Ingredients Trends 2021

Constantly increasing demands for innovative, cost-effective and sustainably produced products: Consumer demands also pose a challenge for confectionery and snack manufacturers. Individual product solutions and concepts are therefore becoming increasingly important in connection with raw materials and ingredients. Besides healthy snacks and naturalness, texture and sustainability play an important role. Together with its partner Innova Market Insights, ProSweets Cologne will present the four most important ingredient trends in the industry.

The market for functional snacks is growing rapidly and presents opportunities to brands that manage to stand out on the crowded shelves. Global snack launches with an active health claim have experienced growth of +19% in 2019 (2019 vs. 2018). Classic ingredient fortification with, for instance, protein and fiber continues to be seen and while these areas remain critical for consumers, opportunities are also seen to address overall wellbeing through nootropics, adaptogens and botanicals. Explanation: Nootropics are natural plant substances and food supplements that can have a positive effect on brain performance and the nervous system. Adaptogens are biologically active plant substances designed to help the organism adapt to increased physical and emotional stress situations.

Sweets & snacks developers are rising to the challenge of addressing complex consumer demands, such as sugar reduction, label-friendly, plant-based and other “free-from” formulation needs, while ensuring shelf life, texture and flavor integrity. With 2 in 3 global consumers saying they “specifically want to avoid products with ingredients that are difficult to understand”, a reformulation dilemma exists between using natural or recognizable ingredients and using ever-evolving technology to facilitate tailor-made ingredient blends.

Today’s adventurous consumers are highly receptive to hybrid snacks & sweets that are blending ingredients, combining food types and mixing flavor profiles. In 2020 and the years beyond, flavors will significantly evolve with respect to functional attributes as well as taste profiles. As part of this, there is growing interest in flavors that create a richer texture experience, such as honeycomb and toffee, while the industry continues to experiment with nuts in a wide variety of applications, including crunchy flavors and smooth bases.

Innova Market Insights has been on top of the clean label trend, tracking the evolution of different aspects of this consumer-driven movement. The shift we are seeing in sweets & snacks is from clean label with a focus on mainly health driven factors (e.g. natural, no additives, organic…) to clean label also encompassing ethical and environmental factors over time. Storytelling has become one of the key strategies in answering the growing consumer demand for improved transparency and traceability.

Source: Innova Market Insights, https://www.innovamarketinsights.com/