The critical role of product innovation
In the highly competitive world of carbonated soft drinks, manufacturers know they cannot sit on their laurels. They need to be constantly innovating around taste, flavours, packaging, and better ways to manufacture. This is why millions is invested every year into innovation.
Analysing consumer trends, preferences and demands. Conducting extensive market research, consumer surveys and taste tests to understand what flavour(s) and trends are going to be the next big thing. Manufacturers continued commercial success means this is a vital area ensuring they stay ahead of the game and respond to changing trends quickly.
As consumers have become ever more health conscious, drinks manufacturers are focusing on new ways to satisfy this trend. As an example, functional drinks were unheard of 6/7 years ago and now there is a plethora of choice of drinks making health claims.
Zero sugar
There has been a surge of activity around low and zero sugar drinks as manufactures scramble to be ahead of the pack. In part driven by sugar taxes and the rising cost of sugar, but more because of the health concerns of consumers around sugar. Such is the expected growth of the zero market, Pepsi have put their Zero Pepsi front and centre of their imminent rebrand. Reducing sugar content, exploring the use of natural sweeteners such as Stevia and artificial options, aspartame and Ace K is now an important innovation area.
Sugar alternatives are not without their challenges. There is growing public concerns (rightly or wrongly) around the safety of aspartame. Some artificial sweeteners, along with natural alternatives, often have an unpleasant aftertaste which many consumers’ dislike.
Up until recent times drink manufacturers have had limited options to help them overcome these challenges. Of course, there are several flavour enhancer type products on the market. Many of these claims to help offset the off notes of non-sugar sweeteners, however, in our experience whilst they offer some small improvements, they don’t wholly remove the residual off notes.
SweetTaste2
As an organisation committed to innovation, TasteAlchemy’s chemists are always investigating and working on new products that will bring real competitive advantage to manufacturers.
How to remove the unpleasant after taste of non-sugar sweeteners has been high on our agenda for some time and this year, we have made great strides in developing a new range of flavours with modifying properties (FMPs), SweetTaste2 (patent pending)
These remarkable and unprecedented new FMPs offer manufacturers of no- and low-sugar beverages a very real commercial edge over their competitors.
Brilliant tastes are achieved by a skillful combination of ingredients that provide sweetness, texture, and more, whilst also lowering sugar content and eliminating any lingering aftertaste or undesirable flavors.
Our range of FMPs are a key part of this skillful combination.
SweetTaste2 also counteracts the off-notes of soft drinks sweetened with non-sugar options including Stevia. It works equally well with carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, as well as acidulated and non-acidulated beverages, including energy drinks. And ongoing research suggests that SweetTaste2 may very well work with alcoholic and low- or no-alcohol drinks – but further investigation is required, so watch this space!
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Alternatively feel free to drop us an email us at hello@tastealchemy.com or call us on 0113 465 4601 to find out how we can help your drinks taste better.