what foods are trending and why— going beyond present food fads and looking into the lasting evolution of consumers’ tastes with more time to prepare for future demands.

How do you apply AI-driven insights to inspire product development?

To give a little taste into how AI can spark more creativity in innovation, ABC worked with Tastewise and Chef Henry Hill (Hill’s Research Kitchen) to identify key snacking opportunities for almonds and develop inspirational recipe concepts that bring those ideas to life.

Here are some almond-centered trends we have found through the Tastewise platform:

• Harnessing fitness-related benefits can answer the consumer call for more specific and personalized health claims. There’s an appetite for foods, like almonds, that offer functional nutrition packages.
• Keeping a pulse on global cuisines and new flavors, captures the eye of today’s adventurous consumer. Almonds’ neutral taste and versatility makes them a perfect canvas for creativity in flavor and use in convenient snack formats.
• Reducing food waste is a key opportunity area where almonds can contribute to a guilt-free experience. Consumers on social are interested in finding ways to upcycle ingredients like almond pulp at home, posing opportunities for the food industry to communicate zero waste approaches to food and agricultural byproducts.

These almond trends we’ve detected through Tastewise have allowed food professionals like Chef Henry Hill to create new and innovative recipes! Check out below to see these trends come to life in recipes he created.

Mangonada-Flavored Almond Biscuit Stick

Younger consumers are increasingly interested in international snacks and new flavors, and Chef Henry found opportunities to use current manufacturing technology in a new way.

“I wanted to repurpose rolled wafer tube/straw manufacturing technology and look at how you could enrobe them similar to Japanese biscuit sticks — and create savory versions, cut them into smaller bites, use fillings and different types of crackers that can be labeled as baked and not fried,” he said.

Chef Henry married the world of Japanese and Mexican flavors by creating a Mangonada-flavored Almond Biscuit Stick, inspired by a popular thin biscuit stick snack from Japan that is often sweet and covered in chocolate for a grab-and-go delight. Mangonada poses opportunity as it’s in the early stage of its lifecycle in the U.S., according to Tastewise, and has seen +19% YOY social change (2023.) By filling the centers with chamoy, a sweet-spicy-tangy condiment that originated in Mexico, Chef Henry created a tasty snack that packs a punch. The recipe also reduces almond food waste by utilizing leftover almond pulp.

Almond Butter Chili Crisp

Finally, Chef Henry explored a new take on chili crisp, which Tastewise shows is a trending ingredient that has seen a +60% YOY social change (2023.)

“I chose chili crisp as an inspiration because it has really been blowing up as a platform, but there is much more room for differentiation among the products being launched,” said Chef Henry. “Miso is in this concept because it seemed to complement the umami of the almond butter and tie through to the chili crisp idea.”

In this spicy condiment, Chef Henry highlights the various textures of almonds in this Almond Butter Chili Crisp. Originally from China, chili crisp is growing in popularity for its versatility in flavor and texture to heighten the experience of any meal. Chef Henry captures the chili crunch taste by utilizing toasted almonds and dehydrated almond skins but adds an element of smoothness by mixing in almond butter. The use of dehydrated almond skins is another way to implement zero waste in a recipe, as almond skins can be leftover after the blanching process.

Almond Milk & Orange Blossom Honey Energy Gummy

As consumers look for more specific health benefits, “energy” is a top consumer functional health need for gummies.

Conversations about gummies and energy have increased by 37% YOY, according to Tastewise (2023.) While berry-related flavors like black raspberry, strawberry, cherry and others are frequently used, Chef Henry notes that the gummy format is a great way for entrepreneurs to introduce functional benefits and new flavors.

“Gummies still seem to be a favorable delivery platform for functional ingredients— they have a lower barrier of entry compared to other delivery platforms (like beverages), so they’re a great way to test an idea and validate it on a functional consumer,” said Chef Henry.

The Almond Milk & Orange Blossom Honey Energy Gummies he created may be small, but they offer big opportunities for product developers to experiment with food for fitness and new flavors. Chef Henry created a chewy, flavorful gummy that combines the flavors of almond milk, honey and orange with guayasa tea extract (which contains caffeine) to offer a functional and delicious energy bite.

In the ever-evolving world of food trends, the future of almonds is sure to grow with consumer tastes. Follow ABC’s LinkedIn page for Food Professionals to stay up to date on the latest trend research.