MARKET
Functional ingredients: What’s next? Consumers increasingly favor better-for-you products and their additional spare time at home has changed the way they handle eating occasions. These changes are reflected in developments in the
+
There are two important trends for the bakery industry that have intensified over the last 12 months. Firstly, consumers are becoming more conscious about their health, especially as they recognize dietary plans are not as healthy as they should be. Secondly, consumers have had more free time so they have adjusted their cooking habits spending more time in the kitchen. This has resulted in consumers looking to cook from scratch more and focus on nutrition, something that has led to people baking more/learning to bake. A back-to-basics approach to wholesomeness and nutrition is observed, as consumers turn to everyday food and drink that they know and trust, deem natural and nutritious and crucially, tasty and affordable. This is because people are reevaluating their dietary habits and are looking to maximize their intake of ingredients associated with boosting health. In the case of bakery products, consumers are recognizing that options such as bread are beneficial as a source of fiber. An opportunity for the bakery industry is to promote active health claims and ingredients on products, especially as consumers want products that are not just based around avoidance and moderation, but actively boosting health. Claims around ingredients such as fiber will be of high appeal, especially as consumers recognize the link between digestive health and immunity and linked to this, the benefits of fiber. Ingredients and related ingredient claims are under scrutiny more than ever before. This also spells opportunity, as a variety of ingredients are associated with their role in boosting health. Consumers are currently paying a high level of attention to ingredients such as vitamin C, omega 3, protein, probiotics and fiber. This creates the opportunity to promote functional and fortified ingredients in bakery products. Functional ingredients with added benefits Consumers want to know more about the science behind health claims than ever before. This is because they are becoming more skeptical about health and wellness claims in
www.bakingbiscuit.com 05/2021
The proportion of consumers who have sought out fortified/ functional foods and drinks more frequently in the last month
general and questioning the reality behind such claims made by brands. As such, transparency and authenticity are everything and brands should look to validate claims on the packaging – such as providing scientific evidence and information on packaging to validate them. Nutritional labeling is included in information listed on the packaging that is causing skepticism as consumers are growing wary that it can be deliberately misleading to disguise certain ingredients. High-profile cases of hidden sugars in products are an example of this. As such, it is crucial that nutritional labeling is made as simplistic as possible. To help facilitate this, brands should look to focus on streamlining ingredients. Clear label style packaging where information is easy to read on the front of the packaging is also helpful. Probiotics are among the ingredients that have certainly reached consumers with information about their benefits. People are becoming increasingly accepting of beneficial bacteria and cultures, especially as they become more aware of the related benefits. Moreover, they also now accept that beneficial bacteria content doesn’t compromise on sensory appeal. The popularity of probiotics has grown significantly in recent years, especially as more focus is placed on addressing digestive health and immune health and claims are popular across different categories, which is beneficial for the bakery industry. Postbiotics are currently something of a niche. Fiber is a well-known ingredient, associated with aiding digestive health and aiding immune health. This is something that is especially appealing at a time when consumers are becoming more conscious about both and also believe that they directly impact each other. As such, ingredients such as fiber are in demand to address issues such as irritable bowel syndrome. In addition, fiber can also be associated with other benefits such as satiety-enhancing and energy boosting. This means that dietary fiber claims will grow in popularity over the next five years. +++
© Pixel-Shot – stock.adobe.com
bakery industry post COVID-19.
Source: FMCG Gurus
54
