Category: Industry news

What does Christmas look like in the middle of a global Pandemic and a rapid change of consumer lifestyle?

There is no way of sugar coating it, this Christmas is not going to be like any before it. COVID-19 has caused a worldwide Pandemic that has impacted us in more ways than we may yet truly understand. Along with the difficult medical consequences of a deadly virus, also comes the lifestyle disruption to just about everyone.

The food and beverage sectors have been on a roller coaster of a journey with the virus. From initial panic buying of everyday essentials, to the shutdown of the hospitality sector, to now facing a constant future of uncertainty. The food and beverage industry is influenced heavily on consumer habits and lifestyles which is ever changing and evolving. Many are forecasting that COVID-19 has caused technology and consumer habits to accelerate by over 5 years in a matter of months.

A recent poll by The Grocer showed 53% of respondents were worried for a second wave of COVID-19 and 20% worried about a cancelled Christmas – what should we really expect this Christmas?

Christmas Day to drive supermarket sales to record high

Christmas is traditionally a time when people of all ages in a family pack into households and squash as many as they can around a table – how does this look in the COVID-19 age? These gatherings are likely to be separated up into smaller individual gatherings, or maybe just with one household. This will crucially mean that more Christmas turkey will be needed, and not just turkey, more of everything.

If the current rule of six remains in place in the UK, food and beverage retail could potentially see one of its busiest ever years. Pack sizes will also need to be revaluated to target the smaller gatherings – 24 Christmas crackers, how about a new 4 pack? Bigger gatherings now being reduced into more smaller gatherings will encourage more repeat purchasing to restock the cupboards.

Customer behaviour this Christmas

Everyone knows this Christmas is going to set records for online shopping. With online shopping already being huge at Christmas, and now with its dramatic rise over the last year, it looks to truly dominate. Busy supermarkets and anxiety around COVID-19 will push millions to order their Christmas shop online. Now with discount stores like Aldi joining in the success of ordering online and click and collect – the retail stores look under more pressure than ever.

Due to this uptick in online selling, the retailers need to ensure they do it right. Shopping time will be reduced, with customers wanting to get in and out the shop as quickly as possible. Core ranges and big brands will look to dominate shelf space as customers look to make quick decisions on products they already know and love. The battle here will be for brands to ensure this does not impact their innovation and new product development. The balance of trust and excitement will be critical.

Could this be the earliest start to Christmas shopping? With threats of further lockdowns and the mad rush for a Christmas turkey could send customers rushing to shops earlier than planned. Retailers and brands will be aware of this and start promoting Christmas ranges even earlier.

In-home is the new out-of-home

At Christmas, the hospitality and out-of-home industries traditionally have their busiest times of the year. From busy office parties, to friends and family reuniting – these occasions help fill up the bars and restaurants over the Christmas period. This year the hospitality sector is going to have to be forward thinking and innovative to find ways they can engage with their usual customers within their homes. From interactive cocktail evenings, to fancy meals being delivered to your door – there are many options available.

If the hospitality sector doesn’t pick up on this trend, then the supermarkets will surely jump in to fill the void buy offering new ranges of products to help enhance in-home Christmas experiences. New flavours, textures and products will be filling up the shelves to help tap into customers’ desires for exciting experiences.

This Christmas presents many challenges for both the in-home and out-of-home sectors, but also both are presented with new opportunities. Brands will need a competitive core range and innovative and exciting products to keep consumers happy this Christmas.

Get in touch with our team to discuss your ranges and how a braver flavour can help your products stand out from the crowd.

Sugar reduction is the fine line between health and indulgent products. How do the bakers and lawmakers meet in the middle with a solution that fits everyone?

Speak to most bakers on the street and they will tell you that Public Health England is on the warpath with cracking down on sugar within bakery. The UK Government is putting pressure on brands and retailers to look to manufacturers to help them reduce sugar content across the board. Nearly every baker has been tasked with the challenge of reducing sugar in their bakes, but also making sure they keep that same sweet taste.

Many bakers will tell you that it isn’t the sugary products that are the problem, but the amount people consume, and the increasingly sedated lifestyles they lead. These cakes and biscuits are fine as part of a balanced diet, and also play a huge part in our emotional relationship with enjoying food. Let’s face it, what would a birthday be without cake? Sweet bakery plays a huge role in our indulgence and celebration.

Why do people buy sweet bakery?

If you look at some interesting statistics on why people buy sweet bakery, with 51% claiming the main reason is taste* and 31% claiming it’s because “it makes me happy”*. Sweet bakery is clearly an indulgent product that people look to for the sweet flavours. It’s also clear consumers know these products are unhealthy, with only 9% of people claiming they purchase for health benefits*.

There is also a clear demand for healthier products, with the rise of many new brands to the bakery world promoting sugar-free and low-calorie claims. At I.T.S. we work on both sides of the argument, with many traditional bakery products, but also helping bring sugar content down.

What I.T.S. is doing to tackle sugar reduction

We have seen the best results are when sugar still plays a part, but also reducing the content and using natural flavourings to help boost the sweetness. Mike Bagshaw, Founder of I.T.S., and former Chairmen of the British Society of Baking weighs in by saying “Sweet bakery will always need sugar, and that’s ok. No one is eating a doughnut because it’s healthy. I see the future of bakery having two lanes – one side will sit with your traditional indulgent bakery, and on the other will be your new health-based products. One doesn’t replace the other”.

Through Mike’s vision of the bakery market at I.T.S., we have developed a strong range of sugar reduction solutions. By using natural flavourings, we can help brands reduce sugar content by up to 50% in some applications. Flavouring solutions also can help with texture issues and binding. This range of natural flavourings enhances the sweetness flavour as sugar is removed and can be declared as a natural flavouring on the pack.

The future of sugar reduction

To answer the question if sugar reduction really is a baker’s worst nightmare, we’d say that sugar reduction should never have an overriding impact on an indulgent products taste. What is the point of eating a cake if it doesn’t taste good? The whole point of indulgence is great taste.

This is why sugar reduction needs to be done right, or not at all. We are working with many new brands in the healthy bakery space that are doing some fantastic things with flavour on low-calorie bakes.

Fancy entering the new healthy bakery category, or maybe you want to try take on the indulgent bakery space and make a healthy doughnut? We’ll help you give it go.

Get in touch to request samples of our sugar reduction range of natural flavourings.

*Innova Market Research

We explore what NPD teams need to be doing to ensure they are best placed to get ready for future innovations.

Like most things in 2020, summer didn’t really go to plan. Back in January people were dreaming of their summer vacations, festivals and parties – all to be filled with tasty food and drink. To cater for the busy summer period, food and beverage technologists were busy developing lots of new products to help flavour the summer of 2020. Queue up a global pandemic, a severe recession and shutting down the hospitality sector for months – things didn’t really go to plan.

Along with everyone’s summer plans, also went many new exciting product launches for summer 2020. Overnight trends and strategies changed and brands needed to adapt quickly. Suddenly on-the-go and new innovative flavourings went out the window, and along came a focus on core flavour ranges and immunity trends.

New Product Development Takes a Hit

There is no hiding away from the fact that new product launches have taken a huge hit. The frightening numbers show a more than 25% decrease in worldwide launches from March – August when comparing 2020 with 2019. The beverage market seems to of held up the best with an 11% decrease in worldwide launches (Source: Innova Market Insights). Thankfully we all know this innovation isn’t going to just disappear, it will just be pushed back and adapted for the future.

Future planning has never been both so important and difficult. All the numbers are pointing to the summer of 2021 looking to be a big one. With the economy looking incredibly uncertain, people have been holding onto their cash. Once the pandemic has cooled down, consumers will start to spend and venture back out as the world begins to open up. With this will be a boom in product development for food and drink. It is important that development teams plan ahead and prepare for a big summer in 2021.

The Future Looks Tasty

With brands now looking to recoup some lost revenue and grab supermarket attention, the battle for new product development could be about to begin. Most brands are currently likely to be reviewing their ranges and getting their core range in order, but once this is done it will be time to build.

New flavour trends and flavour development will see an up rise in innovation and development for new products to try and take back some of that shelf space and grab consumer’s attention. Plant based products are also still growing at a rapid rate and sits alongside new flavour development as key areas of interest.

Focus on the Road Ahead

There is still unfortunately plenty of room for further bumps along the road. With further pandemic spikes forecast for this winter, already planned seasonal launches face the risk of being pushed back.

Here at I.T.S. we have been working closely with our customers to ensure they are best placed to deal with any changes in the market. We constantly evaluate data and new developments to ensure we are best placed to help our customers.

If you’d like to find out more please don’t hesitate to get in touch to talk to one of our team about how to best plan your flavour ranges.

The food and drink industry is changing. Are you ready for the change?

Over the last few months the world changed around us very quickly, with very little warning. Life as we knew it changed over a matter of weeks as the biggest public health crisis of a generation swept across the world. Our busy and fast paced lives ground to a halt as millions of people switched to staying indoors to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Suddenly everyone’s daily routines and habits had to change. In the food and drink industry it is essential that new product releases follow consumer trends and fit in with people’s daily lives. The recent pandemic has hit the food and drink industry hard, especially those in the hospitality sector. Retail sectors have had to be fast to adapt by limiting SKUs and focusing on larger multipacks as the stockpilers filled up their baskets in supermarkets.

Our team have put together the list of key developments we think you’ll see in the food and drink industry going forward. We have also given some helpful tips of how to best position yourself to come out of this crisis.

1) Prepare at home

With more people working at home and staying indoors, preparing your own food at home is on the rise. Cake baking mixes, or baking bread are the new on trend activities to share on Instagram. People are also on the search for new food to eat for lunch whilst working from home to fill the void of grabbing a Pret on-the-go.

2) Core flavours

Now is certainly the time to revisit your core flavour range and ensure they are up to scratch. Many retailers and manufacturers will be focusing on their main ranges and battling out for shelf space with their core products.

3) Immunity

Consumers will be looking for health boosting foods to best protect themselves. Searches for “immunity” have sky rocketed on Google as consumers are looking for health options. Revisit your formulations for ways to feature key health ingredients.

4) Mood food (and drink)

It’s not just physical health that is a danger during the recent pandemic. People’s mental health is also taking a huge hit. People are isolated and stuck indoors, which has seen a rise in mental health issues. Food and drink that can help people relax will be a big market. Look for buzz words such as “calm”, “relax” and “soothe” to be highlighted on pack. Could this also be the moment CBD needed to finally make its break into the mainstream?

5) Escapism

At times of hardship, escapism and innovation have always flourished. People look for ways to escape the daily issues and loose themselves in something. Food and drink can play a huge part with new and exciting flavours. Try looking for a refreshing flavour that takes consumers on a holiday in their mind – sat on a beach sipping a cocktail. Or how about a crazy fantasy flavour that they simply haven’t heard of before?

6) Digital world

Without a doubt technology is one of the biggest advances in recent months. People are now more digitally connected than ever thanks to the help of services like Zoom, Tik Tok and House Party. With retail on the high street closed, consumers logged-on in their millions and ordered their weekly shop online with Ocado, or their new fitness equipment from Amazon.

It isn’t just the big players or retail that has benefited from technology. Many small and independent hospitality outlets have adapted by focusing their business on takeaway or delivery services by ordering online. It’s key to see how your offering can be adapted for an online world.

7) Buying local

With most people calling the end of the high street, could this actually offer the high street a life line? As people avoid the larger retail spaces, they are looking to their local shops and rediscovering the benefits of small retailers. Bakeries and butchers are seeing new customers, or old customers flood back in a bid to avoid the crowds.

Whatever happens, change is certain. It is important to not stand still and to make sure you are prepared for what the future brings.

Get in touch if you’d like to discuss these concepts in further detail and how we can help improve your range, or maybe develop something new and exciting?

Kiwi and Cucumber is a flavouring that has been getting customers taste buds bubbling with excitement with almost everyone that has tried it.

We like to do things a little differently, that’s why we put so much focus on new and emerging flavour trends. We are well underway presenting our top flavour trends for 2021 to our customers and there has been one surprise stand out of the bunch in our beverage flavour trends.

Kiwi and Cucumber has been getting our customers taste buds bubbling with excitement with almost everyone that has tried it. It’s a great refreshing combo that pops up a lot in the smoothie category. It’s an interesting flavour, it doesn’t sound like much, but it has a delicate balance of sweetness and that refreshing feeling to make it fit perfectly with our Summer Flavours trend.

Keeping beverage healthy and reducing sugar with flavourings

The unique flavour combo also works perfectly with the growing trends and in health and immunity. What’s even better is we have been pairing kiwi and cucumber with our market-leading sugar reduction solutions to help make beverage concepts both tasty and healthy.

We can already see this one popping up everywhere in the summertime, perfect partner to a BBQ or garden party, or even at pubs and bars when the hospitality sector opens up at the end of this year *fingers crossed*.

Looking for the alcohol or an alcohol alternative? Flavourings have got you covered.

It’s a perfect match for hard seltzers, or even the low and no spirit category as it really does give that extra ‘zing’ with a premium flavour twist.  If you want to give the kiwi and cucumber flavour an extra boost, pairing it with one of our alcohol flavour boosters really makes it pack a punch – presenting a ready-made perfect zero alcohol premium summertime beverage.

Also, this one also really stands out in dairy. Now, a kiwi and cucumber milkshake may sound a little crazy, but it is absolutely mind-blowing. Trust us on this one.

If you’d like to book in a Flavour Trends workshop or just request a sample of our new favourite flavour then get in touch and our team will help you out