Savory snacking: Kerry sees health, bold flavors & authenticity spur NPD

12 Sep 2018 --- Kerry Taste & Nutrition research has shown that consumers see health as the most significant gap in savory snacks, and negative ingredients lead them to feel guilty for snacking. Many consumers are moving towards healthier or novel options, such as nuts, seeds and trail mixes, which are growing ahead of the total category. It is essential to consider the flavor pairings with these items, to meet consumer needs through different parts of the day.

Snacking has become a major activity for consumers, with more of us frequently snacking throughout the day. Salty snacks are competing not only with each other but also with a myriad of other categories as more food and drink products have become “snackable.” Also, busy lifestyles, concerns about long-term health and the desire to get health-boosting benefits from daily food and drinks have also affected the snack aisle.

According to Innova Market Insights data, 30.4 percent of snacks launches tracked have a clean label claim (Global, 2017). Clean label claims in snacks are continuing to grow and there has been increased launch activity in NPD in recent years. 

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Jeremy Pugh, Director, Savoury Snack End-Use-Market at Kerry Taste & Nutrition, says: “Consumers are actively seeking new snack experiences that offer layered and multisensory tastes. Snack manufacturers can achieve this through strong, bold flavors that allow consumers to try something new – whether it’s a twist on a traditional favorite or a new taste of global cuisine.” 

“We are seeing this manifest in the market through the rise of sweet (mango, peanut butter, coconut) and fresh (spinach, pesto, truffle) flavors coming into snacks, which are some of the fastest growing flavor profiles in the last three years,” he explains. “We are also seeing growing incidents of flavors like ginger, kimchi, horseradish, salsa verde and coriander emerging in the savory snack category (Kerry Flavour Charts, Snack 2018).” 

“We also see growing consumer demand for healthier alternatives and new taste experiences driving trends in the savory snacking sector. More than ever before, consumers want to know about the origin of their food, and they are seeking multisensory taste experiences that offer health benefits and satiety. This is evident in the trend towards artisan and craft snack products – consumers are willing to pay more for premium, authentic and healthier snacks across all categories, as shown in the snacks market value 17-22 percent CAGR (4.2 percent) outpacing volume (1.8 percent) in Europe and Russia. 

“Manufacturers are also beginning to experiment with lighter, more wholesome bases, and the trend towards natural, recognizable and premium ingredients will continue. For example, cheese is one of the simplest, purest and most popular savory snack ingredients – but consumers believe they only get an imitation of cheese in their snacks. We work closely with manufacturers to deliver the real and multisensory cheese flavor experience that consumers crave,” Pugh reveals.

In response, manufacturers are increasingly looking to deliver guilt-free enjoyment and new taste experiences through real ingredients that emphasize heritage and provinciality.

This week, Kerry made their debut at VitaFoods Asia as the company continues to explore untapped opportunities in the Asian healthy foods space. Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Laura Collins says: “We are here to very much center on Taste & Nutrition. Asia is a developing market and is expected to be up by 25 percent in 2050. There are many platforms in which we see opportunities such as protein, digestive and immune health. There are many new ways to mainstream innovative protein applications on the market, from a global perspective, delivering on health and wellness platforms.” You can view the full video interview with Collins here. 

NutritionInsight also reported how Kerry is targetting growth in Asia Pacific as the demand for functional ingredients and protein increases. You can read further coverage on this here.  

Kerry sees huge growth and potential in the flavors sector. Recently, the company formed a taste portfolio distribution agreement with Univar. You can read more about this next week, where FoodIngredientsFirst will publish a Key Interview with Gary Abraham, Head of Supplier Management, Food Ingredients, Univar Europe, Middle East & Africa. 

Next week, FoodIngredientsFirst will also be publishing a Special Report on Snacking. Stay tuned!