Vegetable innovation: Versatility appeals to adventurous consumers, abundant plant-based NPD

07 Aug 2019 --- The versatility of vegetables, as well as their appeal to social-media-minded, adventurous consumers, is driving NPD across food and beverage categories. Vibrant vegetables are taking center stage as a key ingredient across multiple applications. These include coloring confectionery, flavoring yogurts, being used as sustainable alternatives to meat and as an “effective sugar reducing vehicle”. Vegetable innovation is abundant and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Netherlands-based &samhoud food has just developed a vegan hot dog, containing nine vegetables, with two-star Michelin chef Moshik Roth. Dutch discount store-chain, HEMA, will be stocking the product from this week to keep pace with increasing consumer demand for sustainable, meat-free food.

“The objective was not to imitate the current meat variant, but to develop a tasty alternative to vegetables,” says Roth. “We want to inspire people to eat more vegetables.” The colorful vegetable hot dog contains visible pieces of bell pepper, carrot and eggplant, and is traditionally-made and smoked. Vegetables offer more flavor and are a more sustainable alternative than soy, notes &samhoud. The sauce and the sandwich are also vegan. 

Innovating food of the future is a hot topic for manufacturers and retailers, as more people incorporate healthy and sustainable diets into their lifestyles. The market for vegan products is booming and is set to grow further. Dutch chain HEMA will begin stocking a vegan hot dog that contains nine vegetables. Plant-based or vegan positioned products are clearly gaining increased shelf-space as consumers become more open to the idea of a diet that doesn’t include animal products. 

Innova Market Insights reports that there has been a 45 percent average annual growth of food and beverage launches with a vegan positioning (CAGR, 2013-2017). These products increased their market penetration in Europe from 1.5 percent in 2013 to 7 percent in 2017.

Within the vegan meat space, trends were also highlighted in a 2018 Innova Market Insights consumer survey, which showed one in five US consumers “have eaten less meat across the past year.” Meat substitutes accounted for 14 percent of global meat launches in the first nine months of 2018, up from 6 percent in 2013, the market researcher reports. There has been considerable activity and innovation from new plant-based meat brands targeting opportunities for good-tasting, nutritious and sustainable options among vegetarians, vegans, meat-reducers and flexitarians.

Delivering sweetness through vegetables
When it comes to formulating new products, today’s trends mean manufacturers need to achieve more with less to deliver appealing color or reduced sugar, as well as delivering taste and nutrition.

Johan Cerstiaens, Commercial Director, SVZ tells FoodIngredientsFirst how within beverages, the company’s largest sector, vegetables, are “the stars of the show right now.”

Vegetables can help reduce artificial colorings and flavors.“This is thanks to several factors, including their ability to create completely different taste profiles, which appeal to the adventurous consumers identified by Innova Market Insights as the top food industry trend for 2019,” he says. “But vegetables are also being used as an effective sugar reduction vehicle too. Consumers are aware that 100 percent fruit juices contain a fairly high level of naturally-occurring sugar. While this is preferable to added sugar or artificial sweeteners, vegetables can be used to deliver sweetness in a slightly healthier way. Beetroot, sweet potato and rhubarb are some good examples.” 

It’s essential to keep the clean and clear label trend in mind and using premium processed vegetables (and fruit) helps to pack in natural nutrition and sweetness and enable brands to reduce or even eliminate less desirable ingredients such as artificial colorings, flavors and sweeteners. 

Adding vibrant colors without the “nasties” is one of the biggest challenges that fruit and vegetable purees and concentrate can address, explains Cerstiaens. “In today’s social media-driven world, color is an excellent differentiator in many categories and SVZ’s range of 100 percent natural coloring foods can leverage nature’s gifts to provide the hues consumers seek. Beets, for example, can impart peppy red vibrancy, or purple can be obtained with purple carrots or elderberry,” he says. 

“Fruit concentrates and fruit purees are also a good alternative to replace artificial sweeteners and enrich the nutritional profile of applications such as energy drinks. At the same time, vegetable puree and concentrates can help balance the sugar content of drinks without affecting taste.”

SVZ doesn’t manufacture flavors in the strictest sense, explains Cerstiaens. “Our flavor offering is effectively natural fruit and vegetable purees and concentrates which can be added to beverage, dairy, bakery and confectionery applications to deliver 100 percent natural flavor profiles,” he says. 

Grown-up flavors are appearing in the ice cream segment. As well as expanding which fruits and vegetables the company offers, SVZ is diversifying the formats they are available in and is on the verge of launching the honeyberry puree. Rich in vitamin C, polyphenols and antioxidants, it responds to the growing demand for superfoods. 

“The second development we’re working on is the expansion of our organic offering. Although it’s still a small part of the overall food and drink industry, organic is experiencing double-digit growth and permeating more categories than ever before. So, of course, we want to support our customers in developing organic product lines, as well as being part of the journey for small producers just starting.” 

Savory yogurts and ice cream
As a result of the sugar reduction trend, savory yogurts and ice cream are also coming to the fore. With some vegetables containing 40 percent less sugar on average than fruit, brands under pressure to limit sugar content are rediscovering savory flavors and experimenting with vegetable purees. US brands Chobani and Blue Hill, for example, offer pumpkin, beetroot and carrot varieties of their natural yogurt ranges, while in Europe consumers can sample Arla’s Protein Greens in flavors including kale, lime and mango, notes Cerstiaens.

Ice cream manufacturers seeking to reposition their ice cream for adult tastes are launching varieties with sophisticated flavor combinations. Grown-up flavor combinations such as avocado and lime, bell pepper, ginger and iced tea are starting to appear in the fruit ice cream segment, while new vegetable-based varieties such as cucumber, pumpkin, and kale are set to ensure ice cream secures its position in the adult mindset.

By Gaynor Selby