EHL Launches New Seed Blends for Savory Biscuits

14 Mar 2016 --- EHL Ingredients has launched a new range of seed blends to help food manufacturers create exciting new recipes and formulations for savory biscuits and crackers. The leading importer, blender and packer of food ingredients has launched the new seed blends, which contain varieties of sesame, chia, blue and white poppy, with flax golden linseed, pumpkin, caraway, millet and sunflower also available in bespoke seed mixes.

Tasneem Backhouse, sales and marketing director at EHL Ingredients told FoodIngredientsFirst: “Many of our customers have ordered seeds from us for a long time, but we are experiencing demand from bakers and food manufacturers for seeds to be included in savory biscuits, breads and other baked goods. There is a clear trend for using seeds in sweet and savory baked goods – they have received a lot of positive media attention thanks to their health benefits and certain contemporary diets recommend eating foods containing seeds. Demand among the bakery sector has increased as bakers develop new products to tap into these consumer trends. We expect demand for seeds to increase.”

The UK is now the biggest consumer of savory snacks in Europe, with a market worth £2.3 billion. A report last year showed sales of savory products were up 6.9 per cent, suggesting that the popularity of savory biscuits shows no signs of abating.

Savory biscuit manufacturers and bakers can take advantage of the market’s growing demand by incorporating EHL’s speciality seed blends to create contemporary products to meet the demands of today’s health conscious consumers.

Seeds are a winning addition to savory biscuits, thins, twists, crispbreads, rice cakes and oatcakes as they remain stable under high temperatures, can be used as a filling or topping, retain their flavour and are versatile in their uses. They can enhance the visual appearance and bring a premium positioning to the finished product on-shelf. Their reputation for being a superfood also makes them an instant hit with consumers looking for healthier options.

For Backhouse, the launch also goes in line with the high protein and paleo diet trends. “High protein diets were the runaway success of 2015, with devotees embracing the benefits of eating larger amounts of protein and fewer carbohydrates – a trend which is set to continue into 2016 and beyond. The Paleo diet avoids processed foods in favor of larger amounts of protein and vegetables has recently become much more mainstream and key learnings from this diet have been filtering into food production and manufacturing processes. Protein is a key buzzword in the food industry and we expect its popularity to grow even further in 2016. We have seen increases in sales for our protein-packed ingredients such as seeds, as well as nuts and grains, suggesting consumer demand is gathering pace for protein intake.”

By Elizabeth Kenward