Industry evolution: “The World of Food Ingredients” celebrates 30 years in an interview exclusive with the founders

The World of Food Ingredients unveils its 30th-anniversary edition online today, celebrating a legacy in food science and innovation with a newly refreshed layout. Marking this milestone, we spoke to co-founders Patrick Mannion and Lu Ann Williams who share their journey and three decades of industry experience. In this rare interview, they reveal how ingredient companies have completely changed how they do business, while consumer trends have come back full circle.

The evolution of an industry

Any major ingredient company today can talk about the trends and build their marketing around them, explains Mannion, “and this is the exact opposite of how it was when we started out.”

In the mid-90s, when he and Williams launched The World of Food Ingredients, “nobody was talking about the trends and nobody published trends.” Mannion says that companies were secretive and would turn away anyone with a camera asking questions at trade shows.

But despite a conservative industry landscape, Mannion and Williams recognized that the world was transforming. They saw that companies and consumers were looking at food in a new light. 

“When Yakult entered the European market, that small probiotic drink from Japan set the world on fire,” says Williams. “It was the first time here that health ingredients could drive food marketing. And in the US, something similar was happening with the Snackwell’s brand focusing on low-fat products.”  

Thus entered “the big bang of functional foods,” with brands across the industry eager to cash in on the wellness craze. But for brands to take advantage of the opportunities ahead, they would need a trusted resource to turn to.

Bringing the trends to light

Before widespread internet access, understanding food trends required time-consuming legwork. “There was usually a dearth of reliable, granular data. You’d only know what was happening through fieldwork in retail and markets,” Mannion says.

“Understanding the needs and gaps of readers was straightforward,” he reveals. “Customers wanted to get to grips with emerging consumer and product trends. They wanted to see the front and back of new products to get a regional and global understanding of positionings and claims. They needed a little bit of a lot of things, from news and product development to novel ingredients and regulatory updates.” 

The World of Food Ingredients combined product design trends and food formulation into one publication for the first time.Mannion and Williams drove to supermarkets in emerging markets like Eastern Europe to report back to information-hungry food technologists, bringing together food marketing and formulation into a single platform.

“We set a new standard and at the end of the day, readers could see we knew what we were doing, and they valued the resources,” he adds. 

A different type of journal

Williams recalls a humbling moment that the partners experienced on their first sales visit in July 1994. “We were sure we had a great idea because we wanted to do things differently. And at the very first stop, our prospect said: ‘Did you know we subscribe to 86 trade journals?’”

“We were really taken aback by this, and had we known, we might not have pursued establishing this journal. But despite all that, we had the leading publication after about 13 months. We did it because we knew we had a different way to do it. We didn’t ‘pay to play.’ We didn’t sell discounted advertising. We said we’re going to put out a quality product. We’re going to audit our circulation and we’re going to do everything that we promise our customers that we will do. And we did. That’s what absolutely gave us a leading place in the market after only one year.”

Riding the waves

Following the initial functional foods craze, which opened a white space for The World of Food Ingredients, Williams describes a time in the mid-2000s when consumers and companies returned back to basics.

Regulators took a hard line on restricting claims on “wonder ingredients.” Plus, the financial crisis in 2007 had consumers craving familiar, wholesome and natural foods again.

“There was a lot of uncertainty in the market and a rush to safety. That’s what brought us ‘clean label.’ I still remember the first time I heard somebody talk about ‘kitchen cupboard ingredients.’”

She adds that, for the first time, companies started to prioritize short ingredient lists. “We don’t hear about short labels as much anymore. But ‘clean label’ as a concept is clearly established, with a strong need to communicate positive qualities to consumers through labeling.”

Where we are now

Today, Williams sees a clear synthesis of two megatrends taking shape. The demand for functional foods and natural foods have intersected in a concept that she describes as “Clean Health.” 

 “We’ve made this full circle where consumers want scientifically proven ingredients that provide real benefits done in a natural way. Gluten-free was one of the big shifts that made some consumers realize: ‘I can eat in a way that makes me feel different, compared to how somebody else feels if they eat the same thing.’ And because we’re getting new tech, we can measure things like blood glucose and ketosis. We can choose foods that are extremely personalized to ourselves.”

She adds: “The role of R&D is very important now because there’s more pressure on making products that deliver. Does it perform? What do the ingredients do? There is still a lot of confusion, but consumers do care. And that is a sneak peek into Innova’s Top Ten Trends for 2025.”

This Thursday, November 7, Williams will present Innova’s complete list of Top Ten Trends for 2025 in a free webinar.

Read the full version of this exclusive interview in The World of Food Ingredients.