South America: Innovation awards spotlight vegan, clean label and nutrient-rich solutions

23 Aug 2019 --- At this year’s 23rd Food ingredients South America (FiSA) Innovation Awards (20-22 August), Seara, Produza Foods, Duas Rodas and Naturex were announced as the companies with the highest-scoring ingredients and products in their respective categories. The winners were unveiled the first day of the trade show, held at the Transamerica Expo Center in São Paulo, Brazil.

The Fi Innovation Awards 2019 spotlighted several food innovations touted for their vegan, clean label and nutrient-rich offerings. In the scope of the buoyant trend of “natural” product offerings, Innova Market Insights reports a 13 percent CAGR in food & beverage launches with a clean label claim (Global, 2013-2017). Products with this type of positioning accounted for 29 percent of global new food & beverage launches in 2017.

With food, health, organic and natural ingredients solutions, FiSA, is positioned as the most comprehensive food ingredients event in Latin America. Each year the fair brings together approximately 750 exhibiting brands and more than 10,800,000 qualified professionals, national and international, from 40 countries.

At the closing of the awards ceremony, FiSA Manager Márcia Gonçalves comments, “We observe special attention from the industry in making products with ever-increasing quality ingredients. Care is taken to create alternatives for people with food restrictions and creations that can broaden the range of vegans. This constant improvement is also encouraging people who consume animal products to try new meatless options, for example [translated from Portuguese].”

Winners in each category gained recognition across industry and may use the Fi Innovation Awards seal on their products.

Seara won first place in the Most Innovative Product category, with its Nature product line.Most Innovative Product
Brazillian meat processor Seara was the first place winner in the Most Innovative Product category, with its Nature product line. Nature products comprise only natural preservatives, marketed as clean label goods. Within this line are eight offerings made with ingredients such as rosemary, celery and acerola extract, which have preservative properties and do not change the taste of food, according to the brand.

Super Bom’s Burger Gourmet Vegan product placed second in this category. The burger is a fully plant-based (pea) vegan patty with aroma, taste, color and texture similar to that of animal origin. The patty contains 15g of protein, contributing to daily protein requirements.

Atlhetica Nutrition’s Best Vegan product, marketed as “Brazil's first gourmet vegetable protein, focused on taste, with innovative formulation,” won third place in this category. The brand highlights the absence of a strong residual taste of vegetable protein in its products, while keeping the amount of protein per serving ideal for the market. The offering has four protein sources, free from transgenics, while being made from natural sweeteners and low in sodium.

Most Innovative Functional Product
Organic chia seeds producer Oluza from Produza Foods was announced as the Most Innovative Functional Product overall category winner. Oluza’s “farm to table” chia seeds are pegged as rich in Omega 3, 6, and 9 as well as containing fibers, proteins, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. 

Most Innovative Ingredient Champion
Natural ingredients manufacturer Duas Rodas placed first in FiSA’s Most Innovative Ingredient Champion category. The company exhibited its aroma-enhancing ingredient, which offers high temperature resistance and extends aroma life within the food product, as well as inhibiting oxidation in citrus aromas, according to the company. “We started this project from scratch. We have been discovering over two years of work,” says Iselde Kelbert, Flavor Development Manager of Duas Rodas.

DuPont’s Danisco VEGE was awarded second place in this category. The portfolio of cultures is specially formulated for the fermented plant-based products market. Danisco VEGE Cultures have been developed for a wide variety of plant-based raw materials, such as soy, coconut, nuts, oat, maize, rice, fruits and vegetables, to satisfy consumer taste and texture expectations; from fresh, clean and mild flavors, through to acidic profiles.

Ingredion’s Versasweet 1024 product line was awarded third place in this category. The line is designed to reduce the amount of sugar in foods and beverages, replacing the sweetness and functionality of sugar, while offering consumers “the experience they are looking for in sweets, dairy, ice cream and bakery products, but with less sugar.” The ingredient comes in two versions: liquid (syrup) and powder, and provides a 25 to 67 percent reduction in sugar compared to standard corn syrups and solids.

Most Innovative Functional IngredientThe Most Innovative Functional Ingredient award was handed to the Ultimine from Naturex.
The Most Innovative Functional Ingredient award was handed to the Ultimine from Naturex. Ultimine is marketed as a whole food and fermented mineral obtained from koji, a natural, clinically proven bioavailable source of minerals that delivers significant improvements to iron/mineral levels and can help prevent iron/mineral deficiency. For over centuries, Koji has been used to make popular Asian fermented foods like soy sauce, miso, amazake and sake. Koji fermentation relies on the microorganism, Aspergillus oryzae. Also known as “miracle mold,” Koji is becoming popular in Western markets to elevate taste and texture of foods, the brand notes. Thanks to its palatability, Ultimine can be used in a wide variety of nutritional applications.

Naturex’s TurmiPure GOLD Curcumin-Standardized Turmeric Extract placed second in this category. The extract is formulated to have five times lower dosage than a conventional turmeric extract while exhibiting the same functionality. In addition, the product is water-soluble, for applications in food and beverages. TurmiPure is marketed as a 100 percent natural and certified organic product, with the potential of replacing synthetic anti-inflammatory drugs that offer a similar performance.

GELITA’s Tendoforte collagen bioactive peptides placed third in this category. The peptides target the ligaments and tendons with a mechanism that contributes to a reduction in the incidence of injuries and a quick recovery. The product is optimized to stimulate biosynthesis (natural production of by the human body) of new extracellular matrix molecules, for healthier tendons and ligaments.

By Benjamin Ferrer