Natural ingredients, sugar reduction and plant-based offerings take center stage at SIAL 2024

With consumers taking a strong interest in formulations and what goes into their food, the demand for healthier and natural products is rising. F&B manufacturers tapped into clean eating trends with innovative product presentations at SIAL 2024, which took place in Paris, France, last week. 

Offerings like plant-based beverages, fruit purees and dried fruit snacks highlighted these trends with clean labels, natural ingredients and reduced sugar.

Clean label and natural formulations

Fermentful, a Latvian food-tech start-up, presented 100% plant-based fermented kefir-style drinks in three flavors: Natural, Vanilla and Dark Chocolate. The company’s co-founder, Anda Penka, tells Food Ingredients First that the beverages respond to a growing consumer interest in gut health-optimizing drinks.

“Our plant-based kefir style drinks are made of green buckwheat, a superfood. The drinks are extremely rich in pre-and probiotics. This combo is essential to deliver maximum gut health benefits to our digestion. They are gluten-free, very low in sugar and do not contain lactose.”

The makers of Açaí Motion say that the natural energy drink, made from açaí, guaraná and black carrot, is “packed with all benefits of the two fruits, antioxidants, vitamin B complex, without any addition of synthetic caffeine or taurine.”

Paweł Safian, the company CEO, highlights the importance of preserving the natural properties of the energy drink’s ingredients. “Açaí is a fruit from the Amazon rainforest. We blend it in a completely natural, organic form with guaraná, which comes from the Brazilian rainforest and retains all the benefits in the liquid version.”

Fermentful’s kefir-style drinks respond to a growing consumer interest in gut health-optimizing drinks, says co-founder, Anda Penka.In a burgeoning energy drinks market, Açaí Motion positions the product as a “natural” alternative with “beneficial” properties that respond to modern F&B trends.

“Açaí is already well-known as a super fruit in Brazil and many other countries and so is guaraná. It is very beneficial for human health and is very well-known in medicine. We hope to introduce it to the wider public in this liquid form,” says Safian. He adds that the energy drinks can be consumed by “anyone seeking a healthy energy drink option.”

Essento, a company known for its insect protein products, is also sharpening its focus on clean label formulations. Talking to us about protein bars incorporating cricket powder, Christian Bärtsch, founder and CEO of the Swiss start-up, told us, “It’s all about functionality.”

 “We work with suppliers with whom we can stay clean on the ingredients. And that is not always easy, but it is key for us to deliver clean label products, and up until now, we’ve been successful,” he explains.

While taste and texture remain key, Essento recognizes consumer awareness as a critical driver in NPD.

“We have been working hard to develop formulations with enough moisture and protein content. Our protein bars have the natural aromas that go well with the other ingredients in the end product,” says Bärtsch.

Besides the insects, Essento only uses plant-based material.

“Plant-based proteins are other ingredients that help us formulate. For instance, we need high-quality fibers for our bars to have the nutritional values we need. For each product application, we find the suitable functional ingredient to pair up with our key functional ingredient, the insect.”

Reducing sugar for more appeal

Sugar reduction featured strongly among the brands presenting at SIAL 2024.

Açaí Motion’s natural energy drink does not contain synthetic caffeine or taurine, says the company.As health-conscious consumers seek lower-sugar options, companies adapt their formulations to meet these preferences without compromising flavor.

Ocean Spray Ingredients, for instance, is tapping alternative sweeteners.

Sarah O’Neil, the company’s senior managing director, Global Ingredients, notes the company offers products with infused fruit juice instead of sugar and recently launched a product in the US that uses “allulose as the sweetener and that product was recently certified as a ketogenic friendly product.”

“We now offer a ketogenic-friendly sweetened dried cranberry. It’s not ready yet for commercialization in Europe, but that is something that we’re working on to get approval for the sweetener agent allulose, which is in the ketogenic sweet and dry cranberry.”

The focus on reducing sugar while maintaining taste is also a priority for Fermentful.

As consumers pay close attention to the sugar content of drinks, Fermentful’s plant-based kefir line is designed to offer digestive benefits without the high sugar content often found in similar products. 

Penka says, “Our drinks are very low in sugar. By incorporating these fermented beverages into their daily diet, consumers can take care of gut health, immunity, digestion, and even mental well-being.”

Similarly, Selcuk, a third-generation dried fruit player, is expanding its “naturally sweet products without added sugars portfolio.”

Ocean Spray recently launched a product in the US that uses allulose as the sweetener, says Sarah O’Neil, the company’s senior managing director.The Turkey-based company focuses on preserving the base flavors of dried fruits, such as Deglet Nour dates, coconuts and apricots, in its product lines. “Our products are 100% natural, with no additives or preservatives, and [often] do not contain anything other than the fruit itself,” says Cisel Bozdag, the company’s regional sales manager.

This approach allows Selcuk to satisfy consumer preferences for cleaner, naturally sweet snacks with calories ranging from 96 to 190 per serve.

Similarly, Fructus Meran is responding to the reduced-sugar trend with Froomy, a liquid “snack alternative” with four different variations of fruit purees.

“Froomy is made 100% from organic fruit. We source only the best ingredients to offer a healthy snack option for on-the-go, which can be consumed by everyone, from kids to adults, due to its organic quality. We do not add sugar or other additives,” says Philip Theiner of the company’s Purchasing division.