Better nutrition is the key ingredient for growth in 2024

And though “better” nutrition can be subjective, the point remains that consumers value brands and products that help them take a step — however big or small — towards living healthier lives. That means they’re reading labels and comparing nutrition claims side-by-side in the supermarket aisle. 

Three ways to shift purchase dynamics: the critical moment at the shelf

1. First impression
Front-of-pack claims are the primary lens through which consumers view a product’s core offering, positioning and benefits.

2. Consumers ask, “What’s in it for me?”
The relative differences in the nutrition panel between product offerings in the same category can drive significant changes in purchase behaviour. Added grams of protein and fibre, reduced levels of sugar, sodium and different types of fat are key decision drivers for nutrition-savvy consumers leading a variety of lifestyles.

3. Keeping it clean and simple
Ingredient lists also offer a number of opportunities to influence the purchase decision. Some seek organic, some seek clean label and others are looking to avoid specific “trigger” ingredients. Many major food and beverage brands have built their business and driven market share with clean label ingredient panels and minimal ingredients. 

Build your business and brand equity with (re)formulation strategies that drive product superiority and consumer preference.

For food and beverage manufacturers who want to fuel their product improvement pipeline, they need a partner who can develop reformulation strategies that maximise consumer preference, advance product superiority relative to the competition and manage regulatory risk on the horizon. Delivering more value and driving significant growth in the market is there for the taking, but the key is to know exactly what those consumer preferences are and develop products that meet increasing nutritional expectations AND hit the mark for deliciousness sure to drive repeat purchase. It is possible to provide new features and benefits AND the familiar eating experience offered by your brand’s signature flavour and that just right texture. 

That's where a strategic, value-adding partner like Ingredion comes in. With our global ATLAS database, we help our customers identify the actionable consumer-driven food and beverage trends that can energise categories and strengthen consumers’ willingness to pay more. ATLAS is the largest proprietary global research program examining consumer trends, including attitudes and behaviours towards key ingredients and benefits within the food and beverage industry. ATLAS enables us to uncover more consumer value — both demand and pricing power. The scale of the survey allows us to understand the impact of different benefit combinations by region, category and ingredient. For example, we can help our customers discern the business value of increased protein and reduced sugar in yoghurt for specific Asian and European markets.   

In addition to our consumer and market insights, we help create innovative solutions and add more consumer value with our extensive formulation experience and comprehensive portfolio of on-trend, consumer-preferred ingredients commonly associated with nutrition, health and wellness.

Partner with us to create more consumer value in these key trends

Formulate for incremental nutrition improvement.

The road for consumers to live healthier lifestyles is paved with small, incremental steps towards their goals. They look to manufacturers to offer products that add more of a beneficial ingredient, such as added protein or fibre, or to formulate with less of something, like fewer grams of sugar, salt and fat, and by removing anything artificial, including flavours and colours. Increasingly, they want to see ingredient lists become simpler and more transparent with a more clean label approach, but not at the expense of taste. 

The same incremental approach applies to (re)formulation activities as well. Consumers are sensitive to big changes all at once, but the cumulative effect of smaller, iterative formulation adjustments over time allows manufacturers to build a pipeline of value-added product improvements while meticulously maintaining or improving preferred, proprietary taste profiles at the core of their brand’s success. These changes can include creating offerings with more natural ingredients with inherent nutritional advantages or substituting, reducing or even eliminating ingredients consumers actively seek to avoid, all while communicating those changes on the packaging. And, of course, the move to clean label products bolstered by functional and fortified ingredients is a top priority in today’s reformulation trends.    

Overcome your nutrition (re)formulation challenges

Critical to delivering share-winning products is the ability to formulate with the satisfying taste your consumers expect AND the right combination of enhanced nutrition benefits to meet their needs, but balancing what consumers want with delivering cost-effective products can be challenging.  

Ingredion has the ingredient and application expertise to enable new formulation or reformulation that delivers on consumer-preferred nutrition, health and wellness claims AND an exceptional eating experience. Grounded in leading-edge science, we can help you dial in formulas that offer the right mix of product features and benefits that appeal to more consumers AND satisfy their multiplying needs while maintaining great taste. It’s a concept we call Own the AND^SM, but it’s not about having all the ANDs; it’s about formulating for the right ANDs to put your brand in the best possible position for accelerated growth. 

Put your (re)formulation strategy into action

Our extensive and versatile ingredient portfolio combined with our technical expertise can help you develop consumer-preferred products that stand out among the competition in your category. Some examples include: