A toast to good health

Quite clearly, a beverage is no longer just a matter of quenching thirst. These days the market also embraces liquid snacks and meal replacers, sports and energy drinks.

18/06/08 Beverages have a ready ability to meet consumers’ nutritional demands. Juices, dairy drinks and bottled mineral water, for example, have long been recognised for their intrinsically healthy image. Today though, consumer demands have moved on. Many want beverages to carry benefits that exceed what their natural nutrient content can provide, or they may look for an entirely new healthy element. This is where health and nutrition ingredients from Danisco can make the value-adding difference.

The fact is that health is many things to many people.  In the industrialised world, particularly, concern about obesity and related diseases grows in line with consumer girths. For some, a diet fortified with essential nutrients is the irrefutable way to a long and fulfilling life.  For others, the quality of basic amenities such as tap water may be the reason why they choose a safe and, thereby, healthier bottled alternative. Male or female, young or old, from region to region, consumer health needs invariably differ.

Right on target
Danisco offers strong support to manufacturers in developing beverages that target specific markets and consumer groups. A long-time supplier to the beverage sector, Danisco has ingredients with documented health benefits and innovative beverage concepts that combine health and convenience with an appealing taste and texture.

Marie-Jane Fallourd is beverage team knowledge manager, responsible for optimising the opportunities created by global beverage trends. As part of this effort, a new collaboration with leading flavour company Firmenich has been established to develop innovative beverage concepts.

“Health options clearly continue to drive growth on the beverage market in many regions. We focus on providing solutions that either have a proven nutritional effect or that, for example, restore mouthfeel in low sugar and fat beverages. With our application concepts, our intention is to serve as a source of inspiration for our customers’ new product development,” she says.

Major health needs
Danisco’s nutritional ingredients cover sweeteners, probiotics and fibres.  Within these categories lie countless opportunities to develop beverage products that stimulate digestive and immune health, promote weight management and reduce glycaemic response.

“Our specialist expertise in these areas enables us to meet many of the global markets’ major demands - whether for natural sugar alternatives in light carbonates or concentrates, fibre addition in bottled water or probiotic cultures in dairy-based drinks or fruit juices,” adds Marie-Jane Fallourd.

Alternative sweeteners and speciality carbohydrates have high potential in healthy beverages. Here they provide an effective means of reducing sugar, fat and calories. For diabetics and other consumers on low glycaemic diets, sweeteners are a particularly beneficial option due to their low glycaemic response. Years of scientific study have also documented the benefits of Danisco’s speciality carbohydrates as efficient dietary fibres and prebiotics.

Danisco’s leading probiotic cultures, marketed under the HOWARU™ brand name, are attracting a growing following.  Comprising specially selected strains, HOWARU probiotics have been specifically tested in dairy drinks and many fruit juices, where they have shown excellent survival rates throughout shelf life Their freeze-dried format also allows for easy enrichment of juice beverages in powdered form. A consumer-friendly marketing package is available to help beverage manufactures communicate the science behind HOWARU™ to consumers and health professionals.

“Used on product labels, our HOWARU™ logo is an eye-catching backup to claims of immune and digestive health benefits,” says Marie-Jane Fallourd.

In defence of quality
The powerful functional support of Danisco textural ingredients ensures that the provision of health benefits and sensory appeal go hand in hand.  GRINDSTED Pectin, for instance, is used to improve mouthfeel in reduced sugar beverages, stabilise protein in acidified products such as drinking yogurt and formulate calcium- fortified acidified dairy beverages. In high-fruit juices, GRINDSTED JU Stabiliser Systems are designed to maintain fruit pulp in suspension and improve overall stability throughout shelf life.

Functional ingredients can also be used to get more out of a fruit or vegetable’s natural nutrient content.  Danisco’s PEKTOZYME™ MAXJuice is an enzyme that ensures a higher proportion of the fibre and antioxidants in, for example, apple is extracted along with the juice.

Maximum opportunity
Quite clearly, a beverage is no longer just a matter of quenching thirst. These days the market also embraces liquid snacks and meal replacers, sports and energy drinks and, increasingly, beverages that claim to enhance the functioning of the brain, relieve stress or adjust the mood.

“Consumer demands are at their highest ever level - as are the opportunities for manufacturers to innovate new healthy beverage products,” says Marie-Jane Fallourd. “At Danisco, we work with manufacturers to develop differentiating solutions that are both simple and fast and maximise the nutritional potential of the beverage overall.”

The annual growth forecast for the world beverage market in the years ahead has got a lot to do with the consumer push towards healthier products. Danisco’s proposition to the beverage industry is unique. For manufacturers, it’s the short road to the market for beverages with documented claims, great appeal and all the convenience consumers could want.