Research by the independent market analyst has revealed that although health and wellness concerns are driving new ingredient trends in NPD, it’s weight management that’s believed to be the trend to watch.
Natasha Horton, consumer analyst at Business Insights, says: “There are growing opportunities for manufacturers to deliver products with new ingredients to help weight management, as well as offering other targeted health benefits. This is due to the increasing developments and understanding of ingredients such as green tea and stevia.”
Consumers are becoming more sophisticated in their knowledge of how to manage their weight. We’re now aware that calorie quality is a vital component in a healthy diet. Therefore, it’s no longer a case of just ensuring ingredients are low in calorie, so ingredients that can offer increased health benefits are also increasing in popularity.
The savoury snack category is a case in point. The industry has moved on from offering healthy solutions by simply reducing saturated fat content or by baking rather than frying. We’re starting to see healthful, calorie quality ingredients instead. To achieve this, we’re seeing a rising popularity in fortifying snacks with vitamins and minerals, making chips out of vegetables such as parsnips, and including far more fruit than before.
Despite this strong trend, there are a number of barriers to the opportunities in natural and healthful ingredient formulations, which include ensuring new novel ingredients have staying power, which will depend on meeting the demands and changing needs of consumers.
Ensuring that consumers understand what a ‘natural’ ingredient is, and the narrowing of regulations, could also affect ingredient trends in the near future. Business Insights suggests that regulatory agencies need to develop a strategy to define what it is and what isn’t a natural ingredient, to ensure clarity for consumers and manufactures.
Source: Business Insights
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