SupplySide West live: Kerr by Ingredion spotlights plant-based ingredient innovation in Las Vegas

26 Oct 2023 --- Kerr by Ingredion is presenting its diverse range of fruit and vegetable solutions that can help deliver desirable flavor, color and nutrition across various F&B applications. The company is currently showcasing its portfolio of juices, purees, concentrates, essences, distillates and custom formulations from both conventional and organic fruits and vegetables at SupplySide West 2023 (SSW) in Las Vegas, US.

As the trend for clean and simple ingredient labels continues to drive industry innovation, we explore how Ingredion by Kerr offers solutions that live up to consumer standards. 

Nutrition Insight reports live from the show floor at SSW, speaking with Gabriel Pereira, senior manager of business development at Kerr by Ingredion and Janae Kuc, senior marketing manager for beverages at Ingredion.

Sugar-reduced technologies 
One concept the company is presenting is a sports drink featuring Purecircle Reb M stevia and Astraea Allulose.

Kuc tells us: “We’re presenting a couple of different technologies with our concepts for SSW. Our sports drink contains stevia glycoside bioconverted Reb M and leverages our lemon juice concentrate from the Kerr by Ingredion portfolio.”

Kerr’s ingredients range can help deliver delicious and nutritious eating experiences (Image credit: Kerr).“Our second beverage is a ready-to-mix, vanilla protein beverage, which has 20 g of protein that comes from pea and rice isolate, meaning you have a full amino acid profile.” 

“This solution is also sugar-reduced with our category solutions for beverages. It’s also got a texturizer in there, which is great for rounding out that mouthfeel and creating a nice, silky consistency.”

Gelatin-free gummies
The company is also exhibiting reduced-sugar, gelatin-free gummies that are “rich in color and taste,” featuring Kerr’s sour cherry and red beet juice concentrates and Ingredion’s Purecircle Clean Taste Confectionery Solution.

According to Pereira, the gummy concept is designed to highlight two things: “One is our allulose coming from the ingredient portfolio, which we’re pairing with a red cherry. We’re also displaying our texturizers and some other elements in our portfolio.”

“We’ve used red beet juice, which gives it a nice deep red color, which brings to life the flavor and color appeal. This gummy is completely vegetarian, and we’ve been getting great feedback so far,” he explains. 

Reducing ingredient labels 
Kerr by Ingredion produces fruit and vegetable concentrates, purees and essences. Each product or custom blend brings the richness of the raw fruits and vegetables to light. Consumers are increasingly opting for labels with fewer ingredients or more known and trusted ingredients, such as fruits and vegetables. 

“What we’re working on and moving toward is trying to help our end users develop ingredient statements, and we’re finding that more and more, particularly in the gummy, juices and beverages category, people are really trying to shorten up those ingredient labels,” explains Pereira. 

“This is a trend that has been going on for a few years, but we’re finding that the people are even trying to winnow it down even further and trying to use more fruits and vegetables to deliver on some of the flavor profiles, and also to up sweetness without having to turn toward processed sugars necessarily.”

Turning up fiber 
Meanwhile, Kuc adds that “health and wellness trends continue to have that uptick,” predicting further innovation in the space. 

Gabriel Pereira, senior manager of business development at Kerr by Ingredion (left) and Janae Kuc, senior marketing manager for beverages at Ingredion (right).“We expect to see more trending in different types of beverages out there, especially tied to pre-, pro- and postbiotics,” she notes. 

“Regarding plant-based proteins, we also need fiber ingredients that support digestion and gut health.”

The company’s vanilla protein beverage also contains added fiber: inulin. “It’s possible to add ingredients like NutraFlora, a short-chain FOS. So it is very versatile and ticks boxes from a gut health perspective,” she summarizes. 

Pereira adds: “With our extensive breadth of ingredient solutions from the Kerr and Ingredion portfolio and deep formulation expertise, our experts can formulate for health and wellness innovation efficiently and effectively.”

“We’re eager for attendees to learn more about how we can address formulation challenges and deliver nutritious and delicious experiences that consumers will crave.”

By Elizabeth Green, with additional reporting by William Bradford Nichols in Las Vegas