We talked to Chaucer Foods’ global team members, including Eric Quirin, EMEA Sales Director, Itzel Rincon, NPI and Sales Director for the Americas, and Renee de Ravin, APAC Sales Director, for their thoughts on the regional needs of different markets.
Q: What consumer trend has the most influence in your region?
Eric (EMEA): Consumers are becoming more interested in clean label formulations that have the same—or better—taste, texture and nutritional content as their favourite products. Instead of consuming boring options, they want cookies, cakes, and snack mixes to be re-invented with a clean label twist. By incorporating the ingredients consumers trust, like freeze-dried strawberries, within familiar foods, formulators can bring an untapped level of excitement to fan-favourites.
Itzel (Americas): As a result of leading busy, on-the-go lives, many consumers in the Americas have been demanding functional beverages that are fortified with nutrient-dense ingredients. To ensure they get all necessary nutrients these consumers are enjoying beverages, like probiotic-boosted beverages, energizing drinks and plant-based waters.
Renee (APAC): While traditionally interested in healthy foods, APAC consumers have increasingly shown interest in improving their gut and digestive health through healthy eating. With a mindset of “food as medicine,” APAC consumers focus on incorporating nutritional powders, such as freeze-dried fruit powder blends with probiotic ingredients, within their diet.
Q: What region-specific product innovations are you witnessing?
Eric (EMEA): Similar to the overall interest in healthy eating, EMEA consumers are showing a strong preference for products that offer a reduced sugar content. Products that typically contain a higher sugar content, like cookies or even sports beverages, are now being reformulated with low-to-no sugar to appeal to health-conscious consumers.
Itzel (Americas): The interest in fortified, functional drinks has sparked beverage innovation to develop the healthy, drinkable products consumers are looking for. Because of this, we’re seeing beverages fortified with ingredients that contain health benefits, like prebiotics, caffeine, protein, fiber and more.
Renee (APAC): With an increasing interest in sustainable ingredients, we are seeing more plant-based product innovations, like plant-based seafood. Research shows that plant-based meat in China will grow at a compound annual rate of 13.9% by 20261, making it clear that consumers here are wanting more and more innovative plant-based alternatives.
Q: What ingredients are best suited to aid product innovation?
Eric (EMEA): Due to the consumer draw for healthy products with a lower sugar content, formulators are now often utilizing more natural fruits within their food and beverage offerings. By using freeze-dried fruits, formulators can keep their products clean label, plant-based and sweeten the treat with all-natural ingredients that consumers recognize.
Itzel (Americas): For fortified beverages that attract health-conscious consumers, formulating with healthy, delicious and nutrient-dense ingredients that provide the functionality is key. Chaucer’s freeze-dried smoothie melts can be customized to incorporate additional nutrients or benefits, like prebiotics, that are in demand from consumers, making it a perfect inclusion within a range of beverage offerings.
Renee (APAC): Nutritional fruit and vegetable powders that can be customized to incorporate microbiome-boosting ingredients, such as prebiotics and probiotics, are ideal to further healthy product innovation. These ingredients allow consumers to eat something that is not only natural and healthy—but also delicious.
Q: What future consumer demand do you think will have the greatest impact?
Eric (EMEA): Clean label products are truly the future of innovation. Consumers not only want to be able to understand what is in the food they eat, but they want the ingredients to be those they have readily available in their own cupboards at home.
Itzel (Americas): While we already are witnessing both plant-based and on-the-go offerings, there are not as many products that combine the two trends into one simple ready-to-enjoy product. As consumers continue to prefer products that are ready for immediate consumption, the desire for offerings that meet their health preferences, like plant-based, will grow alongside it.
Renee (APAC): As the younger generations, who are typically more interested in sustainability, gain buying power, the push for sustainable products will only go up. Ingredients that have a longer shelf life, can be produced sustainably, and that are appealing to consumers, like freeze-dried ingredients, will help fuel this skyrocketing demand for sustainable foods and beverages.
Are you looking to learn more about how to remain innovative when developing a clean label product? Contact us at customer.services@chaucerfoods.com to connect with our team.
References
1“Plant-based hot hit! How to divide the 100 billion market?” Industrial Digital Economy. 2021.