|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
Bringing out the value in refreshingly healthy juice-based drinks
|
Thursday, 12 May, 2022, 16 : 00 PM [IST]
|
Prakash MG
|
Juice-based drinks are popular beverages among Indian consumers. Widely associated with a healthy lifestyle and full of potential to deliver new taste and texture experiences, they represent a category ripe for premium product development. Yet the dominating market trend is currently pulling in another direction. Swiftly rising price pressures have brought another driver into focus.
Affordability In February this year, a leading daily, reported a new record for inflation. Measured by the Consumer Price Index, India’s retail inflation rate had topped 6%. Covid-related supply chain disruptions, rising energy and freight costs and geopolitical tensions are contributing factors.
That could sound like a showstopper for beverage manufacturers with an ambitious plan to wow the market with healthy and delicious juice-based products. Success will depend on their ability to make sure that price-sensitive consumers can afford them – undoubtedly a challenge with today’s winds of change.
Naturally healthy choice Recent consumer surveys have highlighted the growing importance of juice to daily Indian diets. According to Kanter IMRB and Mintel, two-thirds of Indians agree that packaged juice is a healthy choice. More than half buy juice and juice-based drinks to help them improve their overall health, perceiving the category as a convenient and natural source of nutrition. Vitamins, digestive health claims and a low sugar content all add value.
On the flavour front, orange and mango are still the most popular by far. However, novel taste and texture experiences are increasingly sought after, particularly by younger consumers. In a survey by Ipsos Observer/Mintel, almost a third of Generation Z juice drinkers – those born from 1997 to 2012 – state an interest in trying new products. For them, exciting novel experiences could come in the form of jelly drinks and drinks with gelled beads.
To sum up, affordable beverages that support holistic wellbeing and deliver a new experience are gaining traction. And, in their branding efforts, manufacturers should take care to focus on value rather than low price.
So, what can manufacturers do to accommodate the whole package of requirements? The answer is, quite a lot. Opportunities to create value Let’s start with the functional ingredients that bring texture and stability to packaged juice-based drinks through shelf life.
To meet the need for affordability, IFF has developed two tailored systems as alternative solutions to single stabilizing and texturizing ingredients such as pectin and xanthan gum. Demonstrated in a series of inspirational juice drink concepts, both promise a more than 20% improvement in cost effectiveness, a smooth mouthfeel and no separation.
The systems combine easily with high quality taste and texture design, enabled by the latest technology. A so-called juicifier, for example, delivers mouth-watering freshness and juiciness without the acidic notes of citric acid – all with a natural, non-GMO label. The juicifier also complies with the requirements of Kosher and Halal. To add extra appeal, manufacturers can draw on a modulating technology that enhances the perception of carbonation.
A sense of freshly squeezed Bearing in mind the consumer preference for citrus flavors, the IFF taste design team has created a full range of citrus oils and other specialties that add body and mouthfeel. The range has been designed for solubility and stability in juices and carbonated beverages.
New citrus replacer and extender tools maximize the taste of authentic lemon in particular. With their full, citrus oil profile, they bring all the flavor of freshly squeezed fruit to packaged juice products – an experience with unfailing consumer appeal.
Importantly, these tailored systems and flavor tools provide a natural stability that works well with recognized better-for-you additions, including protein, prebiotics such as fibers or polydextrose, and antioxidants. Sweetness modulators represent another possibility to cut added sugar.
It’s an opportunity for juice-based brands to deliver value all round. At a time when consumers in India and around the world are feeling the financial squeeze, that’s a more than welcome offer.
(The author is managing director - India and sub-regional lead at International Flavours and Fragrances)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|