Need for speed challenges clean label demand

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Need for speed challenges clean label demand

14 Jul 2026

Annie Hollon

Annie Hollon is a journalist, copywriter and social media strategist from the Dallas, Texas area. She found a love for magazine writing during her time at the University of Alabama where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, double majoring in public relations and English. Beyond writing, you can find her expanding her library, attempting to teach herself the guitar and trying new hobbies.

CHICAGO — Nowadays, being a food maker or ingredient supplier comes with myriad challenges, chief among them the growing stature of the clean-label movement. With consumers increasingly seeking identifiable ingredients on product packaging, food manufacturers are placed in a tricky position to not only meet this demand, but also ensure these revamped products still deliver on the experience shoppers expect, all in a timely manner.

This topic’s prevalence was notable at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)’s IFT FIRST event, held July 12-15 in Chicago. Attendees packed the room featuring the Hot Topics Studio Stage to hear insights from experts on the “What Are the Challenges with Increased Demand for Natural and Clean-Label Ingredients?” panel.

What’s in a name

“Clean label” and “natural” ingredients do not have a one-size-fits-all definition. Rather, consumers’ varying perceptions of the terms make it difficult for food and ingredient producers to create offerings that fit the bill.

“There are consumers that think ‘Natural flavor is beautiful, I know what it is, it’s plain label,’ and then you have consumers who are going, ‘Natural flavor? I don’t know what’s in there; tell me what’s in there,’” said Catherine Vinci, technical manager, NOAM at Giavaudan Health & Functional. “It’s a really big challenge to understand the problem before you even start solving it.”

A shift in perspective at companies has helped ease this ask, noted Cordell Hardy, VP of North America R&D, food enterprise for Cargill.

“Clean label means different things everywhere, so we think more around being label-friendly and recognize that the push for clean label is a consumer signal saying, ‘We want transparency. We want trust. We want confidence that what you’re selling to me to put into my body or my family’s bodies is safe,’” he said.

Simplifying a product label isn’t as simple as a one-to-one ingredient swap. Rather, this move requires commercial bakers to acknowledge the scale of change occurring with these product reformulations.

Another hurdle for food producers is one companies can’t control: time.

“It takes time to validate these solutions, and the consumer wants to move fast, so everyone wants to switch [ingredients] out automatically,” Vinci said. “It takes time to validate this change because we’re changing the base of the product so we’re going to encounter some ingredient interactions.”

Overcoming this ingredient obstacle requires all parties involved to manage expectations and work together to reach a solution.

Stepping up to the formulation plate

In terms of addressing the need for clean-label portfolios, one area that is helping spur this demand forward is innovation. As new players step onto the field, Hardy noted, they introduce tools and resources that can inspire others as they work to slim down their product labels.

“You have some really exciting times ahead in the food industry as we think about addressing this broad need for increased transparency,” he said.

One method that could help companies pivot toward clean label and natural ingredients faster? AI, a tech-forward resource already in place across the commercial baking industry, including in product development.

With growing resources at the disposal of R&D teams across the food space,, opportunities to meet consumers’ needs are in reach. With this in mind, it’s up to the people behind the scenes to do their best to educate the public about what qualifies as clean label or natural ingredients.

“Transparency starts with us,” said Adam Shahaf, VP of business development for Phytolon. “Consumers today are far more informed than in any other point in history. They want to know and deserve to know [about these ingredients]. It is in our interest as an industry to inform consumers about their trade-offs, their benefits and the fact that they’re very established and safe … Consumer education needs to be smart, and there is a lot of thought to be dedicated to how we craft and deliver the message.”

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