SAN FRANCISCO — User searches on the crowd-sourced review platform Yelp form the foundation of the company’s 2025 trends. Next year Yelp predicts, based on search results during 2024, that Hawaiian flavors, mushrooms, global coffee flavors and “burnaway” cakes will capture consumer attention.
For example, searches for Hawaiian barbecue and Hawaiian mac salad were up 88% and 523%, respectively, during the year, according to Yelp. Hawaiian barbecue typically includes grilled meats featuring sweet and tropical flavors, and Hawaiian mac salad is a combination of macaroni, carrots, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar and other ingredients.
To support its assertion Hawaiian-centric flavors and applications may trend next year, Yelp also noted that the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue chain was named one of Yelp’s fastest growing brands in 2024 and that the restaurant Lee’s Homestyle Broken Mouth topped the platform’s top 100 places to eat for 2023.
Yelp also sees the use of mushrooms as functional ingredients reaching foodservice in 2025. Seattle’s Wunderground Coffee, for example, infuses mushrooms into its local coffee blends, and Press Coffee, Phoenix, has expanded its menu to include mushroom infused shakes as an alternative to traditional coffee drinks.
Searches on Yelp for mushroom drinks were up 501% in 2024 over 2023, according to the platform, searches for mushroom coffee were up 87%, and searches for mushroom tea were up 10%.
Different coffee flavors and applications also are projected to be on trend in 2025. Searches for einspanner, a Viennese coffee, were up 1,145% compared to last year, Yelp said, as well as mojito coffee (up 591%), a blend of coffee, mint and lime flavors, and Vietnamese coconut coffee (up 254%).
For those consumers looking for a different coffee experience, Yelp noted that searches for coffee omakase, where a barista prepared a customized coffee menu for a guest, were up 742%.