Page 31 - Food & Drink Magazine July 2018

This is why retaining taste must be a primary consideration during reformulation.
Manufacturers are faced with the challenge of altering the amount of sugar, salt and fat in a product while ensuring changes in flavour are undetectable. A taste modulation product can enhance the sensory perception of these ingredients, providing a healthier label and a product that still delivers on taste.
2. MORE THAN FLAVOUR
Sugar, salt and fat have a much bigger role to play in foods and beverages than just flavour; they are instrumental in texture, colouration and more. Sugar acts as a preservative for jams, provides volume and tenderness for baked goods, and is a texturant for ice cream.
In addition to seasoning and preserving foods and beverages, salt helps enhance the colour
of meats, binds them together and improves tenderisation; and also acts as a hardening agent in cheeses.
Fat can aid mouthfeel and the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in olive oil, avocados, nuts and fish are touted for their
healthful effects.
As sugar, salt and fat are
reduced, the attributes that come with these ingredients are important
to note. When low-fat ice cream is watery or
low-sugar cookies are too hard, the reformulation process needs adjusting.
Manufacturers must continue to test ways to add back the beneficial
qualities of these ingredientswhile preserving taste and enhancing health.
Some taste modulation ingredients meet these requirements. Brands that approach reformation with the intention of making better-for- you products that taste and feel as good as the original will be well-positioned in the market.
3. A TASTE FOR HEALTH
While taste and texture preservation is necessary for maintaining brand appeal, food fortification, or the addition of new or more readily absorbable nutrients, is an area ripe with growth opportunities, thanks to its ability to cater to emerging consumer segments.
In Asia, there’s a growing demand for fortified products, including a new interest in replacing nutrients lost during manufacturing, and improving food to address under-nutrition in developing countries.
The deliberate process of fortification can make it a desirable marketing option for manufacturers looking to differentiate. For example, the recent focus on digestive health has led to the next generation of functional ingredients like probiotics, and new products like kombucha.
Environmental changes may also make fortification more attractive, and necessary. Studies have found that rising carbon dioxide levels can reduce protein in staples like wheat and rice, and may affect the iron content of other crops, so fortification of these may become the new normal.
Fortification can even be applied successfully to improve products that have been reformulated in other ways. For example, lactose intolerance is quite high among some subgroups in Asia. With the exploding popularity of dairy around the region, companies that reformulate and fortify products to remove lactose and add easily absorbable calcium will have a built-in consumerbase. ✷
✷ ABOUTTHEAUTHOR
Parth Patel is the Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa (APMEA) vice president of marketing
and strategic planning at
global ingredients company Kerry.
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | July 2018 | Food&Drink business | 31