Tate & Lyle’s insight into global consumer ingredient perception

“55% of global consumers say they expect snacks to offer a nutritional boost, so manufacturers must keep this in mind when formulating new snacks in the coming months, whether it is reducing calories or enriching products with functional ingredients,”​ said Greet Vandeputte, category development manager for Bakery and Taste & Lyle Europe.

According to the company’s Global Consumer Ingredient Perception Research – conducted across 14 countries in 2020 – 46% of consumers said they snacked more during the pandemic, while six in ten (58%) believe their snacking habits will continue even after the pandemic ends.

“Although the ingredients are an important factor, taste is still the dominant factor impacting buying behaviour. The Tate & Lyle team is working closely with a number of manufacturers to help them achieve these goals with our broad portfolio of ingredients solutions.”​

Sugar reduction

Vandeputte said consumers are looking for ways to get healthy and stay healthy.

“One recommendation to achieve better health is to reduce the amount of sugar in their diet. However, consumers are torn between reducing sugar and maintaining a great taste experience.​

“Many sweeteners are significantly sweeter than sucrose, so they are used at very low levels. But these options generally only provide sweetness without the other functional attributes of sucrose. This can impact the appearance, texture and mouthfeel of baked snacks, so may require a complete recipe change to compensate for this.”​

Tate & Lyle produces a soluble fibre solution, along with a range of texturants and functional clean label starches that help to build back mouthfeel and body often missing from reduced calorie baked snacks.

“Additionally, they can overcome processing challenges that are created by removing calories from formulations, too,”​ added Vandeputte.

Gut health

It is widely known that – despite its role in improving digestive health – the diets of UK adults are still significantly shy of the recommended daily amount.

“This has led to what is referred to as the ‘fibre gap’ – a widening discrepancy between how much fibre we should consume, and how much we actually have in our diets. Indeed, 75% of consumers globally say they do not eat or drink products that contain fibre on a daily basis.”​

Again, Tate & Lyle comes to the fore with its soluble fibre, which enables enable bakers increase the fibre content of their goods, without compromising on the taste or texture that consumers love.

Transparency

Consumers are increasingly demanding to know the source of the ingredients in their snacks.

“The clean label movement continues to evolve, moving from all-natural claims to communicating how products are made,”​ said Vandeputte.

“However, it is vital to ensure that texture and stability is maintained without the use of what consumers may consider as artificial products, while still delivering the perfect taste and colour.”​

This is where the specialist’s soluble fibre really shines, as it can simply labelled as ‘soluble corn fibre’, helping manufacturers maintain their clean label credentials.