McCormick is converting its 2026 Flavor of the Year designation for black currant into real menu velocity, launching back-to-back limited-edition collaborations with Prince St. Pizza (August 3–31) and Go Greek Yogurt (August 31–September 28). The structured two-month window, each activation handing off directly to the next, signals a deliberate campaign architecture rather than a one-off licensing deal.
The Activation Structure
Prince St. Pizza — the Nolita-born Sicilian square-pie brand now operating 20 locations across the U.S. and Canada — will debut its first nationwide dessert pizza using McCormick's Black Currant Finishing Sugar. The limited SKU is available in-store and via UberEats and Postmates, giving McCormick earned placement across third-party delivery platforms without buying a media unit. Lawrence Longo, CEO of Prince St. Pizza, described the collaboration as an opportunity to "explore a completely new side of pizza" — which, for operators tracking dessert pizza as an emerging daypart extension, is worth noting.
Go Greek Yogurt follows immediately with a limited-edition black currant frozen yogurt available at participating stores nationwide through September 28. The format leans into the ingredient's perceived health halo — the brand's base is high-protein and probiotic-rich — giving McCormick a second channel that speaks to wellness-oriented consumers without changing the core product line.
What Operators Should Take From This
McCormick's Flavor Forecast has been a credible procurement signal for menu developers and R&D teams since 2000. When a $7 billion flavor company with distribution across 150 countries names an ingredient its annual anchor, foodservice buyers and culinary directors should treat it as a forward-looking shelf indicator, not just a press event. Black currant has already been appearing on emerging beverage menus and craft cocktail lists, and this activation accelerates that visibility into QSR-adjacent and fast-casual formats.
Tabata Gomez, Chief Growth and Marketing Officer at McCormick, framed the Flavor Forecast's 26-year track record as the backbone of the activation: the company identified black currant as "bold, bright, and deliciously versatile" — language that maps directly to the sweet-savory crossover applications operators are chasing right now. Dessert pizzas and probiotic frozen yogurt are not obvious category fits for a berry seasoning, which is precisely the point. The collaborations are designed to demonstrate range, giving menu developers permission to experiment beyond the spice aisle.
Signals for Suppliers and Brand Teams
For suppliers and brand launch teams working on ingredient or flavor positioning, this campaign illustrates a repeatable co-branding structure: anchor a trend report to an ingredient, build two or three sequential operator partnerships with distinct consumer profiles, and use influencer amplification (here, social media personality Hannah Stocking) to close the awareness loop at the point of purchase. Each partnership covers a distinct daypart and demographic — pizza-occasion consumers in August, health-and-wellness yogurt buyers in September — without the campaigns cannibalizing each other.
McCormick's Sweet & Smoky Black Currant Seasoning and Black Currant Finishing Sugar are already available to end consumers through its direct channels, meaning the foodservice activations function partly as trial-driver sampling at scale. Operators evaluating new flavor formats for fall menus have a short window to test black currant applications while consumer awareness of the ingredient is at its seasonal peak.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
