Raspberry pink lip balms, blue raspberry toothpaste, berry lemonades, and festival desserts might seem worlds apart. While together, they signal a bigger shift. Berries are moving beyond the jam jar and becoming inspiration across food, beverage, and beauty. Their bold color, bright flavor, and nostalgic appeal make them perfect for playful, sensory products that resonate with today’s consumers. From café menus to personal care routines, berries are getting reimagined in fresh and unexpected ways. Read on to learn more!
Raspberry returns to the beverage spotlight
Raspberry continues to gain momentum in cafés and ready-to-drink beverages. In early 2025, Starbucks brought back its raspberry syrup after removing it from menus two years earlier. Strong customer demand drove the decision and quickly sparked new drink combinations across social media. Fans began experimenting with custom drinks and sharing their ideas online. In one Reddit discussion, Starbucks customers trade suggestions for raspberry-based drinks and “secret menu” combinations, from raspberry lemonades to berry-infused espresso drinks. The return also inspired drinks like Raspberry Cream Cold Brew, which pairs cold brew coffee with raspberry cold foam and vanilla syrup.
Beyond coffee shops, brands continue to expand raspberry into fruit-forward beverages and wellness drinks. Culture Pop introduced Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade probiotic soda to meet growing demand for lighter, functional drinks with recognizable fruit flavors. Together, these launches highlight raspberry’s shift from a classic dessert flavor to a bright, refreshing ingredient across beverages and wellness formats.
Flavor becomes an active ingredient in beauty
Berry inspiration now expands into beauty and personal care. Brands increasingly use flavor as a sensory tool to differentiate products and create memorable routines. Australian oral care brand Hismile demonstrates this shift. The brand transforms teeth-brushing into a flavor experience with toothpaste varieties including: Blue Raspberry, Grapple Berry, and Strawberry. Hismile extends the concept with matching lip balms that echo the same flavors, showing how flavor can reshape everyday personal care rituals.
Berry notes also influence fragrance and haircare. Fragrance brand Commodity blends strawberry, rhubarb, and raspberry pulp into its Juice perfume, highlighting the juicy complexity of red-berry accords. Meanwhile, Indian haircare brand 3TENX incorporates raspberry seed oil into its Hydrify Gloss Mist to support hydration and heat protection.
In color cosmetics, berry tones continue to shape makeup trends. Raspberry shades appear across lip products and blush palettes, often paired with playful textures. Milk Makeup’s Cooling Water Jelly Tint Lip + Cheek Blush highlights the rise of jelly formats in makeup, delivering sheer berry color with a cooling feel. Rhode takes a similar approach with Peptide Lip Tint in Raspberry Jelly, which blends glossy berry color with lip care.
Berry ingredients also drive skincare innovation. Raspberry extract contains antioxidants and vitamins that support hydration and help protect skin from environmental stress. Brands increasingly highlight these benefits in serums, creams, and lip care products.
Together, these examples show how berry color, flavor cues, and ingredient benefits help beauty brands create playful routines that resonate with younger consumers.
Heritage berries reenter the culinary conversation
Alongside raspberry, heritage berries such as boysenberry are also gaining renewed attention. The hybrid fruit, which combines elements of blackberry and raspberry, has become the centerpiece of the annual Knott’s Boysenberry Festival in California. The event celebrates the berry that helped establish Knott’s Berry Farm nearly a century ago. Each spring, chefs create dozens of new dishes built around boysenberries, from pastries and cocktails to savory sauces.
Festival menus highlight the fruit’s versatility across sweet and savory formats. Events like this help bring regional ingredients back into the culinary conversation while inspiring new flavor experimentation.
What it means for flavor innovation
For flavor innovators, the berry revival highlights the power of familiar ingredients with strong sensory identities. Raspberry offers a bright, adaptable flavor that pairs easily with citrus, botanicals, chocolate, and floral notes. Heritage berries like boysenberry add depth through regional storytelling and culinary experimentation.
For companies like Symrise, these fruits provide a versatile foundation for innovation across beverages, dairy products, bakery, confectionery, and personal care. As brands continue to explore playful textures and cross-category experiences, berries are likely to remain a key source of inspiration.
