Ingredia unveils functional milk proteins for health and comfort snacking

03 Dec 2020 --- Ingredia has launched two new functional milk proteins – Promilk Yogfluid and Promilk B Max – providing more health-driven solutions for creamy, permissible indulgent dairy products for snacking on-the-go. 

The ingredients are being showcased during FiE Connect 2020. 

According to Ingredia, Promilk Yogfluid has been specially developed for high-protein drinking yogurts, with the ability to raise the protein content up to 12 percent. 

It has the “pleasant fluidity and creaminess of an unctuous yogurt and a good natural milky taste,” the company notes.

Ingredia is also launching Promilk B-Max, a functional milk protein that acts as a clean label texturizer for indulgent dairy products. 

“With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are now even more conscious of their diet than ever before. They want to stay healthy and are also looking for comforting products,” Alienor Drago, senior product manager at Ingredia, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.Promilk B-Max is positioned to eliminate the need for certain hydrocolloids in dairy products. 

Drinkable yogurts rise
Promilk Yogfluid was developed with high-protein drinking yogurts in mind, which according to Drago is “trending in the health food segment.”

Drinking yogurt is an ideal on-the-go snack for active consumers, as a breakfast replacement, or a healthy in-between meal snack, she asserts.

Promilk Yogfluid enables Ingredia to meet consumer’s three key product demands: health, mobility and pleasure.

“We wanted to keep the creaminess of yogurt, but also to be able to drink it easily to have an enjoyable snack on the move,” Drago adds. 

The company reports it targeted 10 percent of protein in drinking yogurt as this is what is frequently seen on the market.

Moreover, protein-enriched foods are now taken by mainstream consumers looking for healthy snacking options, which offer enhanced satiety effect and energy benefits.

“We’ve had very positive feedback from manufacturers who requested to taste samples and Promilk Yogfluid is already being tested for NPD,” she explains. 

Enhancing dairy’s appeal
Clean label is now part of our daily vocabulary; it defines several consumption trends linked to health and sustainability, Drago notes.

In line with this, Ingredia’s Promilk B-Max functional protein is positioned to enhance dairy while appealing to “free from” demands. 

Example applications include fresh cheese mousse without gelatin or cream cheese without carrageenan. Ingredia accomplished a “world’s first” by making all of its eco-friendly dairy ingredients traceable in real time with QR code and blockchain technology. 

“Industry is looking for clean label solutions to simplify labeling and have products with well-known ingredients,” observes Drago. 

“Our R&D team has had many requests to reduce or remove stabilizers in formulations,” she adds.

Clean label expands 
According to Innova Market Insights, clean label is increasingly important in new dairy launches. 

Data from the market researcher reveals that the Dairy sector is the second fastest-growing market in terms of product launches with clean label or natural claims (+13.7 percent), after Baby Food (Innova Database 2020).

More than one product out of three launched globally appeals to the clean label trend and for 40 percent of consumers, “clean label” means “free from artificial ingredients,” reports Ingredia. 

The definition of clean label trend is continually expanding, as highlighted in Innova Market Insights’ number one Top Ten Trend for 2021: “Transparency Triumphs.”

“Consumers want natural and simple products with familiar ingredients,” affirms Drago. 

Furthermore, Ingredia has made strides in what it calls “total transparency.” Ingredia’s range of eco-friendly dairy ingredients – from non-GMO and grass-fed cows, 100 percent from the Haut-de-France – are tracked in real time with blockchain technology. 

“With a QR code on the finished product, the consumer knows exactly from which farm the milk comes from, a first worldwide,” Drago explains. 

More to come in dairy 
Innovation in healthy snacking has not finished its development, it is a very dynamic market, especially in dairy products, she states. 

“Dairy products are part of those safe and sure products that are healthy and indulgent. With high-protein drinking yogurts, we’re really tapping into consumers’ expectations for good, healthy, simple and comforting foods,” concludes Drago. 

By Missy Green, with additional reporting by Gaynor Selby