East Asian flavours set to take centre stage
Synergy Flavors predicts that East Asian flavours will take centre stage for sports nutrition products in 2022 and beyond, as outlined in its recent Flavors of the Future report.
Synergy’s research, which takes into account a range of factors from popular product launches to the impact of social media, has identified that emerging flavours such as salted egg custard, hojicha, Japanese plum, and ramune will become more prevalent across sports nutrition products, whilst already established and mainstream flavours such as dalgona biscuit, Japanese melon, jasmine, yuzu, and lychee are also likely candidates for popular future product launches. The flavour house’s report recommends manufacturers looking to innovate should turn their attention towards developing products that utilise these emerging flavour concepts.
Flavors of the Future 3, which offers more detail and insight into these upcoming flavour trends and how manufacturers can utilise these in NPD, is a sports nutrition-specific marketing report which highlights one geographical region every year, and identifies flavours from across categories in the chosen region which could offer opportunities for global sports nutrition launches. In previous editions of the report, flavour from North and South America have been showcased, and also flavours inspired by Mediterranean regions.
Squid Game influence
Chris Whiting, European Business Development Manager, commented: “Flavors of the Future is one of our most popular insight reports, which inform sports nutrition manufacturers on what flavours are poised to perform well based on current consumer interests. The newest report hones in on Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisine, and in generating this report we have come to realise that the impact of popular culture on the food and beverage industry cannot be underestimated. For example, record-breaking series such as Squid Game led to challenges that saw consumers attempting to recreate the now infamous ‘dalgona biscuit’, and it is influences like these that help to shape the food and beverage industry and open up new areas and flavours for innovation.”
Trending and influential cuisines
Regions are selected through a range of datapoints, which identify trending and influential cuisines based on size of country, diaspora, market penetration, social media, and Google search data. After a region is identified, Synergy works with data partners to generate a longlist of flavours that fit within this region. This longlist is then further refined based on research into recent product launches, social media listening, and mentions in content such as recent news items and blogs. When a shortlist has been created, the remaining flavours are split into four categories – Emerging, Growing, Mainstream, and Established, based on their position in the innovation adoption curve.
Once flavours of interest have been established, Synergy’s team begins to create flavour profiles by sourcing benchmarks which can undergo taste testing and profiling. Further analysis is performed by Synergy to identify key flavour pairings, whilst applications specialists work with the new flavours to create solutions that suit a range of applications such as vegan, whey protein, and clear protein. Research into market growth also means that emerging markets needs can be addressed, such as flavour solutions for functional energy beverages that target the expanding eSports consumer base.
Flavors of the Future 3 is available to download: https://bit.ly/3UCaJQD
Synergy Flavors
Synergy Flavors is a leading global innovator in flavourings, extracts and essences and has extensive experience across the food and beverage industry, developing high quality, innovative taste solutions which help customers to stay one step ahead of the competition. Whether manufacturers seek flavour profiles to mask off-notes in nutritional products, or flavour solutions that enable sugar or butter reduction without compromising taste, Synergy has the proven expertise, application knowledge, sensory science and passion to help.
Synergy’s flavour creation and application capabilities span the globe – with commercial, manufacturing and technical support facilities in Ireland, the UK, Italy, the US, Brazil and Thailand. As a result, it has assembled the market knowledge to work collaboratively with customers worldwide to develop flavour solutions for diverse food and beverage categories.
