British Fusion: a British food trend in 2024

Fusion food gives consumers the chance to try new flavours, very often in familiar formats, and provides chefs with the opportunity to have fun and show their creativity and flair.

You can mix up ingredients, flavours or formats to create dishes that offer a unique experience, which appeals to consumers’ sense of adventure.

British Fusion is a key trend that is particularly appealing in the UK at the moment, using British formats like a roast dinner, pies, pasties, and a traditional English breakfast and adding a twist with ingredients from other cuisines.

British Fusion is a trend that is predicted to grow in 2024, where consumers get the opportunity to try new flavours and ingredients from other cuisines, in more familiar formats like pies, sausage rolls, crumbles, roast dinners or English breakfasts. In fact, 35% of respondents state that they find British Fusion appealing*, as it’s a way to try new flavours in a format they are familiar with.

The most popular cuisines that consumers are interested in pairing with British formats include Chinese, Italian, Indian and American* which tend to be the cuisines consumers are most famillar with. However, that doesn’t preclude interest in British Fusion with other cuisines, for example, Korean, Mexican, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern. Think Caribbean or Middle Eastern spiced Sunday Roast platters!

Two in five (42%) of UK consumers find British Fusion appealing* because they like the idea of mixing different cultural influences within the more familiar formats that British cuisine offers: roasts, pies, sausage rolls, traditional breakfasts and even some desserts like crumbles.

Many consumers are currently more mindful about what they are spending, and look for both value and quality in the dishes they go for when they are eating out.

British fusion dishes offer the ability to enjoy familiar flavours whilst at the same time appealing to their sense of adventure. British Fusion dishes therefore provide a great bridge between familiar dishes they are comfortable with and new cuisines. These sorts of fusion choices also remove some of the barriers to trying unfamiliar dishes and flavours.

Some of the key popular formats that we are seeing feature heavily in British fusion dishes include: Sunday roasts, pies, pasties and sausage rolls, traditional English breakfasts along with other classic dishes like shepherd’s pie, and even desserts like crumbles.

Some of the international cuisines that consumers are most interested to try with British formats include: Chinese, Italian and Indian, closely followed by American.*

42% of UK consumers find appeal in British Fusion dishes* because they give them the ability to enjoy mixing up different cultural influences within familiar British formats that that they are comfortable with.

At a time when many are conscious about getting value for money, many are still keen to try something new and enjoy a different experience when they eat out.

Therefore British Fusion provides a bridge between familiar formats and new flavours, overcoming some of the psychological risks or barriers associated with trying something completely unfamiliar and different.