Food & Beverage Asia June/July 2020

ON THE TABLE 41
eventual flavours, as she continued, “For instance, if a beverage
manufacturer wants to flavour a carbonated soft drink, depending
if the beverage is full of sugar or is using sweeteners, the
manufacturer might use one flavour over another to help mask
the sweeteners’ off notes and bring back freshness.”
To ensure the authenticity of flavours and nutrients, she suggested
that food and beverage manufacturers need to have the full
understanding of:
• The original flavour at a molecular and sensorial level.
• The expectations of consumers and deliver what they expect.
One example occurs in vanilla ice cream, where French
consumers expect a beany taste while English consumers
are looking for a creamy taste.
• The ingredients of the food and recipe to select the most
adapted flavours. For instance, the same flavour might not
deliver the same taste in water versus in a yoghurt.
• The process used to produce food or beverage as, for
example, a thermal process will have an impact on the flavour
and the nutrient.
“At Kerry, our end-to-end capabilities help customers create
products that offer taste and nutrition. And that’s how we see the
future – food that provides better nutrition, with a lower impact on
the planet but that stays authentic and enjoyable. And authentic
and natural is exactly where Kerry plays,” Garcia-Perrin explained.
“For example, whether we are speaking about a meat-free burger,
a plant-protein shake or a reduced sugar beverage, Kerry has the
capability and expertise to develop better-for-you products that
taste great while supporting consumers' wellness.”
On wellness, organic food is believed to have a positive influence
on one’s health and well-being. Kerry’s Acryleast acrylamidereducing
yeast has recently received “organic suitable” status in
the European Union (EU). This status positions Acryleast as an
organic-suitable acrylamide-reducing processing aid available in
either the EU or the US, allowing it to be used as an ingredient in
the production of organic foods such as children’s biscuits, baked
goods, crackers, bread and others.
This new designation for Acryleast comes at a time when the EU
Commission and member states have agreed to soon set maximum
allowable levels of acrylamide in young children’s food categories
such as biscuits, rusks, and processed cereal-based foods. The
EU Commission will also begin discussions with member states
on the possible setting of maximum levels in foodstuffs for other
age groups as they conduct a review of existing benchmark levels.
And with COVID-19, consumers are changing their lifestyles
more than ever, driven by concerns about their health, and they
increasingly consider organic foods beneficial to their health. In
France, for example, 49% of consumers agree that organic food
is healthier than non-organic. The organic market continues to
see sales growth, with the European organic sector recording
expansion of 11% – from €33.5 billion (US$36.7 billion) to €37.3
billion (US$40.9 billion) – from 2016 to 2017. A Mintel study
further pointed out that, with 17% of food and drink products
launched in Europe carrying organic claims, this category needed
a “suitable and effective” solution for acrylamide reduction.
Garcia-Perrin concluded, “Consumers today are increasingly
looking for food that is authentic and natural, new and exciting,
better for you and sustainable.
It’s a lot for manufacturers to
consider. Consumers want it all
so taste, ingredients and nutrition
are becoming more and more
interconnected. To deliver great
foods and beverages to consumers,
manufacturers need to have a clear
understanding of all these elements,
what each of them brings to their
recipe and also how they interact
with each other’s attributes.
“What consumers look for in food
and drink is always changing –
which keeps the industry innovating
– but the one constant is that
people want products that taste
great.” FBA
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA JUNE / JULY 2020