As food manufacturers and retailers launch their various promotions for British Pie Week, the demand for speciality spice blends is set to soar, according to a supplier of natural food ingredients.
EHL Ingredients has experienced “a significant increase in demand for its spicier speciality blends to add to pie fillings”, the UK-based company said. It cited statistics from Mintel suggesting that 32% of British consumers who eat ethnic foods now enjoy spicier foods more than they have done in previous years as evidence for the trend.
The company said: “EHL expects this trend to extend to Pie Week, as modern takes on traditional pie fillings, such as chicken tikka, balti, steak and chilli are becoming a popular fixture on supermarket shelves.
“Consumers are experiencing and enjoying cuisines from around the world and it’s important for food manufacturers to keep up with this trend by combining national favourites with emerging alternatives.”
EHL Ingredients sales director Tasneem Backhouse said: “With British consumers developing tastes for hotter and spicier foods, British Pie Week is the perfect opportunity for food manufacturers to embrace alternative twists on the classics, by including more exotic ingredients and flavours in their pie products.
“Pies are iconic in British culinary history and while fillings considered to be the ‘classics’, such as cheese and onion and steak and kidney, will always be popular, as the nation’s culture continues to diversify, so does its taste in food and we love the idea of putting a spicy spin on a classic.
“Our speciality blends are already performing well since being introduced to the market at the end of 2014 and we are experiencing an increase in demand from manufacturers looking to inject exciting fiery flavours in to their pies to satisfy British consumer demand.”
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