SIAL 2014 (Salon Internationale de l’Alimentation) celebrated 50 years in October and succeeded in maintaining its status as the most important professional food industry event of the year.
On the occasion of SIAL, 104 countries visited over 6,500 exhibitor stands, organized in 20 pavilions. SIAL 2014 attracted more than 150,000 visitors, of which over 54% were retailers and suppliers, 24% producers and 18% foodservice professionals.
Trends
Therefore, SIAL, in partnership with XTC World Innovation and TNS Sofres, presented 12 of the most important global trends, which currently characterize the modern consumer, grouped in five categories: pleasure, health, physicality, ethics and convenience.
According to XTC-TNS, the financial crisis that affected the food industry in Europe and the US negatively impacted consumers, who, because they could no longer attain their daily pleasures by traveling or buying non-food goods, decided to focus more on foodstuffs and the pleasure derived from them. Thus, XTC outlined 12 of the most visible current trends, grouped in pairs, antagonistically yet complementary:
• Thrift and control: smart, anti-waste products that mean the consumer only spends what he or she needs to. It is all about the right amount at the right moment, the return of the family meal, proper conservation and help in managing what is left over. At the opposite end, the everyday treats, the little luxury products – a range of food products that one can treat oneself to event in the current economic crisis, with the declining purchasing power.
• The diet that protects: food that protects the body by improving the everyday health capital or providing insurance against degeneration, as well as products that meet new functional needs. In the opposite direction, there is the “Letting go” category, products that provide a “glutinous” or even a “nutritionally incorrect” experience, and that offer a break from normal usage: flavors, textures and aromas, or offbeat combinations for limitless pleasure.
• Wild and alive: products intended to be fresher than fresh, that are “still alive”, and which continue to grow until they are consumed, as opposed to the essential and industrial category, especially packaged to suit the changing lifestyles of consumers.
• Local and citizen-led food: local products whose consumption contributes to helping those who work in the neighborhood, with whom the consumer can identify more easily. Contrary to these, there is the global exoticism products with new and more detailed origins, which are controlled in terms of ingredients.
• Controlling time: lasting values become the best allies for rediscovering pleasure and health. Over time, the products provide reassurance and a positive, nostalgic dimension. In opposition, there is the trend covering hyper-connectivity, or Food 2.0. As lifestyles become increasingly digital, brands need to take into account the thirst for sharing information.
Frozen Wins Big
The frozen food category was well represented at this year’s SIAL innovation awards, with five product categories winning a trophy for innovation, of the 13 in total. This is especially noteworthy, since over 600 products were nominated in total for the awards.
Among those who were recognized for novelties in the frozen food segment were Dutch company Zandbergen – The Frozen Butcher, who won the award in the meat category, for the recently introduced frozen burger. The product targets both retail and foodservice and is available in several varieties: Angus beef, Wagyu beef, organic beef.
Another frozen product awarded during the ceremony was Churros with potatoes, from French company Cite Gourmande, who took home the award for the frozen food category. Dedicated exclusively to the foodservice industry, the churros is varieties are made of potatoes, as well as combinations of potatoes and other vegetables.
In the food for children category, French company Yooji received recognition for its frozen minced meat and fish, in 10g frozen discs for babies, available in retail.
In the food ingredients category, Boiron Surgelation from France won the award for their IQF portionable fruit puree discs, suitable for industrial use. Finally, in the foodservice category, the award went to Spanish company Nice Fruit, for their bag-in-box frozen fruits.