Ferré & Consulting Blog (English Version)

Leatherhead Food Research, a UK-based independent research organization, has predicted the food and drink trends set to make an impact in 2012.

“2012 looks set to be one in which on-going trends will be stretched to their full potential, particularly as consumer concerns about health and wellness have prevailed and continue to be high on the agenda,” says Laura Kempster, senior market analyst. “Coupled with this, the uncertain economic future continues to affect both industry and consumers with a ‘tightening of belts’ attitude still very much affecting spending and investment.”

The 10 food and drink trends that Leatherhead has identified are:

Health and wellness

Health and wellness is a trend which has had an over-arching influence on the developments of the food and beverage industry in recent years and this influence is set to continue into 2012. Key priorities for companies include the continued efforts to meet guidelines on the reduction of salt, fat and sugar as well as the active promotion of health benefits on products (ranging from ‘one of your five a day’ to more niche areas such as the inclusion of functional ingredients).

Sustainability

There is a continued focus on issues of sustainability and this is likely to be a present and influential trend for many years to come as companies work hard to streamline their practices and supply chains into more ethically-sound operations. This encompasses a whole range of issues including packaging-reduction initiatives, ever-more ethical sourcing policies, reduction of food miles etc.

Convenience

Food seems to be everywhere we look at the moment and hundreds of column inches and hours’ worth of television programming are devoted to the topic of eating.

However, it is still highly likely that those Christmas-present cookery gadgets will remain in the cupboards next year. The fact is that whilst we’re engaging with food more than ever, our busy, chaotic lifestyles simply will not allow elaborate home-cooked meals during the working week. In addition, the development of new ready meal concepts in the form of meal kits and premium offerings ensure that choice and quality of prepared meals are like never before.

Flavour solutions

Compensating for lower levels of salt, fat and/or sugar will continue to increase the need for more flavourful solutions. Combinations of herbs, spices and other strong flavours will provide a flavourful backdrop to many products. Think of ingredient combinations such as lemongrass, garlic and ginger or the use of seaweed as a salt enhancer. Furthermore, consumers are looking for more adventurous and premium flavour combinations, for example the use of lavender in dark chocolate.

Free from foods

The crux of this market lies within the seemingly growing number of consumers who do not have a diagnosed food allergy but do believe their general health improves with the omission of certain foodstuffs from their diet for example avoiding wheat/gluten to combat bloating. Therein lies an opportunity for both mainstream manufacturers to highlight additional product benefits as well as allowing the traditional ‘free from’ brands to break the niche mould within which they’ve traditionally operated.

On-going demand for natural

Whilst the hype around the natural trend has dampened slightly, the effects are on-going particularly as larger multinationals weigh up the costs and benefits of switching to natural components (e.g. food colours, flavours). However, the practicalities have set in and companies now need to consider issues such as the sustainability of supply as well as the longevity of consumer demand in their particular product area (e.g. those product categories with inherent natural associations are likely to remain in demand).

The budget conscious still seek affordable luxuries

Lack of confidence in markets continues to affect the economic recovery and as such the austerity measures we hoped would end are anticipated to continue well into 2012. Unrelenting pressure on household budgets will see retailers continue to flex their value for money credentials; thus manufacturers will persist in their efforts to seek cost-effective solutions. Conversely however, food is seen as an affordable luxury and therefore lucrative opportunities do exist, for example in the form of ‘staying in’ solutions (such as meal kits) and more premium offerings.

Quality linked to location

Consumers are more keenly aware of where their foods are produced and sourced and this will continue to impact the food and beverage market in two ways. Firstly, the demand towards locally produced and sourced fresh food including meat, vegetables, fruit and cheeses has not abated and will continue into 2012. Interestingly, the restaurant industry is seeing activities such as foraging and sourcing of speciality ingredients grow exponentially as chefs seek to differentiate their menus. Secondly, more exotic ingredients such as Madagascan vanilla will also benefit from an overt provenance message. The clear message is that location helps to give consumers a distinct impression of the product’s quality.

Over 55 and fitter than ever

Longer working lives and a strong interest in maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle is leading to the creation of more products which are tailored to the specific needs and wants of these consumers. Health benefits will be at the forefront of the market and this will be a key area of development for the functional ingredients market in particular – think glucosamine for joint health and omega-3 products.

Softer claims

The ever-changing regulatory environment is having a strong impact in the way manufacturers are positioning their products. For example, EFSA regulations have taken the shine off the functional health market and the cost/benefit trade-off of substantiated EFSA claims is unlikely to provide a strong competitive edge in most cases, particularly as ‘me too’ products remove the incentive for innovation. Instead manufacturers will persist with seeking out a softer approach to deliver key messages to their consumers (e.g. within colour, imagery, phraseology etc.).

Source: Bakers Journal

Research food trends, Leatherhead Food Research

Kraft Foods Inc. officially opened its new European Biscuit Research and Development Centre in Saclay, France, a suburb of Paris. This new facility will support product development for many of Europe´s most beloved biscuit brands, including LU, belVita, Oreo, Mikado, Prince, Saiwa and TUC. Kraft Foods Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld was on hand for the ribbon cutting, which represents the culmination of a two-year-project, with a total investment of 15 million EUR (approximately 20 million USD).

«France is an important market for biscuits in Europe and for Kraft Foods´ snacking business globally. This investment makes good business sense, supporting us in our efforts to drive future biscuit innovation and growth», said Timothy P. Cofer, President, Kraft Foods Europe. «Consumers in Europe and around the world have long enjoyed our exceptional biscuit brands and, with the support of this new Center, we will be able to create many more delicious snacking moments for our consumers for years to come».

Kraft Foods is the biscuit market leader in Europe with more than 15 percent market share, driven by beloved heritage brands and a strong focus on innovation. In 2011, Kraft Foods´ European Biscuit business has been growing more than two times faster than the European biscuits market overall. This growth is fuelled by the company´s investment in consumers´ favourites such as LU, Oreo and belVita, driven by the recent relaunch of the iconic LU brand, the successful introduction of the innovative belVita breakfast biscuit, and the expansion of the «world´s favourite cookie», Oreo, into major markets across Europe.

The investment by Kraft Foods in this new Biscuit R+D Center in Saclay further demonstrates the company´s commitment to snacking, and to snacking-related innovations in the areas of nutrition + wellness and indulgence. In addition, the Center will support the company´s focus on sustainability, building upon the success of the «LU Harmony» program in France.

The Center in Saclay will be home to a team of 120 talented people, including researchers, engineers, nutritionists, baker-pastry cooks, and product and packaging developers dedicated to supporting the European biscuit business. The center joins eleven other Kraft Foods R+D centers that support Kraft Foods´ businesses around the globe.

Source: Bakenet

Companies, Research biscuits, Kraft Foods, R&D

A new gum extracted from the roots of an Iranian plant can be used in food systems to improve foaming properties, according to a new study published in the journal Food Hydrocolloids.

The team of scientists, led by Kambiz Jahanbin from Shahrood University of Technology in Iran, isolated gum from the roots of Acanthophyllum bracteatum, also known as chubak, and evaluated its chemical makeup and potential uses for the food industry.

Researchers isolated the crude gum as a water-soluble, light-yellow powder from the defatted roots using warm water and precipitated it with 95% ethanol.

The study revealed that the gum showed low surface and emulsification properties, which may be due to low protein content and the poor quality of the proteins in the gum structure.

The gum, however, had moderate foaming capacity and a good foaming stability, which suggests that it can potentially be used in food systems to improve foaming properties, the researchers noted.

Source: Food Processing Technology

Research foaming, Gum

New original research, titled  Innovation Trends, Attitudes, and Opportunities  from the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association  is now available. Innovative ideas from all aspects of business are of interest to supermarkets, food manufacturers, brokers, distributors, and others. IDDBA commissioned Datassential to study innovation in relation to new shopper technologies, social media, new food trends, nutrition, and a host of other areas.

Consumers were asked to provide feedback on more than 190 innovative concepts, products, and ideas. IDDBA used three primary data sources as the basis for the study:

Over 3’000 consumer surveys

Interviews with 20 experts from various categories (technology, food …) with insights on potential innovations for the deli/bakery or store

A review of notable food / flavour trends via Datassential´s MenuTrends system – which tracks over one million items from more than 6’000 distinct North American restaurant concepts

A Few Key Insights:

Appearances matter – For today´s grocery shoppers, it´s less about the specific, individual items or technological perks and more about the total collective experience. While the components of innovation are often incremental, true innovation tends to be more transformative; it is important to consider how those various pieces work together. For instance, a single new food item may not necessarily be regarded as a motivating innovation for consumers, but a well-developed platform for promoting new foods might. It is also important to make sure that the basics are covered; for instance, many consumers noted cleanliness as an issue and a major turn-off. In that regard, simply doing a great job with the basics can in some ways be considered innovative as well.

Consumers are more aware of where their food comes from and they want more from their grocer than a simple seller-to-buyer relationship. They want to know the where, when, and how´s of the foods they buy. For instance, the burgeoning popularity of farmers markets is no accident – consumers gain a sense of community from interacting with the actual producers of goods they purchase. Consumers indicated repeatedly that they would welcome the chance to create ties with farmers and artisans via their local supermarkets and delis. They were also very positive on grocery retailer-sponsored community events. The time is ripe for grocery retailers to expand their roles in shoppers´ lives by presenting themselves as stewards of their communities and conduits between food sources and end consumers.

«Healthy» and «convenient» have both been major themes in food and foodservice for some time now. While this is still the case, both of these terms have grown and evolved – their definitions have broadened and they mean widely different things to different people. For instance, where «healthy» used to refer generally to low-fat, low-sugar, or low-sodium foods, survey results indicate that «healthy» means simply fresh or local to many consumers today. Likewise, «convenient» once meant just microwaveable or ready-to-eat. Now, for many, it can mean elimination of the wearying parts of making scratch meals or the ability to bypass customer lines by ordering from kiosks. New, innovative retail approaches to both of these persisting issues need to be developed in order to better suit changing consumer attitudes.

With the advent of sites like groupon.com, livingsocial.com and restaurant.com not only is it no longer taboo to use coupons, it´s nearly in vogue. People are no longer ashamed to demand the best value for their Dollars and they are glad for it, given that they are only now starting to get their post-recession bearings. Consumers consistently indicated high interest in a variety of coupon / discounting mechanisms – from traditional mailed coupons to more innovative couponing vehicles including smartphone applications, scannable bar codes, and social media. Delis with more progressive prepared food offerings – and which seek to compete for a larger share of the away-from-home meal Dollar – can use couponing to draw in bargain-minded customers who might otherwise visit a restaurant.

Source: Bakenet

Research IDDBA, reserach

New research suggests that green tea may have a role to play in the development of drugs to treat tumours and a hereditary disease.

The research, published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry, focuses on glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), a substance used to digest the amino acids found in proteins. When the human body fails to regulate GDH the consequences can be fatal, causing the disease hyperinsulinism/hyperammonemia (HHS).

Researchers isolated two compounds in green tea which turn off the GDH system, and believe these compounds could form the basis for new drugs to address HSS.

The compound’s ability to manipulate GDH also makes it a potentially effective treatment for glioblastomas, a brain tumour, and tuberous sclerosis complex disorder, an inherited disease that causes non-malignant tumours.

Source: Ingredients Network

Research benefits, tea

Manufacturers can tap into the growing consumer demand for healthier snacks by licensing a proven, patented doughnut baking process being made available via brand consultancy Intangible Business.

The process produces a healthier option baked doughnut that is less than half the fat of a full fat fried doughnut. As important, there is no compromise on flavour and the high quality baked doughnut has been proven to compete favourably with leading doughnut retailers on flavour, quality and texture. In market research, blind taste tests with consumers comparing the baked doughnut to other leading deep fried doughnuts (plus a fried version of the same dough mix) revealed that consumers preferred the taste, lightness and fluffier texture of the new baked doughnut without being aware of the new baking process.

“We know that consumers are looking for new ways to minimise calorie and fat intake and that they are prepared to spend more on higher quality, healthier food snacks,” explains Thayne Forbes, joint managing director, Intangible Business.

“By securing exclusive rights to use this process, retailers can exploit that demand and gain a competitive advantage over their rivals – clever and delicious.”

Source: Confectionery Production

Bakery, Research baked doughnut, doughnut baking process, fat reduciton

Sugar crystals do not melt, but instead decompose in a heat sensitive reaction termed ‘apparent melting’, according to new research.

The research, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and recently presented to the Institute of Food Technologists, goes against years of belief that sugar melts.

In her IFT presentation about the importance of the new discovery, lead researcher, Professor Shelly Schmidt of the University of Illinois, USA, told food scientists they could use the new findings to manipulate sugars and improve the product flavour and consistency.

“The loss of crystalline structure in sucrose, glucose, and fructose has been shown to be due to the kinetic process of thermal decomposition … rather than thermodynamic melting,” said the researchers.

“This discovery is important to food scientists and candy lovers because it will give them yummier caramel flavours and more tantalizing textures,” said Schmidt.

“Certain flavour compounds give you a nice caramel flavour, whereas others give you a burnt or bitter taste. Food scientists will now be able to make more of the desirable flavours because they won’t have to heat to a ‘melting’ temperature but can instead hold sugar over a low temperature for a longer period of time,” she added.

Schmidt added that confectionery manufacturers could use the predictable time-temperature relationship, similar to ones that the dairy industry uses for milk pasteurization, to achieve better results in the development and production of products.

Inconsistency

Schmidt and her team said that they didn’t intend to turn such an established rule of food science on its head, but they began to suspect that something was amiss when they could not find a constant melting point for sucrose in work that they were doing.

“In the literature, the melting point for sucrose varies widely, but scientists have always blamed these differences on impurities and instrumentation differences. However, there are certain things you’d expect to see if those factors were causing the variations, and we weren’t seeing them,” said Schmidt.

As their work developed, the researchers found that the ‘melting point’ of sugar was dependent on the rate at which it was heated.

“We saw different results depending on how quickly we heated the sucrose. That led us to believe that molecules were beginning to break down as part of a kinetic process,” explained Schmidt.

Decomposing

Schmidt said a material that truly melts, in a thermodynamic reaction, does so at a consistent, repeatable temperature, and retains its chemical identity when transitioning from the solid to the liquid state.

After realising that the there was no consistent, repeatable temperature for sucrose to melt, the team then set out to test whether the sucrose had the same chemical properties before and after ‘melting’. It did not.

“As soon as we detected melting, decomposition components of sucrose started showing up,” said Schmidt.

The research team then went on to demonstrate that glucose and fructose also decompose rather than melt. In order to distinguish this new phenomenon of decomposition from thermodynamic melting, the researchers coined a new name: ‘apparent melting’.

Further investigation

Having disposed of one food science untruth, Schmidt said that she plans to devote time to investigating others.

She said that new instruments are making it possible to probe some of the processes scientists have taken for granted in a way they couldn’t do before.

She said that next up she plans to investigate the mechanics of staling:

“We could ship a lot more food around the world if we could stabilize it, keep it from getting stale,” she said.

 Source: Confectionery News

Research sugar crystals, sugar decomposition

Vitamin B2

A novel process for enriching bread and pasta with vitamin B2 could be extended to a wide range of cereal based foods and beverages, claims new research.

The authors, writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found that a biotechnological based fortification method using ribo?avin-overproducing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) significantly increased the vitamin B2 content of pasta and bread.

Vitamin B2, or ribo?avin, is commonly used in multivitamin and B complexes and has become a stalwart of energy drink products due to its energy-giving potential. Other benefits include its role as an antioxidant.

Dietary ribo?avin is present in liver, egg yolk, milk, and meat, whereas the vitamin is commercially synthesized for nutritional use in the forti?cation of various food products such as bread and breakfast cereals.

Alternatives to chemical synthesis

The team of Italian and Irish researchers claim that in situ fortification by bacterial fermentation provides the basis to enhance the nutritional value of food products and their commercial value.

And they found that biotechnological alternatives to the chemical synthesis of ribo?avin for vitamin inclusion in foods offer many advantages.

These methods, continue the researchers, are less expensive and are also “more environmentally friendly, include the use of renewable sources, and lead to a yield of equal or superior quality.”

And the authors cite recent studies on the selection of ribo?avin-overproducing strains for potential food applications including the manufacture of vitamin B2-enriched dairy products, which were found to improve the ribo?avin status of deficient rats.

The study

According to the study, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were obtained from durum wheat ?our samples and screened for roseo?avin-resistant variants to isolate natural ribo?avin-overproducing strains.

These strains were used for the preparation of bread (by means of sourdough fermentation) and pasta (using a pre-fermentation step) to enhance their vitamin B2 content.

The researchers said that pasta was produced from monovarietal semolina obtained from the durum wheat cultivar PR22D89 and, for experimental purposes, from commercial remilled semolina.

Several samples were collected during the pasta-making process (dough, extruded, dried, and cooked pasta) and tested for their ribo?avin content by a high-performance liquid chromatography method.

The researchers concluded that the applied approaches resulted in a considerable increase of vitamin B2 content – about 2- and 3-fold increases in pasta and bread, respectively.

They “found a noticeable enhancement in vitamin B2 content (6.81 ?g/g) of the final [bread] product when the two selected riboflavin-overproducing derivatives were added to the dough.”

The process represents, they claim, a convenient and e?cient food-grade biotechnological application for the production of vitamin B2-enriched bread and pasta.

“This methodology may be extended to a wide range of cereal based foods, feed, and beverages,” said the authors.

Source: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Ingredients, Research enriched bread, vitamin B2

When it comes to innovation, the idea of “partner or perish” has to become the new mantra for the food industry, according to a review published by Nestlé scientists.

The report, published in Journal of Food Science, said that innovation partnership must start with co-innovation already in mind; suggesting that partnerships “are paramount for cross-fertilization and synergy.”

“Innovation is a necessity—probably the only way to survive. The new mantra ‘innovate or die’ combined with open innovation could be the leitmotif for today’s companies,” said the authors, led by first author Helmut Traitler, former vice president of Innovation Partnerships at Nestlé; now CEO at Life2Years, Inc.

“Every innovation program should ultimately furnish an increase in a profit function that can either be tangible or take another form, such as increased market share, expanding consumer base, perceived value or image, consumer experience, and so on,” they said.

Open innovation

Traitler and his colleagues said that in order to keep pace with “growing technological complexity, bottom-line pressure, acceleration of new product development, changing consumer expectations, and an unstable business environment …innovation is one of the main resources to create, cope with and sustain a competitive advantage.”

The idea of open innovation is established on the reality that, in a world of widely distributed knowledge and faster rates of development, industry can no longer afford to rely on their own research, and so needs to make the most of outside sources.

The authors explained that open innovation “diversifies risks and shares both market and technological uncertainties of innovation.” However, they noted that ‘open innovation’ has become “an over-exploited buzzword.”

The Nestlé way

The authors explained that adapting an open innovation philosophy “was not easy for Nestlé”; nevertheless, they said that a paradigm shift was recognized in 2006 with a strategic change to create Nestlé’s Innovation Partnerships (INP) group, originally headed by Traitler.

They said that the INP group allowed the company to turn to the outside world for bigger, better, bolder, and faster innovation.

“Its execution and implementation were prompted by the recognition that universities, academia, small startups, biotech companies, and large industrial suppliers are important sources of co–development and partnerships,” explained Traitler and co-workers.

“In particular, academia has been shown to play a very significant role in most breakthroughs and provides a natural and critical partner,” they added

The authors said that the Innovation Partnerships, along with a ‘Sharing-is-Winning’ model “represent a paradigm shift toward accelerating co-development of sustainable innovation, with alignment of the entire value chain with consumer-centric innovations being one of its main pillars.”

Integration

Traitler and his colleagues explained that integrating the whole innovation process, that is, from conception to final outcome, “is a cardinal requirement” if companies want to thrive in the global market

They said that the typical ‘not invented here’ syndrome has ceased to be an effective option for industry. Instead a sustainable co-development and innovation “becomes feasible with a change in mindset from ‘attempting to do everything within’ to ‘seeking out the most appropriate partners for success’,” said Traitler and his co-workers.

Source: Journal of Food Science

Companies, Research Nestle, R&D

A blend of oat, rye, and buckwheat flours with wheat flour ensures a bread with added value in terms of nutrition, palatability, shelf life and handling during processing, in comparison to bread from whole grain flours, finds a Spanish study.

The researchers, based at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology in Valencia, published their findings in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

Scientific evidence shows that regular consumption of cereal-based foods provides health benefits, note the authors, citing previous findings that show intake of cereal-based products may help regulate blood glucose levels and manage obesity and lowers risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease.

As a result of this growing awareness, they argue, breads containing whole grain, multigrain or other functional ingredients are becoming more important in the bakery industry.

Crops such as buckwheat, oat, barley, spelt, rye, quinoa and amaranth constitute highly nutritional grain ingredients for healthy food production and special dietary uses, add the authors.

“The production of multigrain products makes it possible to increase both the variety of breads and the diversity in fermentable soluble fibres, particularly arabinoxylans and ?-glucans, and other bioactive components,” they commented.

The researchers said they aimed to explore the suitability of cereals and pseudocereals other than common wheat (oat, Kamut, spelt, rye, buckwheat) to be included in mixed matrices with wheat to produce baked goods that meet functional and sensory standards.

Their investigation involved the analysis of single and multigrain flours in doughs and breads in terms of nutritional added value, palatability, shelf and handling during processing.

Method

The suitability of minor/ancient cereals (rye, oat, Kamut wheat, spelt wheat) and pseudocereals (buckwheat) was assessed in single (100 per cent of wheat flour replacement) and multigrain matrices, said the researchers.

Commercial common wheat flour (white) and whole flours from spelt, Kamut, buckwheat, rye and oat were purchased from the Spanish market.

Bread dough consisted of fermented sponge, flour, water and salt. Sponge was prepared by mixing ingredients (50 per cent flour, 50 per cent water, 2 per cent commercial compressed yeast, flour basis) and fermented for 2 hours at 28°C, overnight at 5°C and 1.5 hours at 28°C before being added to the remaining ingredients (50 per cent flour, 50 per cent water, 1.5 per cent salt, flour basis) to make dough of a consistency of 500 BU.

They added that fermented doughs were obtained after bulk fermentation of 10 minutes, dividing (100 g of dough), moulding and proofing up to maximum volume increment (1 hour) and were baked at 170°C for 20 minutes to make bread.

For the preparation of multigrain breads, wheat flour was partially replaced with single minor cereals and pseudocereals to make quaternary grain flour blends, said the team.

“The substitution levels of the quaternary mixtures of oat, rye, buckwheat and wheat were (w/w/w/w) 15:15:15:55 (blend A), 20:20:20:40 (blend B) and 25:25:25:25 (blend C). Two trials were performed per baking test.”

And they explained that for common wheat flour replacement purposes a high-grade refined wheat flour was used to keep the viscoelasticity and gas retention ability of the basic wheat dough matrix as high as possible in order to avoid the diluting effect of bran on gluten strength in wholemeal wheat flours.

The researchers said that viscometric profile, dynamic and static rheological behaviour, crumb hardness and grain, sensory scores, antiradical activity and nutritional factors were measured to quantify significant differences among samples and to test the potential dietary added value of several minor grains.

“Sensory analysis of fresh breads was performed with a panel of eight trained judges,” they reported.

Results

In terms of single grain use in dough and bread from a nutritional and quality characteristic perspective, the team noted that oat and rye hydrated flours showed the best and the worst pasting and gelling characteristics respectively, while Kamut and spelt doughs achieved mechanical and fundamental rheological properties close to those obtained for wheat.

“Oat, rye and buckwheat gave stiff (high values for hardness and storage modulus) and less cohesive doughs, which may hinder dough machinability during processing,” commented the scientists.

They observed that oat, rye and buckwheat gave breads with enhanced nutritional features (high RS, mineral, bioactive component and dietary fibre contents, low eGI and HI) but tough and closed crumb grain and low ratings by consumers

And the researchers concluded that the quality profile the mix of oat, rye, buckwheat and common wheat flours of Blend B (20:20:20:40 w/w/w/w) was the most suitable to make highly nutritious (improved dietary fibre fractions, minerals and antioxidant activity, slower starch hydrolysis), palatable, bread with good shelf life and easy handling during processing.

Source: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

Bakery, Research buckwheat, formulation, Functional bread, oat, rye