Tasty, true and meaningful: these buzzwords arose from the last edition of SIAL, one of the world’s largest food innovation exhibitions.

 

 

Pet food market experts know that innovations in the food market never take long to spread to pet food. The last edition of SIAL, which took place in Paris from the 21th to the 25th of October 2018, was a good opportunity to discover hot food market trends. And the first one that struck people visiting the show was the comeback of taste. Get inspired!

 

 

Back to taste

 

In recent years, strong consumer demand for healthy foods led brands to launch products with proven nutritional attributes, sometimes at the expense of savor. But as health-oriented as people can be, they still want to enjoy the foods they eat.

 

Premium and mid-range food brands thus deploy creativity to satisfy consumers’ taste buds. They bring a plethora of original aromas, flavors and textures to put forward new gustatory sensations and discoveries. A strong rise of ethnic-flavored products, promising a unique form of sensory travel, was observed during the show.

 

To create the most sophisticated experience possible, brands ennoble industrial food with premium ingredients or serving suggestions. And for consumers still mindful of their health, they favor recipes that preserve ingredients’ “original” and “real” taste.

 

Click on the pictures to discover tasty innovations from the SIAL

 

 

The age of true food

 

Answering consumers’ strong demand for transparency and commitment, products in the category “true foods,” i.e., more authentic, more natural, healthier, safer*, were everywhere in the fair.

 

More and more brands exhibiting at SIAL communicated the origin and production conditions of their products. They promoted their traceability in a desire to build trust and reassure consumers about what they eat.
The fair’s innovation corner was filled with a multitude of new products responding to the clean label trend, described as “Natural,” “Free from” and “Minimally processed.”

 

But the novelty this year was the rise of organic products. All categories of brands from large to small, and even private labels, added “Bio” products to their portfolios as the ultimate natural solution.

 

Click on the pictures to see “true foods” from the SIAL

 

 

Foods and the quest for meaning

 

Food players know that people no longer buy food to satisfy their basic needs. Instead, they choose products in line with their beliefs and lifestyle. Raised in the “you are what you eat” culture, today’s consumers have a running question when shopping: “what is the impact of the food I consume on my health and my environment?”

 

To give “meaning” to food, brands enrich their recipes with innovative super-ingredients believed to boost health. A variety of natural super foods such as berries, chia, kombucha, spinach or spirulina were found at the fair, in all categories of products.

 

Brands that manufacture their products in fair trade conditions do not hesitate to state their ethical commitment on their packaging.

 

Finally, veggie products seem to be the new solution chosen by food players to address both well-being and the expectations of ethical consumers. Satisfying vegetarians as well as flexitarians who prefer to reduce their meat consumption while opting for better quality, the vegetal phenomenon is spreading, with products that meet consumer desire for pleasing taste as well as convenience.

 

Click on the pictures to find out healthy ethical products from the SIAL

 

Source: This report was done in collaboration with Servane COBAC Category Manager Savory EMEA at Diana Food. It includes input from Kantar TNS, XTC world innovation and GIRA Conseil companies, which shared their expertise with SIAL visitors in the SIAL PARIS 2018 Press pack*.

Take-home points

  • Today’s consumers want to have delightful food experiences. Many foods launched at SIAL focus on taste.
  • The rising “true food” trend was everywhere in the show, with an increase in natural products and a focus on transparency in communication.
  • Commitment to certified processes such as organic is a good example of how companies seek to maintain trust.
  • More than feeding people, food must now match their beliefs and lifestyle. Vegetarian foods, on the rise this year, are an opportune solution for consumers seeking healthy and ethical products.