Flavours and colours

UPF watch: What’s the latest on ultra-processed food?

16-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

Ultra-processed food is making headlines. In our rolling coverage of UPF, we unpack the good, the bad, and the confusion around this classification of products. Here’s the latest…

Do non-sugar sweeteners make people hungrier?

15-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

This is the question posed by researchers, who also wanted to find out whether swapping out sugar for artificial and natural sweeteners reduces blood sugar levels.

Flour upcycled from olive waste a ‘revolution’ for industry

10-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

Just 15% of the olive is used when making olive oil. But with the right technology, the remaining 85% can be valorised, according to Israeli start-up PhenOlives.

How KFC is reformulating the classics to cut fat, salt and sugar

05-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

From burgers to fries, the QSR major is cutting calories from menus in the UK and Ireland. Which reformulation strategies are at play?

Cultivated quail: Yet another lab-grown meat greenlit outside of EU

04-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

The latest victory for cultivated meat shines a light on the situation in the EU, where not one novel food application for cell-based meat has been submitted for regulatory approval.

Cocoa crisis hits chocolate: Which companies can weather the storm, financially?

04-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

Unsurprisingly, some chocolate makers are struggling to afford cocoa, which has risen in price by 400% in a year.

Dairy in potatoes? Molecular farming newcomer teaches spuds to act like mammals

03-Apr-2024 By Flora Southey

Molecular farming newcomer Finally Foods is emerging from stealth mode to produce casein from plants – with the help of AI.

PepsiCo Frito-Lay takes fans on a ‘tongue trip’ around the US and to the skies

28-Mar-2024 By Gill Hyslop

For years, the snack giant has transported snackers to exotic destinations through potato chip flavors.

Animal-free collagen: The food and drink potential

28-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

As demand for collagen ‘surges’, will its animal-free alternative edge further into food and drink?

PepsiCo expands bubly brand with new flavor-forward bubly burst

26-Mar-2024 By Rachel Arthur

On a trajectory to become one of PepsiCo’s next billion-dollar brands, bubly has been making a splash as a fun-loving sparkling water brand. New launch bubly burst is set to expand the brand’s appeal by tapping into a market of consumers looking for stronger...

‘Dynamic flavor landscape’: Ben & Jerry’s on flavor trends, appetite for nostalgia and tapping into ‘the right occasions'

25-Mar-2024 By Teodora Lyubomirova

Ben & Jerry’s R&D lead for Europe talks ice cream trends and consumer demands as the ice cream brand prepares for its annual Free Cone Day.

Are ultra-processed plant-based burgers healthy? WHO investigates

21-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

The World Health Organization has funded research analysing the nutritional composition of ultra-processed plant-based burgers, and the findings are out.

From non-HFSS cereals to desserts: How unlikely foods hit the sweet spot with regulators

20-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

How are brands cutting fat, salt, and sugar from popular product categories to hit the mark with both policymakers and consumers?

Why precision fermentation competitors Formo and Those Vegan Cowboys are joining forces

19-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

Two producers of precision fermentation-derived dairy – developing products within the same category – have decided to work together, rather than in strict competition with each other.

‘We made the first female arousal drink’: How G Spot leans into functionality for women

18-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

Award winning actor Gillian Anderson is harnessing the power of botanicals to cater to an underserved market. We ask which ingredients align to which need state.

‘World’s first’ meat-free octopus tentacles mimic ‘intense colour and distinct suckers’

15-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

You’ve heard of plant-based burgers, vegan nuggets, and perhaps even fish-free tuna. But whole cut meat-free octopus tentacles, with ‘distinct suckers’ to boot?

Non-HFSS doughnuts: Which nutrient is toughest to cut when reinventing the wheel?

13-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

It’s very difficult to ‘crack’ better-for-you indulgence, according to maker of HFSS compliant doughnuts Urban Legend. Here’s how founder and ex-Graze CEO Anthony Fletcher claims to have done it.

Single-ingredient meat analogue developed in ‘happy accident’: ‘We’re the first and only ones doing this’

12-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

Although developing meat alternatives from a single ingredient was not Nosh Bio’s initial aim, the start-up very quickly realised it had something ‘super powerful’ on its hands.

'A relationship turned sour’: How Yoplait plans to reverse a declining yoghurt trend

08-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

The UK kids’ yoghurt category is in long-term decline. Having researched the root causes, dairy major Yoplait now wants to reverse the trend.

Ultra-processed food linked to 32 poor health outcomes in largest study to date

05-Mar-2024 By Flora Southey

We ask lead author Melissa M Lane where she stands on the ultra-processed food debate.

Coffee’s chromosome mutations: The potential for industry

29-Feb-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Variations in the properties of arabica coffee, such as in taste, caffeine content and disease resistance, are determined by chromosome mutations, according to a recent study. But are these findings purely academic, or relevant to industry? And how could...

Rubisco: Overcoming extraction hurdles to market the ‘most abundant protein on earth’

29-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

Israeli start-up Day 8 has emerged from stealth mode with plans to disrupt plant-based food and drink. Its secret weapon? A protein derived from leaves: Rubisco.

Reformulating Ben & Jerry’s dairy-free: Why Unilever swapped out nuts and seeds for oats

27-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

Having experimented with almond and sunflower bases for Ben & Jerry’s vegan ice cream products, Unilever is changing tack.

‘They still want to go out and enjoy themselves’: Non-alcoholic beer consumers want fun, flavour and pints on tap

21-Feb-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

The market for non-alcoholic beer has steadily shifted away from niche in recent years, with many big brands releasing their own 0.0% and alcohol free brands. But consumers who drink alcohol-free beer are often looking for the same thing as those who...

Less booze, more prebiotic soda: The new trends bubbling in beverages

21-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

How are beverage trends expected to evolve this year? And are there any up-and-coming innovations industry keep a close eye on? We ask the experts.

Can links be drawn between Nutri-Score and ultra-processed food?

19-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

Are ultra-processed foods more likely to have low Nutri-Score ratings? And should the Nova classification system be incorporated into the Nutri-Score algorithm?

Are we misusing the term ‘ultra-processed’? Uncoupling UPF from nutrition

14-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

The term ‘ultra-processed’ is increasingly used to describe the ‘unhealthiness’ of a product, particularly in the context of plant-based meat. But how processed a food is reveals nothing about its nutritional impact, contends new research.

Hybrid dairy: How can innovators unlock a new category’s potential?

13-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

Hybrid dairy, whereby conventional dairy is blended with plant-based ingredients, holds ‘considerable appeal’ as a category, according to Mintel, but innovation is rare. What can industry do to win new consumers?

‘Melty and gooey’ plant-based cheese developed after 4 years of R&D: ‘Most on the market don’t melt, just soften’

12-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

After four years in development, Swedish dairy-free start-up Stockeld Dreamery claims to have mastered the meltability experience of cheese with plant-based ingredients.

Unblocking the ‘fermentation bottleneck’: Inside Planetary’s quest to optimise protein production

07-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

A fermentation bottleneck still exists for the microbial fermentation sector, according to Swiss biotech Planetary, who is working to optimise protein and fat production with not just ‘overall infrastructure, but correct infrastructure’.

An ‘all time low’ for orange juice? Disease and drought squeeze supply

06-Feb-2024 By Flora Southey

Is a global orange juice shortage set to plague the beverage industry?

‘Plant-based downturn isn’t halting innovation’: Beneo talks 2024 alt protein strategy

30-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

The ingredients supplier outlines its two-pronged alternative protein strategy, which it is betting on to reignite demand for plant-based meat.

Star ingredients ‘take the spotlight’ of leading 2024 trend

29-Jan-2024 By Natasha Spencer-Joilliffe

The presence of star ingredients will drive purchasing and packaging decisions, Innova Market Insights reveals in its Top Ten Trends for food and beverages in 2024.

Is cultivated meat a threat to farming? EU countries clash over cellular agriculture’s future

25-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

According to delegates from Italy, France and Austria, cellular agriculture practices represent a threat to primary farm-based approaches and ‘genuine’ food production methods.

Protein ‘made from air’ enters snacks category

23-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

A collaboration between two Finnish companies – Solar Foods and Fazer – has seen protein ‘made from air’ added to a chocolate snack bar for consumers in Singapore.

Cultivated eel that ‘melts in your mouth’? How Forsea mimics ‘tender, succulent’ texture of fish and seafood

22-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

Eel meat is unlike any other: it is fatty, tender, and ‘almost melts in your mouth’, explains Roee Nir, co-founder and CEO of Forsea Foods. The start-up is working to mimic these attributes with stem cells in a lab.

Evolving colour trends influenced by nostalgia, sustainability, and Gen Z: ‘Younger consumers are bold and loud, and this trickles into product development’

17-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

It is said ‘we eat first with our eyes’. The colour of food and drink can have a major influence over what we choose to consume, so which pigments are expected to whet appetites in 2024?

Making colour: Innovators rethink pigment production with next-gen fermentation

17-Jan-2024 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Colour is an important part of what appeals to consumers about food, making it stand out on the shelf and enhancing the perception of taste. Food colourants, therefore, have a vital job to do. Fermentation, which can produce vegan, kosher and halal colourants...

‘A mutually beneficial opportunity’: Ingredion prepares to market Better Juice sugar reduction tech

17-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

From Q2 2024, Ingredion will begin marketing Better Juice’s sugar reduction technology to its customer base. It’s a ‘win-win situation’ that leverages each company’s strengths, Better juice co-founder and co-CEO Gali Yarom tells FoodNavigator.

Plant-based 3D printed eel: ‘Complex texture’ achieved with precision layers in industry first

11-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

Steakholder Foods, which claims the launch is a ‘world first’, says its proprietary tech allows the start-up to closely mimic the taste, texture and appearance of traditional meat and seafood.

Processed plant-based meat: Clearer communication on the horizon, predict experts

09-Jan-2024 By Natasha Spencer-Joilliffe

European producers in 2024 will focus on informing consumers about processed and ultra-processed foods and drinks, potentially lowering content in formulations to encourage plant-based meat or dairy alternatives uptake.

How ingredients suppliers manage global struggles: From disrupted supply chains to cost-of-living pressures

08-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

As we leave behind a troublesome 2023, we reflect on some of the unforeseen challenges faced by ingredients companies. From supply chain disruptions to cost-of-living pressures, how have suppliers changed tact to meet manufacturers’ demands?

Researchers teach tech to taste in 'first step' towards accurate flavour modelling

05-Jan-2024 By Natasha Spencer-Joilliffe

Danish researchers and industry professionals design an algorithm to help personalise consumer purchases and optimise the retail environment.

From ‘travelling through taste’ to cognitive health: The 2024 trends predicted to shake-up food and beverage

03-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

What food and drink trends have been predicted for 2024? We catch up with ingredients suppliers ADM, Arla Foods Ingredients, and Prinova Europe to ask how they’re preparing for the year ahead.

Do consumers prefer sugar or non-nutritive sweeteners? It’s complicated

02-Jan-2024 By Flora Southey

Consumer confusion over how best to reduce sugar in one’s diet persists. Are they still looking for ‘zero added sugar’ in sweet drinks? Regulatory and ingredients experts weigh in.

Health and taste from fruit-based sweeteners

21-Dec-2023 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

Fruit has been used for sweetness in Europe since before we even knew about refined sugar. It’s still in widespread use as the basis for sweeteners.

Peach is 2024’s flavour of the year: Chosen to inspire community, kindness and comfort

19-Dec-2023 By Gill Hyslop

It’s expected to be a year of blush – with dsm-firmenich declaring Peach+ as its 12th annual Flavour of the Year, inspired by Pantone’s Colour of the Year, Peach Fuzz.

Biggest threat to additives development? Quality data, says food industry

13-Dec-2023 By Natasha Spencer-Joilliffe

As the World Health Organization (WHO) publishes its latest information on additives, the food industry details how insufficient quality data is the biggest threat to their growth and management.

NPD Trend Tracker: From non-alcoholic IPA to paper cheese packaging

11-Dec-2023 By Augustus Bambridge-Sutton

In this week’s NPD Trend Tracker, we’re preparing for dry January with non-alcoholic products from Lucky Saint and a collaboration between MOMO Kombucha and Orbit beers, as well as whiskey flavours from Synergy Flavours. Alongside this, we have breathable...

5 start-ups that caught our eye in 2023

08-Dec-2023 By Flora Southey

From upcycling ‘spent hens’ into flavour enhancers to recreating breast milk in a lab, we round-up five of the most innovate start-ups we interviewed in 2023.