WILD Highlights Fruity Flavors to Target Middle Eastern Consumers at Gulfood

Due to the hot climate in the Middle East, consumption of non-alcoholic beverages is at a high level. At Gulfood, WILD provides manufacturers further good reasons to develop new beverages. The company showcases its new product concepts and ingredients for carbonates, still drinks and energy drinks.

25 Feb 2013 --- Population throughout the Middle East is growing fast and is disproportionately young compared to Europe or the United States. For manufacturers, there is great potential to be tapped in the regional markets.

Carbonated soft drinks (CSD) are the largest volume segment in the Middle East. To give growth impulses to this highly competitive market, WILD presents new flavors for this segment, such as mango for tropical beverage concepts. The latest flavor development by WILD is natural guarana, a trend coming from Latin America. Guarana is well known from energy drinks. Guarana flavors therefore provide carbonated soft drinks an authentic taste that is reminiscent of these popular drinks.

Also new to the company’s flavor portfolio for CSD are mint flavors. Be it peppermint or spearmint, WILD combines them with citrus flavors, thus creating refreshing thirst quenchers. Manufacturers can achieve further impetus with WILD’s new “cloudy lemon” concept. It contains 3% juice and therefore sets itself apart from existing products.

Malt beverages are as popular as ever in the Middle East. With WILD’s concepts and ingredients, manufacturers have the chance to participate in this growing segment: they can choose between pure products and variants with juice content. Particularly for the Middle Eastern palate, WILD has developed malt drinks with apple or pineapple juice.

The fruit-juice beverage segment also gives manufacturers potential for further growth. At Gulfood, WILD presents its expanded competence in this segment after having acquired the global juice business from Cargill in 2012. WILD’s product ideas include still drinks with fruit pieces. They provide a high mouthfeel indulgence and meet consumer demands in the Middle East towards beverages with an intensive fruit flavor profile.

New to WILD’s portfolio are juice drinks that combine fruit juice and sweet dessert flavors. These ”Delicious Duo” concepts are presented to beverage manufacturers for the first time. In Dubai, WILD showcases a combination of apple and pear juice with toffee flavor. Further combinations are perfectly possible, too, as long as the fruit juice and the dessert flavor harmonize in taste. Furthermore, at Gulfood WILD shows that mint and citrus can be perfectly combined in still juice drinks just like in CSD.

Energy drinks are ever-growing throughout the world, and the Middle East is no exception. WILD’s portfolio ranges from traditional energy drinks to variants with new flavor directions or products containing juice. Manufacturers can choose between a juice content ranging up to 50% with virtually any kind of fruit juice.

At Gulfood, WILD also presented its fruit flavors which have been designed to suit the preferences of consumers in the Middle East. The most popular fruits here are mango, orange and strawberry. The flavors can be used in different applications such as hard candies, jelly gums or tablets. A further favorite is mint, and manufacturers can use pure peppermint or a spearmint variety in products such as chewing gum. Another popular alternative is combining mint and fruit such as pineapple or melon, which can be used to great effect in tablets and chewing gum.

Taste is not the only thing that matters ? food has to be a feast for the eyes as well. This is why WILD is presenting its extensive portfolio of colors at Gulfood, too: everything from different reds and yellows all the way to shades of blue and green. WILD's colors feature high levels of stability and are ideal for many different food applications.

Not only are flavored foods sought-after products: there is also great demand for products which contain fruit. WILD's fruit powder is something that can help manufacturers respond to this trend. It enables them to give food a fruit content which can then be declared on the label. WILD's fruit powder is available in several different flavors. It can be used in a wide variety of food applications such as the dairy cream in sandwich cookies and chocolate, or in chewing gum and tablets.

For the first time, WILD is presenting its portfolio of Sunwin Stevia, sweeteners which come from a natural source. Manufacturers can learn more about WILD's many product concepts which can be made with the zero-calorie sweetener. WILD's product palette also includes Fruit Up, the natural fruit extract. In Dubai, WILD shows both Fruit Up and Sunwin Stevia not only as an ingredient that can be used in foods and beverages. The company also presents each sweetener in a table-top version. This allows manufacturers to distribute stevia as well as Fruit Up as a finished product, thus bringing a natural alternative in the highly competitive segment of table-top sweeteners to the market.