sliced dragon fruit, natural dragon fruit flavor

Natural Dragon Fruit Flavor | Trends & Innovation

Dragon fruit – with its exciting name and exotic appearance – is quickly becoming one of the hottest fruit flavors!  Natural dragon fruit flavor can take your next product launch to new heights. Learn why this tropical fruit is taking over the world and how you can use it in your food and beverage applications.

Dragon Fruit Copy
Dragon fruit has exotic looks, name, and flavor – and consumer love it!

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Why is it called dragon fruit?

Dragon fruit flavor (also known by its native Spanish name pitahaya or pitaya flavor) has enchanted US consumers. Maybe it’s because dragon fruit looks like it was plucked from a fairytale: its leathery fuchsia and green peel resembles reptilian scales, while its striking magenta, yellow, or cream flesh calls to mind the flames or smoke of dragon’s breath.  Or maybe it’s the super cool name: dragons are the “it beast” these days, thanks to the popularity of Game of Thrones and How to Tame Your Dragon

What does dragon fruit flavor taste like?

Luckily, dragon fruit flavor tastes a lot tamer than it looks!  This tropical fruit flavor marries sweet melon and juicy kiwi with hints of pineapple and island florals.  Dragon fruit’s mild and approachable taste enables it to blend well with other natural fruit flavors, such as strawberry and lychee.

Interested in growing your own dragon fruit cactus? You can order USDA Organic dragon fruit cactus plants online.

Natural dragon fruit flavor for beverages

Some of our favorite applications for dragon fruit flavor are beverages.  Dragon fruit’s refreshing tropical taste makes it an ideal beverage flavor.  Imagine sipping an icy dragon fruit lemonade, cool dragon fruit smoothie, or frosty dragon fruit martini.  While dragon fruit leads 2023 beverage flavor trends, it’s also turning up in everything from ice cream and smoothies to fruit salads and frozen desserts. 

Dragon fruit offers consumers exciting tropical fruit flavor with a cool name and look to match.  This trifecta is unique among produce, positioning dragon fruit flavor to have lasting popularity in restaurant and CPG food and beverage products.  In other words, dragon fruit is an emerging flavor trend with long-term potential.

Dragon Fruit In Wooden Box. Pitahaya Tropical Fruits. Top View. Free Space For Text.
Dragon fruit flavor comes in many varieties to fit any application

Innovative ideas for dragon fruit

Hungry for inspiration?  Here are some ideas for innovating with natural dragon fruit flavor:

1. Seasonal: The intense blood red hue of dragon fruit adds bold color while the exotic flavor, name, and appearance make marketing it a breeze.  Because it can be positioned as either sensual (tropical vacation, romantic red color) or scary (mythical beasts, blood red color), dragon fruit flavor is a great seasonal LTD for both Valentine’s Day and Halloween holidays.

2. Savory: Perk up boring plates with the vibrant color and flavor of dragon fruit!  Savory is what’s next for natural dragon fruit flavor, which is easily incorporated into spicy salsas, tangy barbeque sauces, and zingy salad dressings.  Magenta hued dragon fruit hummus could turn the dips and spreads case on its head!

3. Sweet: Incorporate dragon fruit’s unique tropical flavor into ice creams, sorbets, frozen desserts, syrups, and gummies.  A sweet cream base such as cheesecake, or a sweet cake base such as pancake or muffin, complements the cream notes of dragon fruit flavor while allowing its zestier qualities to really shine.

4.  Spirits: For a tropical twist, spike your spirits (or beer, wine, or RTD cocktail) with dragon fruit flavor!  It’s great in vodka, gin, hard seltzers, light ales and I.P.A.s, and even mai tais and margaritas.  Plus, who doesn’t love the association of dragon’s fire

Try natural dragon fruit flavor

Looking for natural dragon fruit flavor and organic dragon fruit flavor?  Request a sample today and start using dragon fruit flavor in your products! 

Request A Sample of Dragon Fruit flavor
Request a sample of our natural and organic dragon fruit flavors today!

Food and beverage development services

We hope these ideas help launch your next iconic flavor!  Blue Pacific Flavors has been a leader in flavor trends and food and beverage innovation since 1993.  Learn more about our product development services in this video.

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