Food and Beverage Top Stories

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Keeping up with flavor trends in a globalized era of constant and viral information can be challenging. After all, these days a single online influencer can spur the interest of millions of consumers with a single tweet. Nowhere is this more evident than among the so-called Gen Z demographic, a generation of adults in their late 20s and younger, with some of the highest purchasing power and the strongest trend impact.

Sugar reduction—applying the term as a generic for full-calorie sweeteners—remains one of the top concerns among consumers, yet the lack of willingness to sacrifice flavor and function remains a challenge to product developers.

Digital is the force that has been reshaping our lives and will have a greater impact in the years to come. We are in the middle of an accelerating digital revolution that impacts every aspect of consumers’ lives. Moreover, the digital world is evolving into a bigger, faster, more immersive and interconnected entity.

This May, the National Restaurant Association recognized VMG’s frittata line as a FABI award winner. This July, Prepared Foods’ Spirit of Innovation Award judges also named VMG’s Spinach Egg White Frittata as best new entry in the alternative channel.

Food scientists—at least a small handful of them—now have the both the skills and the ingredient toolbox to manipulate and combine fibers, gums, and proteins into plant-based analogs of hen eggs that look, feel, cook up, and taste like the real thing.

“One-hundred grams of SimpliGood microalgae provides the equivalent of 200g of real chicken in protein load," noted Baruch Dach, SimpliiGood's founder and CTO. "Each cut packs in 30% highly bioavailable protein. Combined with its rich natural makeup of micronutrients, it offers a potent alternative to animal protein with exceptional nutritional value.”

A successful product formula needs just the right ingredients in the right proportions. The same axiom applies to a great company and/or a disruptive innovation. It requires just the right combination of people, process, product and consumer appeal—which in this case, involves protein, an essential dietary macronutrient.

Don’t look now but plant-based eggs are changing the landscape. In fact, a plant-based sunnyside up egg from Los Angeles’ Yo Foods Inc. (dba Yo Egg) earned recognition as “Judges’ Selection / Most Innovative Product” in Prepared Foods’ 2022-2023 Spirit of Innovation Awards.

Although it didn’t take long to add up those insights, General Mills admits it took a while to formulate, test, and ultimately develop new Pillsbury Freezer-to-Oven Chocolate Swirled Croissants from General Mills Foodservice. Equally suited to both commercial and non-commercial operations, the croissants debuted this January 2023 after two years in development.

Consumers simply snip a pouch, pour the contents into a cup and microwave it for 45 to 60 seconds. Afterward, they pour the contents into a glass over a cup of ice and then add in a cup of regular or plant-based milk to suit. Flavors introduced since 2021 now include Brown Sugar, Strawberry, Coffee, Mango, Milk Tea, Matcha, and Taro.