Key contemporary food trends in the spotlight this year include a natural approach to formulation, a heightened focus on the environment and ethics, greater pleasure aligning with food choices, and a digital transformation of industry. 

Ahead of attending the SIAL 2022 event in Paris, France, FoodIngredientsFirst catches up with key exhibitors at the show, who are presenting a swathe of new offerings in line with these themes, including a next-gen rollout of cheese alternatives and nutritionally packed dairy-based functional ingredients for slow digestion.

In the beverage space, “hard juices and hard lemonades” are seeing a surge in interest among consumers who seek out low-alcoholic sips made with clean and flavorsome ingredients.

Next-gen vegan cheese performance
DMK Group is presenting a new vegan cheese alternatives for industry and gastronomy professionals. In addition to its recently launched “Velander” browning and melting cheese, the company has developed two newer vegan cheese alternatives, which will be launched at the beginning of 2023.

Under DMK’s Milram Food Service business unit, the two new products are branded as Milram Gouda Alternative Rasp and the Milram Gouda Alternative Bread. These vegan cheese alternatives offer various other applications for the gastronomy sector, which were previously impossible or very difficult to achieve; such as gratinating dishes.

“In the course of the coming year, products for the food retail sector are to follow. This makes me proud, because the development of a plant-based cheese variant that corresponds to classic cheese in taste and texture is many times more challenging than in other plant-based segments,” says Ingo Müller, DMK Group CEO. 

In addition to the vegan cheese products, DMK’s Milram Food Service segment is presenting other expanded product offerings for the gastronomy sector. The range now includes plant-based desserts based on oats (gluten-free) as well as new products like Milram Crème Brûlée and Milram Panna Cotta, both in a 1 kg format. 

Within DMK’s Oldenburger Professional brand, solutions to be showcased include the “Performance Whipping Cream,” which has been specially developed for cake decoration or for use in drinks in coffee shops. The business unit is also introducing a new dessert line that makes it easier to prepare popular desserts daily – such as crème brûlée or panna cotta – and can serve as the basis for other dessert creations.

Potent dairy solutions
Lactalis Ingredients is showcasing its broad range of solutions designed to address formulations of dairy products, bakery, confectionery, biscuit and nutritional applications. The company’s dairy ingredients include milk and whey powders, milk proteins, milk fat and cheeses.

Lactimilk is a fat-filled milk powder with 28% vegetable fat and 24% protein to match the composition of whole milk powder. Enriched with vitamins A and D, it is an economical and functional alternative to whole milk powders, for a range of applications such as dairy drinks, yogurt, coffee and tea whiteners.

Also on exhibit is Lactalis’ Pronativ – Native Micellar Casein, which is directly extracted from milk by cold filtration. This natural process gives it superior nutritional and functional properties.

With a micellar casein content of at least 90%, compared to 80% in a conventional milk protein, this product is marketed as ideal for formulations with high protein and energy content.

“[Pronativ] thus meets the unique needs of the clinical nutrition industry and can be used in a wide variety of products, such as ready-to-drink drinks and dessert creams,” details a company spokesperson.

“Due to its slow digestion, Pronativ – Native Micellar Casein provides a prolonged release of amino acids into the blood, slowing down muscle deterioration during fasting periods,” they add. “Rich in bioavailable micellar calcium, it also improves bone health and helps fight osteoporosis.”

Hard lemonade in vogue
Beverage innovator Austria Juice will be presenting its innovative alcohol-free and low-alcohol drink options. Fewer calories and more taste from basic ingredients are the key trends in this space driven by young consumers.

Inspired by the hard seltzer category, hard juices or lemonades and hard ice teas are tipped by Austria Juice as the next trending beverage formats.

“The US is ahead in many areas – including hard seltzer, which has become an integral part of the beverage shelves there. More than 60 hard seltzer brands have already established themselves in the US as specialists for the aromatic ‘flavored water and a little alcohol’,” comments Julia Wurzer, marketing manager at Austria Juice.

“In Europe, we are only at the beginning of development, but due to the overarching trend toward a conscious lifestyle, it is only a matter of time before the hard seltzer cans in the most diverse variants are also part of the standard range on our shelves.”

According to Austria Juice-cited data on alcohol-based RTD drinks in Europe, lime dominates with 25% and lemon with 14%. Then come the flavors of raspberry (11%), black cherry (10%), mango (8%), grapefruit with (7%) and berries with (4%). At the bottom of the list are cherries (4%), passion fruit (4%) and blueberries (3%).

“Hard Lemonade is the answer to the question of how fruity taste can best be combined with little alcohol,” says Wurzer. “The challenge with the launches of Hard Seltzer and Hard Lemonade would be to stand out from other products while still having a clear taste. Successful US hard seltzer brands manage to promise naturalness on the one hand and to unite a fine mixture of stimulating taste and sweetness on the other.”

Seltzer brands are increasingly focused on real, natural ingredients when it comes to hard seltzer and hard lemonade, Wurzer notes. “Fruit flavors from regional or local production are particularly popular.”

“European consumers would often criticize that alcoholic RTD drinks taste artificial as they usually also contain artificial ingredients,” she stresses. “So the key to success here is to create good taste with natural flavors. For example, 26% of German consumers would pay more for alcoholic RTD drinks that only score with natural ingredients.”

In the course of the hard seltzer trend, hard ice tea has also established itself alongside hard lemonade. “The combination of ice tea and light alcohol is not new, but it is a rapidly growing segment that many hard seltzer producers have already jumped on to,” says Wurzer.

Hard Ice Tea has an alcohol content of 5.0% vol. and is available from Austria Juice in different flavors such as lemon, peach or raspberry, with or without carbon dioxide.