There is no doubt that the snack food market is one of the strongest in the food industry, as is evidenced by its increasing market value. The snack category of food used to meaning snack chips, nuts and other traditional snacks (extruded snacks, popcorn, nachos etc.). However, the snack category is currently expanding to a large number of products that often has nothing to do with what we knew as snacks.
Historically, the snacks were something that we consumed around the daily main meals and that made us feel guilty about eating too much calories. We used to tell to our children “don´t fill up on snacks” before lunch or dinner. However, consumption of snacks has become increasingly common and is no longer between meals, is the food!.
Certainly, the culture of food is in constant motion (and who said for the better?) adapting to new lifestyles (cooking less, spend more time away from home) and in this new attitude there is room enough for more varieties of products that are easy to eat, with no-needed or very little preparation needed and a size easy to take away.According to Nielsen, the nowadays picture in Spain is that 45% of consumers regularly eat a snack as an alternative to one or more meals daily. Out of this value, 52 % do it for breakfast, 43 % on luch time and 40 % at dinner moment.
But consumes become more aware of nutritional values and claim for snacks to be healthy (or make us feel less guilty of eating out of the three-meals patron …) and to provide some health benefit. This is driving the food industry to spread the wings of innovation and create all kind of products rich in nutrients (proteins, vitamins, minerals, etc), fresh (or minimally processed, but packaged and ready to use), products high-density, low-glycemic index, low sugar, salt and fat among others. Here is a small sample of what is already in the market and what is coming soon:
Cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruits. The healthy snack category
The perception of the snack as something unhealthy and loaded with calories fades with launched products to cover this category. We found a wide variety of dehydrated fruits and vegetables (whether or not coated and with more or less sugar content), cereals of all shapes and colors, but mostly whole grains, either alone or mixed with goji berries, berries or dry fruits. Very present, the so-called “ancient grains” (chia, sorghum, quinoa, millet ..) cooked and ready to eat in bars or expanded products. Probiotics have migrated and are no longer in yogurt .
Now they are provided by fermented vegetable, or cereals, proteins, rice and chia with probiotic cultures. There is also a great tendency to germination process: cereal flour and sprouted legumes that are attributed interesting nutritional properties and are considered more easily digestible. And undoubtedly coming hard, combinations of cereals and vegetables or fruits and vegetables that add flavor, color and above all … nutrients, especially vitamins A, C E and D.
Dehydrated fruit and vegetable snacks
Pulses (white bean and pinto beans and lentils) and germinated cereals snacks
Fruit smoothies
Proteins: the meat snacks
Considering meat and fish as a protein source, different types of snacks and even innovation formats for consumption processed meat products are arising. Some examples are shavings of ham or corned beef, the so-called jerkies (dehydrated or marinated meat), seasoned with all kinds of spices and aromas.
Seasoned jerkies
And coming to snack market: meat sticks or bars. High protein content, veal, lamb, pork, bison… or insects.
Beef and vegetable and insect flour bars
Beef, chicken, pig, turkey, salmon or…bison bars
One size cured meat product
The dairy snack market
The dairy snack development is mainly focused on children. Thus, we find a wide variety of packaging formats such pouch or bag to take away. Healthy solutions for children through the development of dairy sticks (e.g. with the calcium content equivalent to a glass of milk, rich in protein and low in calories) but above all, innovation in the packaging presentation: single dose or ready for consumption, mainly at school break or at the playground time.
Small formats for cheese
It is very clear that the snack development offers great opportunities and there are many companies who see in the snackificationan opportunity to develop a palatable, healthy and ready to eat between meals or as a meal. Of course, according to the consumer criteria of what they percive as healthy, sustainable and what they are willing to pay for it. Of course, a reflection exercise must be done by the food industry to combine all these keys and consider that innovation happens largely by new or unusually ingredients and new production processes or technologies.
Extrusion technology allows to improve the nutricional, sensorial and fuctional properties of food. Find out what we are doing in CARTIF with pulses, in the International Year of Pulses, in this videoblog of our colleague Belén Blanco.
Given that the food and beverage industry in Spain comprises about 22% of industrial GDP and is formed by 30.000 companies (of which 96% are SMEs), it is not strange that our country avails one of the most important exhibitions in Europe: Alimentaria.
This biennial meeting is undoubtedly a professional showcase and a benchmark event in the food sector. With nearly 4.000 exhibitors from 63 different countries, it allows to know the news, and current and future trends in food, in addition to doing business.
In ALIMENTARIA 2016, held last week, it highlights the strong internationalization of companies and products as a vector of change (or overcoming of the famous ‘crisis’) and an increase in the market of organic products and food products elaborated through sustainable processes.
Some of the main areas in ALIMENTARIA 2016 are Intercarn, Interlact, Intervin, Multifoods o Restaurama. In them, we have seen many new products, always from our point of view as researchers in food field.
We have found pearls of olive oil, almond oil, vinegar and juice.
Chorizo, Catalan sausage and salami for vegetarians; without meat, but with egg white as a protein source.
Going on with meat, we have found shoulder blade or rack of young lamb semielaborated, which is finished in the oven inside a container without staining and leaving the meat in its point and with crispy crust. Easier and cleaner, ¡impossible!
Omelets stuffed with black pudding, Catalan sausage or goat cheese.
Salt of all flavors and colors.
About drinks, in addition to the multitude of wineries with delicious wines and precious labels and bottles, we have found several drinks based on extracts. Drinks made from beans and strawberries, vegetable drinks, rice drinks with coconut or almonds, craft beer with aloe…
Pizza flour charcoal. That is; black pizza bases in order to stand out the rest of foods. And with the purifying benefits of charcoal, of course.
Wide variety of healthier snacks based on peas, beans, broccoli, mango, banana, pineapple or apple textured. And, as a novelty, snacks based on beef jerky with different flavors (spices, chili, curry).
Sauces and chutneys: carob with dates, apple or pineapple mustard, honey with ginger or cinnamon, cocoa butter or jam with wine, oil or vinegar…
Personally, I want to highlight a delicious mango gazpacho.
And finally, one of the foods with hardest presence was quinoa. Quinoa flour, cereals, biscuits, bars, quinoa ready to eat with vegetables, and a long etcetera.
Today’s consumer looks for pleasure in food, but, without doubt, the trend that marks the development of new products is the health concern. This factor includes feeling good, getting fit, improving health and not growing old.
CARTIF collaborates with several food companies in this field, developing new products, improving existing ones, changing ingredients, valorazing subproducts, in order to suit a demanding and competitive market which is constantly in movement.
The United Nations, led by its Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has launched the 2016 International Year of Legumes under the slogan “nutritious seeds for a sustainable future”. The objective is raising awareness about the protein power and health benefits of all kinds of dried beans and peas, boost their production and trade, and encourage new and smarter uses throughout the food chain.
Clearly we want to eat better. Healthier, more natural, more plant products even more sustainable. We are conscious of what consumption of certain nutrients means for our health, such as dietary fiber that is known to be beneficial for health because affects in the intestinal function, weight control, reduce the risk of certain heart diseases and type II diabetes. And the fashionable proteins (even better if they are from plant origin) play a structural function in our body. We want to consume more vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds that help to prevent some diseases, to have good health and even delay cellular aging. Moreover, we know the benefits of following the Mediterranean Diet pattern; rich, varied and healthy in which the consumption of our typical food products and ways of cooking are included.
However, even though we have all this knowledge, according to data recently released by the World Health Organization (WHO), consumption of fast food in Spain has increased in recent years and, even worse, this data is expected to increase to 50 % over the next five years.
But… consumers, we’re in luck! We have within our reach tiny packages with all those nutrients that we are asking for. Their name are pulses and are considered gluten-free and functional foods that exert a positive effect on certain metabolic functions such as the cholesterol levels, the glycemic index, reduces lipid accumulation in the body, promote intestinal transit and can prevent the occurrence of certain types of cancer, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease or diabetes. What´s more, they are sold at the supermarket and have a very affordable price.
Undoubtedly, legumes should be an important part of the diet because they are a great source of proteins and carbohydrates. The average protein content of legumes varies between 17 and 40%, considerably higher than the cereals (3-7%) and are considered proteins of high biological value and approximately equal to the protein content in the meat. They are also rich in complex carbohydrates, including significant amounts of dietary fiber (9-27 %) and a low fat content.
Moreover, the legumes are very important from the point of view of maintaining the agricultural ecosystem due not only to the cultivation area occupied worldwide, but also to the ability for fixing atmospheric nitrogen increasing soil fertility and reducing the use of nitrogen fertilizers. Waste footprint (carbon footprint + water footprint) of legume crops is lower than other crops, so it promotes sustainability and contributes to mitigate climate change. And last but not least, legumes are even more important in developing countries for their good shelf life and low cost.
It´s clear that legumes are an essential part of many diets in the world including the Mediterranean. Not in vain, in the new healthy eating pyramid, legume consumption is recommended at least twice a week. The new pyramid considers the importance of consuming traditional, local and friendly products with the environment, such as legumes.
For all this reasons, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has launched the 2016 International Year of Pulses. Nevertheless, despite its importance and the growing of legumes has increased by 20% over the last 10 years (mainly due to animal feed demand) its consumption has declined in favor of other protein sources such as meat. This decline is due to social and cultural reasons; from our new life style (we are cooking less and less), to a perception of legumes as “poor food” or even the rejection of their consumption because they produce flatulence.
Challenges in innovation to boost consumption
It is very clear: food industry must innovate to cover this demand through ready-to-eathigh quality dishesbased on legumes that meet with a good nutritional profile, or, for example, legumes in the form of flour.
Pulse flours are a very good alternative to increase consumption of legumes, especially in children. With an appreciable nutritional value, good dietary fiber source, and gluten-free, these ingredients just need a little imagination, a little technology and a big desire to investigate to get very good products such bread, biscuits, pasta or snacks.
