‘2020’ has long featured in research & development strategies as a key milestone date, but now with only 3 years to go, food and beverage companies must decide where to focus their efforts. In this article, Dr Pretima Titoria, senior consultant: Ingredients & Operations at Leatherhead Food Research, plots key industry trends against the new ingredients and latest processing technologies to identify what can realistically be achieved.
Balancing near term and long-term innovation priorities is an enduring challenge for the food and beverage industry. Interviews with sector leaders conducted for Leatherhead’s Poised for an age of innovation report considered the role innovation plays across four key areas: protecting the existing portfolio, stretching the product category, acquisitions & mergers and developing next-generation products.
A strategic approach
Innovation success ultimately depends on meeting or exceeding consumer demands. Yet ingredient capabilities and processing technologies can be a limiting factor. It’s a little bit ‘chicken and egg’: is it the consumer/market trend that truly drives innovation or the availability of ingredients and technologies to facilitate change? Plotting consumer and market trends against emerging ingredients and processing technologies can reveal opportunities and challenges. Adoption of the traditional stage-gate exercise or a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) study will ensure that relevant ideas/concepts are incorporated within company strategies at the appropriate time and pace. This article considers current food and beverage industry trends alongside relevant ingredient and processing developments. It shows how short-term innovation can play a strategic role in achieving longer term goals.
What is going on in the ingredient market?
Sugar reduction continues to be a crucial theme within the wider health trend, particularly in light of high profile targets set by public health bodies. The most recent of these is the Public Health England guideline for the industry to achieve a 20% sugar reduction in certain categories by 2020 (with a 5% reduction in 2017). Current sugar reduction strategies include optimal use of intense and bulk sweeteners. Stevia and agave are gaining attention due to their ‘natural’ label and the availability of various formats and grades. Expert knowledge can help identify the best sweeteners or sweetener blends for different applications while avoiding detrimental impact on flavor profiles or costs.
Exploitation of flavors is another emerging sugar reduction tactic, as evidenced by the recent DouxMatok development. The company claims to have developed a flavor-carrying particle enabling sugar content and calories to be reduced by more than 50% without losing sweetness or raising costs. This proprietary product is expected to be available in Europe by 2018. Potential applications include yogurts, baked goods, breakfast cereals and snacks. In addition, Nestlé has announced a ‘successful’ modification of the structure of sugar, enabling it to be reduced by 40% in chocolate. Nestlé aims to start using this modified sugar across its chocolate range in 2018. However, it is unlikely to be available to other food and beverage manufacturers.
Clean label, natural products made with plant-based and/or traditional ingredients are also in high demand. Developing exciting products with clean label or natural additives, especially emulsifiers, remains a challenge however. And replacing chemical emulsifiers with natural versions is far from straightforward. Natural emulsifiers lack the effectiveness and versatility of their synthetic counterparts. However, there is considerable ongoing research focusing on proteins from plant sources, polysaccharides, phospholipids and saponins. Once isolation, fractionation, purification and characterization steps have been completed, the prospects for these pure ingredients are excellent. Currently, a saponin, isolated from the Quillaja saponaria tree is commercially available, marketed by Ingredion as Q-Naturale and by Naturex as SapNov™. Plant-based and traditional foods are at the top of many consumer wish lists. This is underpinned by evidence showing that use of plants, nuts, seeds and ancient grains can bring nutritional benefits. For instance, meals prepared with beans and peas have been found more satiating and palatable than meals based on animal protein. And there are additional benefits associated with ancient grains, such as the majority being gluten-free.
Developing products with plant/nut/seed-based ingredients and ancient grains is not without challenges. Chickpeas, lentils, fava beans, soy beans, seaweeds and algae are readily available in raw and powdered formats, along with quinoa, spelt, teff, kamut, chia and farro grains. However, their use is application dependent. These ingredients have an impact on textural and taste profiles, so they require expert knowledge of ingredient blending and the interactions between hydrocolloids, starches and proteins. There are also regulatory challenges surrounding labelling. ‘Almond milk’ or ‘soy cheese’ might be the manufacturer’s preferred product name. But items that are not strictly dairy (bar some exemptions) cannot be labelled, advertised or presented using protected terms for milk and milk products. Direct or indirect suggestions of a dairy connection are not allowable for ‘non-pure’ dairy or imitation products.
The complete version of this article is available in the September-October print issue of Frozen Food Europe
