After having stopped during COVID, SIAL, the giant food fair close to Paris finally took place on October 15-19. With 7000 exhibitors from 130 countries, and 250,000m2, it’s a great way to survey trends, taste great food, and spot food innovations around the world. A key event for food manufacturers and potential buyers, it’s a showcase for food start-ups with also interesting talks from food and trends experts. 2000 products are selected to participate in the innovation award out of 30.000 applications. You won’t see big food brands like Nestle or Unilever, but be sure that they are around to understand how the market is moving and potential technologies to invest in.
Here are some key takeaways
Between the excitement of meeting real people, tasting real food …and the fear of the upcoming crisis.
2021 has been a great year for CPGs as customers cooked at home and stopped eating out. But the next years will be difficult. Consumers' and manufacturers' surveys show that inflation, supply chain disruption, lack of staff, or high energy bills had a bigger impact on consumer confidence than during the last 2009 crisis. Whilst visitors and buyers were excited to meet, the gloom was palpable. Foodservice which was just about recovering from lockdowns will suffer the most as customers will be trading out (fewer outings) or trading down ( fewer items), especially families with kids. This means that takeaways, providing great ingredients for cooking at home ( healthier, cheaper), takeaways with click and collect ( removing the delivery cost) and fast-casual restaurants will be the winners.
Health and enjoyment remain the biggest innovation drivers
When crossing market activities and consumers' interest (which the 2021 XTC analysis provided), enjoyment and health came out as the biggest innovation drivers. Health means natural ingredients, very often plant-based, simple processes and recipes (for 70% of consumers according to NPD research), enjoyment means bringing comfort, taste discovery, and pleasure. Snacks and convenience formats are a must and many food presented at SIAL tapped into this but offers limited differentiating value. Many consumers have put on weight during COVID but energy and well-being are more appealing and holistic benefits than pure weight loss.
Tasty plant-based finally available
Strolling around SIAL alleys, it’s clear that plant-based is an innovation driver for all categories but meat and dairy offers remain very strong (the dried meat chips and jerky were actually delicious!). Meat producers ( as the EU quality campaign demonstrates) are pushing their sustainability credentials, encouraging consumers to eat the right meat vs turning vegetarian. Plant-based is a health cue for many ‘not so healthy’ categories such as snacks and confectionery. Vegetable spreads, bites,
or aperitif solutions are booming, ideally with a good Nutriscore rating and a high protein content. Lentils, favas, chickpeas, quinoa, or peas-based recipes were everywhere (even coated in chocolate). Whilst some are still challenging tastewise, I was surprised at how good some yogurts or cheese alternatives tasted. They didn't feel like a poor parent. Obviously, clean labeling was a big issue on top of taste. Soy was absent but hemp, coconut, and oat were clearly booming.
Pleasure is back
In times of crisis, chocolate and sweet pleasures always do well. Watch out Nutella, there were a lot of tasty spreads, without palm oil, many based on nuts and high in proteins, with comforting dulce de Leche for Banoffee flavours. Pleasure was multi-dimensional with juicy cereal bars or extravagant chocolate tablets. Consumers crave new flavors and small indulgences. Mochi, the Japanese rice-coated ice cream, is now everywhere (Little moons are expanding around the world). Whilst pistachio and black truffle add a touch of luxury to everyday pleasure (in pasta sauce, feta cheese, or cookies).
Naturally healthy
Healthy food is no longer just about physical health, but mental and emotional wellness too. Consumers are wholeheartedly embracing this concept and are looking for simple and effective solutions to help them look and feel better. Proteins cravings don’t seem to end - either in sports products ( like in the egg white-based drink) or filling snacks ( like the super protein crackers ). Cooking has been a mood-enhancing activity that many consumers enjoyed and cooking spices are playing on this holistic benefit.
Green Power
63 % of consumers see their diet as a reflection of how they view the world in which they want to live. But the increased costs of living often prevent them from doing so.
Many innovations have put sustainability at the core of their message - using sustainable ingredients like seaweed (more than insects!) or pushing the limits of sustainable packaging with fully recycled packaging (even if not visually packaging) or eatable packaging (like cookie-based cutlery for takeaways). The next battles will be reducing food waste ( a massive issue in food service) and supporting biodiversity.
What about italian innovations?
Even if Italian products traditionally play more on authenticity and traditions when tapping into the export markets, the innovation cormer was full of italian products. Many focused on legumes, interesting cereals or pulse as meal components or snacks - all high in proteins and gluten free. Truffle were also very present, some adding a hot spicy twist. Many used advanced technologies - to fill macarons with icecream or HPP for fresh pasta sauces.
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