Ingredion urges F&B manufacturers to meet consumer demands for healthier products

18 Jul 2023 --- Ingredion sees that food and nutrition manufacturers must navigate increasingly complex international value chains. At the same time, they must meet consumers’ continued demand for healthy and tasty products while addressing  additional requirements from governments and regulators. 

In the second of our two-part interview with the ingredient supplier, we look at food manufacturers’ challenges to meet demands and requirements for healthy products with the tastes, textures and prices consumers look for. 

“A majority of consumers globally are taking action more and more to live a healthier lifestyle and view nutrition as part of this quest to live a healthier lifestyle,” Lauretta Katsriku, Ingredion’s global platform leader for nutrition, health and wellness, tells Nutrition Insight. 

“At the end of the day, it’s our role to continue to innovate, to create ingredients that will generate nutritious and delicious solutions that make products not only better for you but also allow consumers to enjoy that eating experience.” 

Prioritizing consumer demands 
Consumers report that health is the number one driver of future F&B product development, even in financially challenging times. 

While Katsriku sees a growing interest in the wide variety of features and benefits from a consumer perspective, formulating or reformulating food and beverages is becoming more complex due to “factors such as cost, operational pressures from suppliers and the supply chain.” 

Many countries have instituted front-of-pack nutrition labeling to help consumers make healthier choices.“We know that our customers need to prioritize, so we support them in providing some of this data to showcase what consumers are looking for, to help them with that step,” she says.  

“There’s more pressure from governments and other regulatory bodies to not only better educate consumers on the nutritional value of products, but also to produce products or put products on the shelves that support a healthier lifestyle. In some countries, it can be very well pronounced, specifically around sodium, fat and sugar levels.”  

Katsriku notes that companies are not only formulating or reformulating to meet a specific region’s needs. “For example, looking at global accounts manufacturing in one country but supplying or selling in multiple countries. They have to navigate all the restricted nutrition requirements in different jurisdictions.” 

“It’s a complex process, taking all these different attributes into consideration,” she notes. 

Nutrition labeling for healthier choices 
Consumers are getting savvier and paying more attention to labeling and nutritional profiles of products they’re buying, explains Katsriku. 

“Many countries have instituted front-of-pack nutrition labeling to help consumers make healthier choices. These new packaging requirements are rolling out by country and region and are consistent with consumer trends.” 

She cautions that this adds another layer of complexity and challenges that manufacturers will face because they have to formulate more restrictive nutrition requirements that differ from country to country or region to region than they had to do previously. 

“These challenges are more pronounced now, as labels are playing a larger part in consumer decision-making. Consumers are reading labels or looking at ingredients and making specific choices based on that. It’s necessary for manufacturers to address these standards that would attract not only their loyal customers or consumers but also new consumers and maintain market share in the industry.”  

Katsriku notes that the challenges are dire and increasing. “It’s becoming a more challenging landscape for manufacturers compared to what it was in the past. Companies such as ours are here to provide solutions and support in prioritizing some of these challenges.”  

Ingredion leverages its research to identify appealing product attributes in taste, texture, types of claims and price.Actionable consumer insights 
Ingredion’s consumer insights aim to translate knowledge into action. The company takes a 360 view of all of the insights it gathers to create value for customers that will help to shape research programs, innovation and product development.

“Key outcomes of the research help to contribute to the creation of market-winning products in all kinds of categories or application categories,” explains Katsriku. 

“Everything we do is very driven by customers. We take those perspectives from the customer and use that knowledge to develop relevant things for the demographic we’re looking to target. That is a key driver for product development.” 

Ingredion leverages its consumer research to identify the most appealing product attributes for consumers, says Katsriku. “These include taste, texture and nutrition, types of claims, price points by category, country or region that guide product formulations.”  

“We combine our consumer insights with the expertise of our nutrition science team and R&D teams to help our customers navigate this complexity, helping them craft a better product strategy that delivers optimal combinations of benefits that will help them grow their brand or brand equity in general.”

“Everyone wants products that check most of these boxes,” concludes Katsriku. “I think that’s where a company such as Ingredion comes in because we are experts in textures and taste. We help manufacturers navigate some of the complexities of the increasing demand.” 

By Jolanda van Hal