This Year’s Trends in Airport Dining and Travel Snacking
Travelers continue to influence how and what they eat on the go, with trends in both airport dining and travel snacking dramatically shifting this year.
Alice Cheung, Sr. Director of Brands & Concepts for Paradies Lagardère‘s Dining Division, is tracking the culinary trends shaping airport restaurants today and into 2026. From hyper-local chefs to global flavors and evolving guest expectations, Cheung shares what’s resonating now and where airport dining is headed next.
What’s Trending Now
In 2025, menus leaned into a stronger sense of place. Cheung notes a growing emphasis on regional influences, with dishes inspired by local ingredients, heritage recipes, and the cities travelers pass through. National celebrity chefs may have had their moment. Still, today’s guests are responding to hyper-local talent—chefs who are deeply invested in their restaurants and present on-site week after week. That authenticity matters.
Menus are also evolving to better reflect how people want to eat while traveling. The classic Caesar salad still has its fans, but Cheung sees demand for more creative, flavorful, and health-forward salad options that move beyond the predictable. Sustainability is another primary focus, from eliminating Styrofoam to composting wherever possible and sourcing locally, including Starbucks’ partnerships with regional dairies.
Protein-forward menus continue to dominate, with chicken playing a central role. Burgers remain the top seller in airport concessions, but chicken is quickly closing the gap thanks to its versatility, cost efficiency, and ability to carry bold, global flavors. From street-food inspiration to international spice profiles, chicken-based dishes are delivering variety without sacrificing familiarity.
Technology and hospitality are finding a careful balance. Guests appreciate options like pay-at-the-table, QR codes, and mobile ordering, but Cheung emphasizes the importance of continuing to offer high-touch hospitality for travelers who want it—especially those who are stressed, short on time, or less comfortable with digital ordering.
Cheung also points to the growing influence of viral food culture. Social media-driven recipes and trends are increasingly shaping guest expectations, opening the door for playful, buzz-worthy menu moments that still deliver on quality.
This Trend Is Done, Put a Fork In It
One culinary trend Cheung believes has run its course is the use of truffle oil on everything. While it’s often used to signal indulgence or elevate simple dishes, most truffle oil relies on artificial flavoring and can quickly overpower a menu. Travelers, she says, are ready for more thoughtful flavor development that enhances dishes rather than masking them with the same trendy ingredient.
What Will Stay for 2026
Charcuterie boards remain a standout for the airport environment, and Cheung expects them to continue gaining traction in 2026. Designed for grazing rather than committing to a full entrée, they offer flexibility, variety, and speed—exactly what many travelers want between flights. A well-executed board allows guests to sample multiple flavors and textures without feeling rushed or overly full, making it a natural fit for airport dining.
Looking ahead, Cheung is excited about black sesame as an emerging flavor profile. With matcha now firmly mainstream, black sesame is poised to be the next standout from Asian cuisine. Its nutty, earthy character feels distinctive yet approachable, showing up in everything from pastries and desserts to beverages. Cheung expects to see black sesame increasingly on airport menus in 2026 as operators seek flavors that feel both modern and comforting.
Best Trending Snacks for Travel
Ella’s Flats
Ella’s Flats began in Ellen Macks’ kitchen. A lifelong health enthusiast, Ellen was always experimenting with clean, whole-food recipes. One day, she created a seed cracker that became a hit with friends and family. With no prior experience in the food industry but armed with a deep belief in her product, Ellen launched Ella’s Flats. Every cracker is made from simple seeds and spices—no sugar, no fillers, no shortcuts. These are a substantial, delicious, and nutritious alternative to crackers, chips, toast, and other empty carbs. They offer between 5g and 8g of protein and are packed with fiber and antioxidants. Totally non-GMO and grain-free, they are suitable for gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and keto diets. We’ve taken to nibbling one or two to quiet afternoon snack cravings.
We love all the flavors, especially the Caraway Rye, which are filling and make a great base with charcuterie and cheeses, hummus, peanut butter, and more. The Everything variety is our next favorite for breakfast or brunch. Take a cracker and load it with cream cheese and smoked salmon, or smashed avocado and slices of boiled egg. The texture and flavor are outstanding across all flavors, and the next time we travel, we’ll pack a bag of these light, crunchy, substantial snacks in our carry-on.
Staff Favorite: Archer Jerky
Eugene Kang’s jerky obsession started young, stocking shelves at his family’s convenience stores scattered across Southern California’s deserts. As a Korean-American kid handling some of the day-to-day hustle of a business, he not only caught the entrepreneurship bug from his parents, but he also had a front row seat to the evolution of the jerky category. While on a trip to the Grand Canyon, Eugene took a life-changing bite of jerky at a roadside stand. Blown away by its taste and quality, he tracked down the manufacturer, who had a small San Bernardino-based facility, and purchased the business. It’s one of our favorite travel snack discoveries this year and belongs on your next adventure, whether that’s a road trip, hike, or long haul flight.
Our favorite is the Beef & Cheese Minis: Small but mighty morsels packed with 4g of protein per stick and featuring a delicious ‘umami’ flavor that satisfies your cravings for high-fat proteins. Archer’s Mini Sticks are crafted from 100% grass-fed and finished beef and real cheddar cheese. Don’t fall prey to that, “I think I need a $25 airport cheeseburger.” Munch on a couple of these instead, and that craving will soon disappear!
Other flavors include Classic, Beef Taco, and Mango Habanero, all 100% grass-fed beef seasoned with herbs, spices, and hand-crafted marinades. No fillers, junk or chemicals and all crafted in small batches and certified gluten-free, Paleo, and no preservatives. The minis are truly pocket-sized and non-perishable and will save your wallet some pain when traveling. For a meal replacement, try the 28g beef stick with Prime Rib style seasoning. This has 8g of protein and zero sugar. Throw one or two in your backpack for your next adventure.
Karma Nuts
Forget peanuts, or even roasted almonds. The new nut on the block is the cashew—good for you because they’re packed with protein, healthy fats, fiber, vitamins (like B6, K), and minerals (magnesium, copper, zinc, iron), support heart health by lowering bad cholesterol, boost immunity, strengthen bones, stabilize blood sugar, and provide energy and uplift. But did you know that cashews have a thin, brownish skin (or testa) beneath their hard shell, which is edible and nutritious once the nut is properly roasted or processed.
Karma Nuts is home of the “wrapped cashew,” which retains its natural skins containing fiber and as many antioxidants as blueberries. Instead of disposing of the testa, Karma Nuts has made a feature of it, air-roasting and flavoring it with natural spices such as cinnamon, salt, or peri peri. This gives them a unique, non-oily texture, taste, and crunch.
Looking for a snack that meets your cravings and nutritional requirements? Karma Nuts’ Lime Twist Wrapped® Cashews are bold, zingy, zesty and spicy. Every bite brings a zesty lime kick, perfectly balanced with a touch of sea salt and natural onion extract, creating a deliciously unique taste sensation. This is a wonderful snack to serve with an in-flight gin and tonic!
Karma’s Peri Peri Roasted® Cashews are flavored like the fiery, tangy sauce popular in Portuguese-African cuisine. These aren’t just spicy; they offer an amazing crunch. Infused with a dynamic blend of chili, onion, garlic, zesty lime powder, and sea salt, every bite bursts with smoky warmth and refreshing zest.
Can’t decide? Enjoy a delicious variety of Keto-and Paleo-friendly flavors: Sea Salt, Golden Turmeric, and Lime Twist! With no sugar added, these crunchy and flavorful cashews are healthy to grab and go, and stay perfectly fresh in their individual sachets, making them ideal for travel.
These are not your oily, high-calorie supermarket nuts! Founder & CEO Ganesh Nair deeply believes in the planet, communities, and nutritious snacks—with the spices of home, India, helping you meet your health goals. In larger sizes, the resealable bag keeps the cashews fresh and crunchy as you travel, hike, camp, or drive, so you can dip into them again on your journey. Plus, Karma Nuts lives up to its name, giving back to communities by donating 10% of profits or 1% of sales to organizations that benefit children’s well-being.
Mike’s Mighty Good Ramen
We were flying through Hong Kong recently when we noticed public hot-water dispensers at the airport and saw travelers filling their green-tea thermoses and souping up their instant ramen. What a great idea! This prompted us to consider: if you are traveling somewhere with limited food options, you can ask for boiling water to make a snack, such as this instant ramen from Mike’s Mighty Good. Choose from Chicken, Spicy Beef, or Pork bone broth, Vegetarian Vegetable, or Vegetarian Miso. They are not those high-sodium grocery store noodles with the freeze-dried vegetable packets and loads of MSG.
These instant ramen soup cups feature bone broth as their stock, organic noodles, and are free of seed oils and antibiotics. Simple, rich, flavorful, slurpable, and not too salty—just the way we like our ramen!
Maybe you’re camping, driving, or checking into a hotel or rental late at night; take a cup or two of Mike’s Mighty Good with you. And maybe you just got home from a long trip, and there’s nothing in the fridge or the pantry except a cup of Mike’s. That’s cool, put on the kettle! Plus, they are made in the USA.
