Key Interview: FrieslandCampina Kievit Cracks Creaminess Code

22 May 2017 --- The subtleties and taste references for the perfect creamer are vastly diverse for every region across the world. FoodIngredientsFirst caught up with Luc Steenwelle, Product Group Manager Beverages Asia, FrieslandCampina Kievit, who explains how indulgence, premiumization and convenience are driving new product development trends in the Southeast Asian market as well as looking into what creaminess actually means to consumers of tea and coffee drinks. 

“The opportunities we see in Southeast Asia are massive, it’s a very interesting market with good growth opportunities especially the instant mixes market is still growing year on year by 7%,” he says. “There are also challenges because it’s a highly competitive market, so it’s a market full of opportunities if you choose the right direct, the right trends.”

So, what are the right trends? Indulgence is leading the pack in Southeast Asia, and FrieslandCampina is constantly working on the “feel-good-factor” often associated with enjoying an indulgent beverage; whether that’s an energizing drink first thing in the morning or that indulgent special moment for yourself complemented with a creamy, foaming hot beverage. 

“We see continuous trends in indulgence, so improvements in concepts that are even more indulgent so the feel good factor improves tastes and sensory. This year there is a continuous trend of premiumization; as a result of the growing number of coffee shops consumers know better and better about the tastes and concepts and also the quality of coffee and tea and they want to replicate this at home. We are also seeing continuous developments in convenience with more and more convenient options like instant sachets or ready-to-drink in the market,” explains Steenwelle. 

“Kievit is really anticipating and acting on these trends with a continuous flow of new product introductions, new concept introductions that we bring to our customers.”

One of the more recent innovations has been a portfolio of creamers that tap into the trend for creamy treats as the ultimate in luxury and indulgence. In global markets, consumers are increasingly perceiving creaminess in coffee and tea as a “seductive alternative” to the classic, plain black variants. Steenwelle explains how FrieslandCampina Kievit comes in by achieving the right level of creaminess, an aspect that is very complex to get right. 

Sensory experts performed a two year investigation into more than 300 instant coffee products to pinpoint what makes creaminess so irresistible and found eight leading attributes of creaminess in 3-in-1 coffee applications. These are: creamy flavor, coffee roasted flavor, sweetness, milky flavor, white & crème color, thickness, softness and filming.

By identifying the eight attributes of creaminess and delivering them according to local preferences, FrieslandCampina Kievit has cracked the creaminess code for the fast-growing instant coffee market. The result is the complete CREAMINESS portfolio – including the new Vana-Blanca M510.

Steenwelle notes: “What we saw is that creaminess is well appreciated by all consumers. However, what exactly creaminess means and what actually makes creaminess so attractive for consumers, that was not always clear and not always the same. That’s why we carried out extensive research.”

“All of that data has been analyzed and what we did was to better define what creaminess actually is; what does it mean? And what are the differences in perceptions among regions, among countries and among consumers?”

“Based on this research, we introduced a portfolio of creamers that bring specific attributes of creaminess in the coffee and tea products. And we also introduced a new product - Vana-Blanca M510. This is our most recent introduction and we’re now rolling this product out to the market and the feedback is very promising,” Steenwelle claims. 

According to Steenwelle, the product will help customers to make even better tasting and creamier coffee and tea products in Southeast Asia and make sensory profiles of those products more in line with consumer needs.

“We have done extensive testing ourselves, we made our own coffee mixes with our new ingredients inside and for instance we saw that our own concept already outperformed the leading market products on key creaminess attributes like in the milky flavor, full mouthfeel, thickness and those kinds of aspects.”

“We knew, based on feedback from consumers, that creaminess perception in one country is not the same as in another country and creaminess perception in tea is not that same as in coffee.” 

“But we never could pinpoint exactly what that difference was and by defining eight attributes, that together really describe the creamy profile, we are better able to really pinpoint what attributes are the most important for a certain country, a certain region and a certain consumer.”

“And that helps us, together with our customers, to improve the sensory profile of the consumer products.”

Now launched in the Southeast Asia and the Pacific (SEAP) market, the Vana-Blanca Creaminess series is optimized for 3-in-1 mixes, but also offers possibilities for ready-to-drink beverages, milk teas and coffee whiteners in jars and pods.

Continuous Innovation 

Going back to the different taste preferences around the world, Steenwelle talks about the “authentic” coffee and tea with sweetened condensed milk enjoyed by Southeast Asian consumers and how Kievit solutions will be coming online to “instantize” this taste. 

“We will definitely continuously innovate on sensory aspects in our portfolio given that one of the key drivers of our industry is indulgence,” says Steenwelle.

“Some other things that we are working on include, for instance, creamers with a very specific sweetened condensed milk profile knowing that the real thing in many Southeast Asian countries, is actually coffee and tea made with real sweetened condensed milk.”

“By making powdered creamers with the perfect profile to give, together with the coffee or tea, the real authentic sweetened condensed milk profile, means that our customer can innovate with the authentic, the artisanal way of producing how a coffee or tea tastes. But then this is much more convenient because we can instantize it.”

“We are also working hard on some introductions for foaming creamers and we will come back on that later this year. Due to a big growth and interest in foaming concepts, the cappuccinos, latte macchiatos - we see continuous developments in that market.”

“In our beverage industry, the primary call is indulgence - that special moment for yourself or that energizer in the morning, the feel-good factor and, the sharing factor. And that’s really the key thing we are here for.”

“It should taste good, but it should not be bad for your health, for instance. We want to have guilt-free indulgence. Health aspects are important and tracking and tracing is definitely important as well as being part of a multinational company like FrieslandCampina, we can really guarantee the highest quality and most consistent quality. 

“The key focus on innovation and taking our industry further is really premiumization, convenience and indulgence,” Steenwelle finalizes. 

by Gaynor Selby