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The powdered drinks arena is a dynamic market that’s enjoying a golden period in terms of product activity. Innova Market Insights tracked more than 9,000 new powdered beverage product launches in Europe in 2023 alone. The top reported powdered beverage subcategories were sports powders with proteins (44%) and without (39%), with cocoa powders and coffee creamers proving highly active.

“The same trends that you are seeing happening in ready-to-drinks (RTDs) are also on the rise in powders,” says Wouter van Beneden, senior beverage applications specialist. “Think of sugar reduction, protein enrichment, plant-based and functionals.” This presents new formulation challenges around dispersibility, sensory and more. And that’s where Cargill comes in as the partner for creating winning powdered beverages.

Powdered beverages provide a convenient solution thanks to their lightweight nature, portability and extended shelf-life. In general, one of the key functionalities that a powder should have is instant properties for easy reconstitution. Ultimately, you don’t want to have any difficulties in fully dissolving your powder. Cargill’s unparalleled portfolio contains everything required for powdered beverage success, including sweeteners, texturizers, plant-based proteins, oils, cocoa powders and functional systems. When coupled with our technical expertise, we can capture all our customers’ needs to create tantalizing beverages.

In order to demonstrate the breadth of Cargill’s portfolio and capabilities, our applications experts have created four prototypes that highlight how we have the power to take powdered beverages to new innovation heights. The range shows how to deliver around key trends such as plant-based, label-friendliness, indulgence, protein enrichment and sugars reduction.

Innovations include “a taste of chocolate perfection,” a dark intense cocoa drink that truly delivers on indulgence thanks to its full flavour, smoothness and attractive visual appeal. The adult cocoa beverage concept succeeds thanks to the use of our new instant starch option: SimPure 99480. An agglomerated, functional, label-friendly starch based on waxy corn, SimPure 99480 is easy to use, instant soluble, and results in no lumping. It helps to provide a smooth texture, good body/fullness and can act as a stabiliser (with protein). In the case of this concept, SimPure 99480 truly delivers thanks to its better instantizing properties when compared to other starches, which makes it better dispersible and easier to use in a powder mix. All of this results in a highly premium product for adults that is creamier and has more body without the need to bring “undesirable” ingredients onto the list.

It demonstrates that whether you’re looking to create an indulgent hot cocoa powdered drink, a plant-based muscle-building powdered drink, or facing any technical challenge, we’ve got the solutions to help you win. After all, together, we’ve got the powder!

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