Shifts in dairy: Label-friendly claims top consumer preferences, finds Cargill study

25 Jul 2018 --- Global changes in attitudes towards dairy include consumer concern around hormones, allergens and perceived unhealthfulness. At the same time, trends driving consumption include label-friendly and nutritional claims. According to the results of a new Cargill consumer study, clean label is growing in prevalence. The rise in “clean label seeking” in dairy is highest in Indonesia and China and lowest in Germany, the UK and Japan.

Cargill used IFT 2018, which was held last week in Chicago, to ask the simple but challenging question: “What’s on your label?” Their dairy survey presented an interesting picture of new market dynamics.

A recent consumer insights study entitled, “The Shifting Global Dairy Market,” looked at global changes in attitudes towards dairy. Cargill surveyed 5,200 grocery shoppers from 13 different countries to better understand what’s important to consumers in choosing dairy and dairy alternatives, their preferences relating to the texture, clean label and sugar reduction and finally, how these differ across differ across geographic regions.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​According to results from the study, overall dairy usage is generally in decline. In Europe, there is a US$3.6 billion decrease in dairy sales (2012-17) and a 22 percent decline in fluid milk consumption in the US (2000-16). And yet, in Latin America, sales for dairy are growing and in the US there has been a triple-digit increase in non-dairy alternatives (2000-16). 

Europe is the world’s number two dairy market, but it is in decline. Dairy alternatives are on the rise, either solely or in addition to real dairy in the region. 

Asia-Pacific is the world’s largest dairy market, leading Cargill to believe that it is ripe for additional growth. Asia-Pacific participants also have higher preferences for dairy alternatives than other regions, the research found.

The results come as new product information disclosed by Innova Market Insights at IFT 2018 stresses that despite the rise of plant-based alternatives, dairy and animal proteins still remain leaders, as product innovation is rampant. Indulgent and premium dairy trends are often driven by “revival of tradition” and the need for foods which are “positively processed.” 

The market researcher notes that 29 percent of Chinese consumers have increased their consumption of cheese in the past year [2017 consumer study] and there has been 47 percent average annual growth in cheese launches in China (2013-2017).

In the US, great taste is the most important factor in purchasing decisions and 50 percent of participants consume both dairy and alternatives and only 12 percent avoid dairy altogether. 

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst at IFT last week, Pam Stauffer, a spokesperson for Cargill discusses their consumer research in more detail. “We wanted to get a better sense of what is important to consumers when they are seeking dairy and dairy alternative products. There are clear differences globally, specifically around the areas of texture, clean label and sugar reduction,” she notes.

“We wanted to see how things differ across the regions so looking at dairy overall you see a decrease in EU and the US and an increase in Latin America. This comes with a backdrop of a large increase in the US around dairy alternatives,” Stauffer says. 

“From a global standpoint, we saw consumer concerns around allergens and the perceived unhealthfulness of dairy products,” she explains. “The trending areas were around label-friendly and nutritional values.”

“We also wanted to identify what a ‘clean label seeker.’ We found that the group encompasses people that buy products because they are non-GMO or organic or other cues like familiar ingredients, so we used that as our benchmark. These ‘clean label seekers’ were less prevalent in the US, while Indonesia and China have the highest prevalence,” she adds. This is likely on the back of relatively recent dairy product scandals, most notably the melamine contamination infant formula affair in China, which dented consumer trust, she confirmed.

According to Stauffer, the most important factors for purchase are great taste. “That was no surprise to us,” she continues. “However, half of the people we talked to were consuming both dairy and dairy alternatives. Clearly, they aren’t lactose intolerant, otherwise they wouldn’t have both, but it does show us that there are a lot of plant-based dieters now,” she explains.

“Meanwhile, Latin America is one of the fastest-growing dairy markets, but consumer spends less than half on dairy compared to North America and Europe,” she adds. 

“Then in Europe, we see the market declining for dairy. Dairy alternatives are increasing in the region. In Asia, the world’s largest market, they have a higher preference for dairy alternatives, we know that as they drink a lot of soy, and there is a much bigger preference for oat and rice-based milk, outside of Japan,” Stauffer notes. 

She also points to Cargill’s broad portfolio of sweeteners that can help customers deliver “great tasting products,” whether they are taking out sugar or doing so for clean label purposes.

Also speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst at this year’s event, was Andrew Ohmes who supported this notion. Cargill recently introduced their EverSweet stevia extract formulation to the market. 

“Cargill has set a new benchmark for sweetness without calories with our EverSweet sweetener,” says Ohmes, Global Stevia Business Leader for Cargill. “Our goal has always been to address our customers’ needs to make lower-calorie products that taste great and are affordable to all.”

Using a specially crafted baker’s yeast, the EverSweet sweetener is claimed to deliver the best of the same sweetness in the stevia leaf. The next-generation sweetener is promoted on the grounds of taste with up to 100 percent sugar replacement possible. This compares favorably with initial stevia launches that were mainly based on the Reb A extract and typically led to sugar reductions in the 30-40 percent mid-calorie arena.

“This is an evolution in this space. I tell people, if you haven’t tasted stevia in the past two years, you haven’t tasted stevia,” he says. “EverSweet, our newest addition to the Cargill portfolio, takes it that one step further, there is no bitterness and no taste linger,” he adds.

But there is still room for development. “Innovation never stops in sugar reduction. We are always looking for other ways in which we can improve our portfolio,” claims Ohmes. 

Visitors to Cargill’s booth could taste prototypes “to tempt your taste-buds,” including Craft Soda made with their EverSweet Sweetener Reduced Sugar Strawberry Drinkable Yogurt, Maple Breakfast Bites, Triple Chocolate Muffins, Nut & Fruit Bites, Reduced Sodium House Made Tortilla Chips, Reduced Sodium Strawberry Jalapeno Dip and Snickerdoodle Cookies (Non-GMO Project Verified).

At IFT 2018, Cargill also presented solutions to help customers optimize taste while reducing sodium content. Salt, or sodium chloride, helps enhance flavor profiles. However, there is growing concern about the amount of sodium people consume. Cargill offers solutions to help reduce the sodium content in food and beverage applications. 

Tom Katen, Senior Food Scientist and Processed Meat Specialist at Cargill also spoke with FoodIngredientsFirst: “Salt solutions mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. The FDA is driving consumer awareness around salt and at Cargill, we want to offer solutions to our customers that can help food taste better, but still be good for you.”

“We know that salt is a flavor enhancer, but it also depends on how you use salt and in which types of applications,” he notes. “In today’s industry, sea salt is the new salt and we can offer it as a flaked or granular salt, to suit the application.”

“Granular salts are very dense and a flaked salt has a greater coverage for a higher impact,” Katen explains. “So we can accomplish lower sodium with a more intense and flavorful profile.” 

“The big thing for us right now is potassium chloride. The way it is processed means there is no masking, reduced bitter notes, anti-caking properties and flow agents. Potassium chloride is just like salt, it has had a bad reputation, but we want to change that. It is necessary for things like nutritional beverages,” he says. “Salt can be perceived as boring, but in our world, there is a lot to say about it.” 

Cargill is encouraging manufacturers to take both a fresh look at stevia, arguably the most discussed sweetener in the last decade and salt, perhaps the most ubiquitous and established functional preservative and taste enhancer of all time. Both ingredients can meet the demands of “clean label seekers” who are shaking up both dairy product development and the food & beverage industry as a whole.

By Elizabeth Green & Robin Wyers