Food & Beverage Asia June/July 2022

40
PROCESSING AND PACKAGING
Food preservation:
Natural, clean and safe
Discerning consumers are
driving the need for more
natural alternatives in food
preservation, to maintain
freshness and taste.
Herbs and spices have traditionally been used for food preservation for thousands of years
The consumer demand for minimally
processed foods has been rapidly
increasing. Today’s consumers
look for natural and nutritious
ingredients, free from additives
and excessive heating. This trend
is motivated by consumers’ new
consciousness as they become
more aware of the effects of
excessive heat in food that often
damage the ingredients, resulting
in sensorial and nutritional loss.
These sophisticated, well-informed
consumers are not only demanding
fresh foods that look as good as they
taste but also how those products
affect their health. In specialty
grocery stores and supermarkets,
we are seeing an increased presence
of fermented foods, from the now
ubiquitous live probiotic yoghurts to
a wide range of probiotic beverages
and foods such as kombucha tea,
kimchi, kefir, pickled vegetables
and sauerkraut. In short, the
fermentation process does
more than enhance flavours
— it also imparts a level of
acidity that helps to extend
the shelf life of products.
Across Asia-Pacific, FMCG Gurus
has shown that consumers want
products they deem to be natural.
This cuts across all demographic
groups with an average of 74%
stating they look for groceries
that are 100% natural. The importance
of natural products stems from
consumers associating these products
with a variety of benefits such as the
products being safer, healthier, better
quality, local, and more transparent.
These factors have become more
important to consumers over the last
18 months, FMCG Gurus reports.
To cater to the rising consumer
demand, food processors are diving
Food-grade gases like nitrogen not only prohibits
further wine fermentation but also the formation
of bacteria and mould in the bottle
deeper into the natural preservation
space with innovations, modern
technologies and ingredients to
keep labels as clean as possible.
“In the clean label space, much of the
success in preservation and shelf-life
extension are found when utilising
multiple products, methods and
technologies to achieve the desired
outcomes,” said Nalin Amunugama,
general manager, BOGE Kompressoren
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA JUNE / JULY 2022