The prestigious German ZukunftInstitut have issued their “Food Report 2023”, where they outline what trends will be shaping the food industry in the next few years, where they capture the “weak signals” of emerging trends and socio-cultural changes.
In particular, this year’s report highlights three main food trends, that we will see expanding in future purchasing and consumption habits. We have analysed their findings, and matched the two of them more in line with what we do, with our product ranges, developments and corporate investments.
1. New Glocal
The pandemic has already had a huge impact on global supply chains, marketing and consumer dynamics, stressing the increasing importance of locally grown foods and the more controversial, climate-heavy, imported products. The “new glocal” trend is meant to not only consider local and global aspects of food production, but also to assign a new hierarchy. Consumers will value more locally sourced ingredients than convenience, and this will impact the global supply chain. Regional sourcing and sustainability will become keywords for the new food economy.
At Aromatagroup, we have always cared about environmental protection, and we have been sharing our environmental protection policies throughout our organisation, including our partners and suppliers. We commit to ensure quality, safety, provenance and sustainability of processes and raw materials, and have obtained the Fairtrade ethical certification for our vanilla, meaning we not only guarantee extracts of fully traceable, sustainable and quality origins, but also that we positively impact the livelihoods and quality of life of millions of small farmers and workers in developing countries. All our botanical extracts, FiorioColori natural and clean label ranges, as well as all our products are fully traceable, and we offer certificates of origin on selected premium products, e.g. Sicilian Orange Extract.
2. Plant-based products and veganizing of traditional recipes
According to the ZukunftInstitute report, there are probably traditional dishes in most cultures across the globe that have always been plant-based. However, there is a growing interest amongst “normal” consumers to reduce their meat and dairy intake, without giving up the traditional flavours they grew up with. It is not only the food industry that is reacting to this with the development of increasingly sophisticated replacement products to ‘veganise’ traditional dishes. On the cookbook market and on numerous recipe platforms, there are also more and more indications on how to prepare classic dishes in an ‘animal-free’ version. These recipes do not include high-tech substitutes such as lab-grown meat or fermentation-derived dairy alternatives, but they suggest creative and alternative ways to use natural ingredients such as mushrooms, herbs, pulses, seaweed, apple sauce, chickpea water (aquafaba), etc.
At AromataGroup, we believe that the taste experience is crucial when offering plant-based meat and dairy alternatives, and we have created a complete range to convey the aromatic profile of the cooked end-product, such as, for instance, slightly grilled or roasted meat notes for burger patties when grilled or cooked in a frying pan, whereas for a plant-based chick*n fillet or nuggets, the profile must mimic the taste of real chicken as it is normally processed, that is battered and slightly fried before packaging. Same for deli cuts, sausages, cheese types, and fish. We have also recently launched a new range of natural colours and natural colouring foodstuffs created using plant-based raw materials, such as turmeric roots, paprika, red beet and caramelised sugars to provide realistic visuals. A selection of these colouring solutions also performs in meat products to enhance the natural appearance.
3. Regenerative Foods
According to the researchers at the ZukunftInstitute, consumers will be more and more inclined to purchase regenerative foods, that is, foods produced via regenerative agriculture. Regenerative foods are not only a forward-looking response to the threats posed by climate change, but also ensure the diversification of the plant species we eat and thus offer a much greater variety on our plates. At the moment, the interest for regenerative foods is growing among chefs and certain culinary environments, but some multinationals have recently been looking at regenerative agriculture as a possible new sourcing channel for their product developments.
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