Organic Confectionery Launches Have More Than Doubled in the Last Five Years

01 Feb 2016 --- With 66% of European respondents claiming to be influenced by organic labels, product launches with organic certification have seen a growth of +264% from 2010 until 2015 with a current 6% share of global confectionery launches, according to Innova Market Insights consumer data. Pointing to consumer survey data at her ISM presentation in Cologne, Juliette Kuiken of Innova Market Insights (pictured) stated that consumers perceive organic foods to be the healthier option. Organic claims appear have a stronger impact on consumers than natural claims as organic claims are subject to certification, according to the consumer study. 

Among the top trends presented by Innova Market Insights were “Clear Labeling,” “Free From For All,” “The Indulgence Alibi” and “Tastes for New Experiences” within the sweets and snacks market. 

For Kuiken, “clear label is the new clean labeling,” and is effectively taking the notion of more transparency even further. “Consumers want to know what is and what is not used in the products they buy,” says Kuiken. Clean label claims feature on a growing number of launches and include non-GMO (+138%) and no additives and preservatives (+64%), from 2010 until 2015. 

“Free from for all” relates to offering products avoiding key allergens or animal based ingredients to a wider audience. Products claiming to be free from, for example, gluten, dairy, or animal based ingredients have all increased over recent years. Particularly product launches with a gluten free claim have seen a growth of 73% in comparison with 2013. With one in every five European and US consumers claiming to, sometimes regularly, avoid gluten, 14% of global confectionery and snacks launches in 2015 featured a gluten free claim. A vegan example at ISM includes Frankonia’s new range of vegan and organic chocolate bars and iChoc’s vegan alternatives to “whole milk” and “whole milk nut.”

Fairtrade chocolates are also strongly present at ISM 2016. Examples include, Divine Chocolate’s fairtrade product range.

The global sweets industry is showing continual further development, and surprises the consumers year after year with new taste experiences. For the third time, Innova Market Insights is informing the visitors of ISM [the world’s biggest sweets & snacks fair] about new product trends and grant insights into the latest developments on the sweets and snacks scene at the Sweet Trends Pavilion. Hardly any other industry launches as many new products onto the market or proves its creativity to this extent again and again. 

“The Indulgence Alibi” trend is quickly gaining ground in the confectionery market. “Indulgence is a key requirement for any new product development within sweets and snacks,” Florencia Moreno Torres of Innova Market Insights says. “Guilt free indulgence is observed more and more with use of sugar free claims, particularly within the chewing gum market,” she adds. In fact, 79% of gum launches tracked in Europe in 2015 featured a sugar free claim. Other guilt free indulgences include minis and bite size product launches, with a 12% increase in bite size sweets from 2013 to 2015.

Beyond all the new trends the most important rule of all still applies: the consumer has to enjoy the taste. “Tastes for new experiences” are created through new flavors, textures and combinations of those. This development relates to flavor trends spilling over from other food and beverages categories include ginger, coconut and sea salt. While caramel, hazelnut and almond remain the most common flavors in new products, recent launches have focused on unusual blends and applications. “While berry and coconut flavors are quickly gaining popularity in the chocolate market, other products are also combining apparently non-complementary flavors in a single bite to provide consumers with new taste experiences,” Kuiken concludes in her presentation.

Live presentations by Innova Market Insights will take place daily at the ISM Sweet Trends pavilion (passage between Halls 4 and 5).

• 11:00 a.m. Snacking: New Occasions, New Opportunities
• 2:00 p.m. Top 10 Trends for 2016: The Impact on Sweets & Snacks 
• 4:00 p.m. Sweet Trends: The Next Chocolate & Confectionery Winners 

By Liesbeth Thijssen