Beyond Umami: Why Taste Is More Than a Trend
By Florian Schwarz
In recent years, the word umami has become almost unavoidable in conversations about food. It appears on menus, in product descriptions, in culinary storytelling, and in marketing. And while umami is a real and important part of how we experience taste, I sometimes feel that the word itself has become bigger than the idea behind it.
Because the experience is not new.
Long before we gave it a name, people understood depth in food. They understood why a slowly cooked broth feels complete, why aged cheese has character, why fermented products create complexity, and why certain dishes stay with us long after the last bite. These experiences existed across cultures, kitchens, and generations.
What interests me even more is not only umami as a single taste, but the broader experience of taste as a whole. In Japanese, the idea of kokumi comes closer to this for me: richness, fullness, continuity, and depth. It is not just about one note on the palate. It is about how everything comes together.
That is also how I look at Globe of Taste.
For us, taste is not only about individual products. It is about origin, craftsmanship, culture, texture, memory and emotion. A product becomes meaningful when it carries a story, when it connects people, and when it creates an experience that feels complete.
In a world where food trends come and go quickly, I believe there is value in looking deeper. Beyond fashionable words. Beyond the label. Beyond the immediate impression.
Because great taste has never been just about intensity. It is about balance, character and the connection between product, place, and people.
That is the kind of taste we want to explore with Globe of Taste. Not as a trend, but as something timeless.
