The events of 2020 have upended almost every norm across the globe. The impact has been felt deeply in the most fundamental areas of our lives, including all things food-related.
With the recent jump in home cooking, the role of flavor has been especially magnified as food serves a magnified role in providing excitement, comfort, health, indulgence, self-care, and family bonding.
The growth in sales of natural food colorants is expected to continue growing strong. The food color market reached $2.85B at the end of last year (about double the 2015 figures), and boasts a CAGR of nearly 6%.
Amidst the chaos of 2020, we’ve also experienced extraordinary resilience, ingenuity and creativity to address numerous challenges. SRG is fortunate to work with companies that are investing more in consumer research and “futures” work across the globe.
Recent events have not only driven consumers to seek ways of staying healthy but pulled the mental health side of mind-body wellness to the forefront. The stress of having lives and routines (and incomes) disrupted, illnesses threatening or even invading the family, and social isolation has led to an unprecedented 40% of US adults reporting that they’re struggling with mental health problems.
Without doubt, one of the most impactful 2021 trends will be the continued impact of COVID-19 and how it has transformed the way we live, learn and work.
For the past few years, we’ve noted in these pages that digestive health, and the probiotic bacteria and prebiotic fibers and starches that support it, would continue to be the hottest trends in “better for you” food and beverage development.
In 2020, the world as we knew it was turned upside down. Coronavirus changed the way consumers shop, socialize, entertain and more which is why it will be the biggest driver of food and beverage trends in 2021.
Flours and starches are perhaps the hardest working ingredients in food manufacturing. For that reason, they’re ubiquitous in food products and relied on for their effect on texture, which is a signature attribute of many foods.
Functional gums and fibers are meeting new trends and consumer demands.
December 1, 2020
As consumers seek healthier options and greater convenience in prepared and packaged foods, gums and fibers are receiving new recognition as important ingredients for health and biological functions as well as stability and texture. Fibers and gums often provide added health benefits — including improvements in blood sugar regulation, weight loss, and gut health — while lending texture and structure to foods and beverages.
Consumer commitment to reduce sugar consumption continues to drive industry opportunities to develop non-nutritive sweeteners that perform and taste like table sugar. Blending nutritive sweeteners with high-intensity sweeteners (HIS) has become the standard, with stevia being the common go-to, typically in blends with everything from corn-derived sucrose or dextrose to maltose or tapioca sugar, or recent arrivals like coconut sugar.