During my trip to Land O’Lakes in Minnesota in April, the cooperative’s Culinary Center showed me its latest flavor formulations involving red-hot pistachio and brown butter.

“I think we are going to see a lot of pistachio cookies during the holidays this year,” noted Ann Stuart, who oversees the butter and spreads category at the Culinary Center. Stuart further explained that the viral Dubai Chocolate trend likely shined an even brighter light on pistachio. 

Usage of pistachio will likely run all the way to the holiday season, as its green color brings a festive look during the holidays.

Since that day that I tried a Land O’Lakes Pistachio Chocolate Chunk cookie, (it was excellent) I have really noticed a hot trend. This includes a recent visit to New York City, where I entered a bakery and noticed that behind the counter were pistachio doughnuts, pistachio cake and pistachio beverages for sale. I am sure many other restaurants and bakeries are following suit. I also visited my local 16 Handles ice cream shop to try out the Dubai Chocolate flavor, which premiered in mid-April.

Regarding brown butter, Land O’ Lakes has added the popular trend to Rice Krispies treats. “Adding brown butter changes and enhances the flavor of the recipe,” Stuart said. “It started by making its way into the restaurant world and has made its way now into homecooked products. It adds a rich, nutty flavor. It involves taking butter, cooking it down and browning the milk solids so the butter becomes a rich, golden brown color.”

It would be foolish of me to think that the pistachio and brown butter trends will last forever. No flavor trend can always remain hot, just as no fashion trend lasts forever. But dairy processors can still take advantage of these trends and profit from them. For example, thanks to TikTok videos, cottage cheese sales have been tremendous sellers for the past two years, growing by double-digit percentages each year, according to Chicago-based market research firm Circana.

Pistachio and brown butter could certainly remain hot trends for the remainder of this year. What happens afterward is unknown, but Stuart said something that could drive sales for years is butter, which in general, “is back.” “We have seen bread baskets return at restaurants with flavored butters. Artisanal butters are also popular,” she revealed. “Butter is having a moment.”

Stuart even showed me the butter-colored KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer that Land O’ Lakes often uses. KitchenAid calls butter its 2025 “Color of the Year.” “Inspired by the essential ingredient of cooking and baking, it’s a modern and energizing shade of yellow that evokes comforting memories. Each year, KitchenAid taps global trends to capture the current zeitgeist to bring functional style to your kitchen,” retailer Williams-Sonoma states on its website.

Even after hearing how hot the color of butter is, I needed more proof. I found it accidentally by turning on “The Today Show,” which declared: “Butter is taking over! The color of the season has shoppers swooning from monochromatic outfits to eye-catching cookware.”

I now have my proof that butter — whether the food product or the color itself — is a bigger trend than I could have imagined. Pistachio and butter, enjoy the limelight as long as it lasts.