Source: NYT > Business (paywall)
Food and beverage brands are betting that taste can deliver the wellness promise of nature—juniper lattes, pine sodas, and foraged-ingredient snacks are now hitting shelves as products, not just chef experiments. Consumers spend heavily on wellness and outdoor experiences but can't reliably access either, so brands are collapsing the fantasy into daily consumption: a latte you can buy anywhere, not a hike you can only take on weekends. Whether "forest flavor" becomes a genuine category or a passing aesthetic trend will determine staying power. Early adopters are already paying premium prices, suggesting brands see room to own this positioning before it commodifies.