AUSTIN, TX — Puratos showcased industry trends in the bakery, sweet goods and chocolate industries during the Taste Tomorrow 2023 conference, held Sept. 19-20 in Austin, TX.
“By monitoring emerging trend signals and predicting their growth trajectories, we are able to gain insight into the future of our industry,” said Jaina Wald, VP of marketing, at Puratos USA. “Our goal is to remain at the forefront of innovation and ensure that our partners and clients stay ahead of the curve.”
Wald served as emcee for the two-day event, which highlighted the result of Puratos’ ongoing, proprietary Taste Tomorrow research, which has been in effect for about 10 years and is complemented by its “always on” social listening research as well as the Puratos Sensobus, a mobile consumer research hub.
“Taste Tomorrow is a continuously evolving consumer insights ecosystem,” she said during her opening remarks. “It’s tracking and decoding what consumers want, and it does that to help us think about what we need to do to future-proof our businesses. That’s really what it’s all about.”
Puratos leadership (from left): Michael Simone, president and general manager, Canada; Pierre Tossut, CEO; Andrew Brimacombe, president, Puratos USA; and Paul Bakus, president, North America
Guests in attendance included artisan and commercial bakers, distributors, brokers and equipment partners from throughout North America, including Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and several regions of the US, as well as a large contingent of the Puratos North America workforce including product developers and technical experts.
“We operate in a very diverse population, and we’re very excited about the future of this region,” said Paul Bakus, president, North America, for Puratos. “We’ve come here with a purpose to understand the trends in our industry, but we’re also here to push the boundaries of what’s possible. The mission is not to succeed individually, but to uplift our industry, so we can contribute to a better society.”
During the event, Taste Tomorrow research was unpacked by Rollo McIntyre, global head of innovation – qualitative at Ipsos UU. Highlights included four key growth areas, which were also showcased in the Taste Tomorrow Marketplace, where the Puratos technical team displayed a bevy of products ranging from bread to sweet goods and patisserie to chocolate innovation.
Tech-Inspired Revolution
Tech-inspired was identified as one of the Top 10 fastest-growing trends, according to Puratos. This trend is piquing the interest of consumers and professionals who are interested in melding tradition and technology through AI-powered generation and 3D printing. In fact, AI is doing more than generating new recipes. One in three consumers believe that tech will help them make better food choices.
“By fusing technology and culinary craftsmanship, we’re pushing creative boundaries and entering a new era of recipe personalization with tools like ChatGPT and text-to-image generators,” Wald said. “Technologies like 3D printing bring culinary visions to life, fostering unparalleled experimentation and elevating the entire industry.”
What’s more, technology is helping research like Taste Tomorrow.
“We can gain a global perspective on where the food industry is today and where it’s going into the future,” McIntyre said. “This is where the world is going. It’s a mix of the human and the machine.”
Classics Continued and Fusion Flavors
According to research from Puratos, 69% of North American consumers polled seek nostalgic, familiar culinary experiences. And another 64% are interested in experimenting with food presented in new ways.
“Don’t throw away those things that are there forever,” McIntyre said. “You’ve got to build upon them.”
Additionally, the research has indicated that 61% said they want to have something familiar when they’re trying something new.
“That familiarity allows them to experiment a little more,” McIntyre added.
Extra touches like fillings provide bakers with a simple way to include authentic flavor and texture reminiscent of nostalgic desserts in their baked goods.
“This distinctive duality of desiring classic comforts as well as the thrill of the unexplored presents an exciting opportunity for industry professionals to leverage the power of classics while reinventing finished goods to encourage exploration and discovery,” Wald said.
Demonstrating an almost perfect combination of classics and fusion was a cinnamon roll-inspired cake on display in the Marketplace during the event.
“It was great to see the creativity that came out of going through this exercise,” said Braden Cadenelli, senior manager of national innovation centers for Puratos. “It would be easy to just take a cinnamon roll and make it into a different shape, but our technical expert made a cake.”
That cake was voted as the attendees’ favorite product.
"Taste Tomorrow is a continuously evolving consumer insights ecosystem. It’s tracking and decoding what consumers want, and it does that to help us think about what we need to do to future-proof our businesses." — Jaina Wald | VP of marketing | Puratos USA
Gut Feeling
It’s not enough for people to trust their gut but to fuel it well, too. Puratos’ research showed that 76% of North American consumers recognize the essential role of improving gut health for overall health, and 66% are interested in food that is designed to enhance and enrich gut health.
The spiked interest has caused demand for baked goods with probiotics, prebiotics and fiber. Sourdough bread stands tall as one of the most popular in this category due to the digestibility created from its extended fermentation process. Advantages of fermentation include an increased release of vitamins, minerals and amino acids, as well as contributing to overall enhanced nutritional content.
“This striking interest in gut health among North American consumers is translating into a demand for multipurpose gut-friendly foods that offer holistic health benefits and enhanced energy,” Wald said.
Puratos believes that the future of bread lies in its past. So, it has emphasized gut health-related R&D around the holistic benefits of fermentation.
According to Taste Tomorrow, 49% of North American consumers believe that fermentation enhances the taste of products, while 43% said they think fermented breads are healthier. On a taste-health axis, sourdough ranked relatively average for health and in the upper third for taste.
“Consumers are looking at fermentation for the taste,” McIntyre said, “but also for their health.”
Puratos also identified the evolution of consumer dietary preferences and their awareness of how their food choices impact the environment. Interest in plant-based options has grown with 44% of people perceiving plant-based foods as a natural choice.
“What we’ve seen with the plant-based trend is that almost everyone is willing to try it,” Cadenelli said. “People are open to it.”
There’s a dual purpose in this trend: supporting the “better for” movement in terms of better health and better for the planet.
Similarly, 53% of consumers recognize the positive impact that plant-based choices have on the environment, and another 46% believe plant-based offerings both cater to their wellbeing and are a healthier choice than animal-based products.
“Plant-based is better for me, it’s better for the planet,” Cadenelli said. “This is one of my favorite parts of the event: Sharing with people what we can do in the plant-based realm because it really does help move us forward.”
Puratos has noted this interest in the increase of sales of Sunset Glaze, a plant-based egg wash alternative; Belcolade Selection M. Plant-Based Cacao-Trace, a plant-based milk chocolate; and Mimetic, a plant-based lamination fat.
In addition to insights from the research, Taste Tomorrow featured keynote presentations from celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli; Eve Turow-Paul, author and founder of Food for Climate League; board-certified nutritional psychiatrist Dr. Uma Naidoo; and James Taylor, an award-winning thought leader on creativity and innovation. Each presenter highlighted specific consumer needs and behaviors that illustrate the trends revealed in the research. By showcasing tangible, real-world examples, attendees gained a better understanding of how to develop products that serve their consumers’ needs.
“Our goal is to help our customers win,” Bakus said. “And we do that in a way that is focused on the consumer.”
Learn more about these trends as Commercial Baking continues its coverage of Taste Tomorrow in the coming weeks.
