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There’s been a surge in consumer interest in the intrinsic health benefits of whole fruit and fruit juices vs extracts, and we’re going to increasingly see novel fruit and beverage combinations in dairy, probiotic and soy categories.

Through nutrigenomics, gene-specific foods are being identified for the part they play in gut health and cardiovascular disease. Cultivars are now being bred for consumer-driven attributes, including specific health claims, but with this opportunity comes a growing responsibility for substantiation.

Many consumers view superfruits as any fruit that offers a health benefit beyond basic nutrition. While it is true that superfruits need inherent health novelty and convenience attributes, this isn’t enough without clever promotion and control of supply.

There’s a certain paradox in that consumers appear more accepting of novelty in fruit than in other foods, and yet fruit-based beverage purchases are heavily influenced by traditional sensory attributes. It’s clear that regardless of novelty or function, consumers expect fruit and fruit-based products to deliver a pleasurable eating experience.

HortResearch is currently examining a range of fruits, including Zespri Gold Kiwifruit, boysenberry, white fleshed peaches, red fleshed apple, blueberry, blackcurrant, kiwiberry, feijoa and tamarillo.

Consumers know fruit is healthy, so we’re tapping into the marketing potential of that intrinsic health message by discovering, validating and promoting specific health benefits from fruit. To do this effectively, we believe it’s necessary to study many different aspects of human and food interaction – bioactivity, potential interactions and synergies in the food matrix, bioavailability and genotype (nutrigenomics).

Health and well-being targets The next generation of health benefits include mental state and performance, physical performance and fitness, gut health and immunity. When looking at mental states, we’re considering mood, arousal, activation, vigilance, attention and sleep, motivation and effort, perception and memory and intelligence.

For physical performance, we’re examining links between fruit compounds and endurance, energy supply, recovery and tissue growth.

In gut health, we are examining activities of gut microbiota, intestinal wellbeing, bowel transit time and natural gut defence. Linked to this is our wider study of how fruit compounds can influence our immune functions.

Promotion and product prototypes Today, snack foods compete head-on with fresh fruit. Time is increasingly precious to consumers, so it’s essential to serve fruit in a convenient format. We are going to see multi-delivery possibilities for fruit, including beverages, energy bars, yogurt, ice cream and other dairy, as well as soy products.

Whatever the final format, promotion is critical – no matter how super your superfruit may be, if you don’t tell people why it’s great and make it instantly recognisable, authentic and available, then it won’t sell well. Breaking new ground requires a systematic approach. Cranberries and, more recently, pomegranates have both been highly successful in this regard, using science to reinforce their status with consumers as fruits with a specific health benefit.

However, there can only be investment in promotion and research if this can be justified by the value of the product, and not simply dissipated across the whole industry. So the products that succeed will be those that are marketed by companies that have control of supply.

For businesses interested in marketing a superfruit product, it’s important to visualise how superfruit can be incorporated into their offer, as this reduces risk. The size and growth potential of the target sector has to be assessed with demographics and psychographics of the target audience taken into account. Scientific testing and substantiation has to meet the need for claims in an increasingly regulatory environment.

The best way to consider these issues is through the development of a prototype concept product. One such concept drink is Einstein drinksmart – a blueberry juice with microencapsulated fish oil as a source of omega-3, focusing on brain health with long- and short-term benefits. A quick-serve beverage that contains 1.5 servings of fruit per 30cl bottle, this product offers a first-to-market advantage in a high volume and value growth market.

So the bar has been raised – it’s not enough to simply have fruit in your product. It needs to be a specific fruit offering a specific substantiated benefit. A superfruit.”