A Sweet Future

Larissa Leites, Product Manager Sweet Flavours, Sensient Flavors & Extracts

As published in an issue of Food Ingredients First

We are seeing two major trends in the area of confectionery, but mainly chocolates. The first is the use of new textures from the inclusions of nuts and caramel crust to biscuits and popcorn. The use of textured fillings has also helped to bring this experience rich in taste and sensory innovation. Texture has been crucial to the development of new confectionery launches.

In recent years, we have seen an increase in new confections with a crunchy texture, using nuts, brittles and crispy inclusions. The second key trend is the conversion of synthetic flavors to natural flavors or extracts. We see that premium chocolate brands have been looking to improve their ingredient list. Pretzel has been a high-growth flavor since 2019 and has been increasingly explored, for example, with the use of pretzel pieces of different sizes to bring taste and texture to products, especially chocolates.

Sugar reduction is a topic to be explored in all categories, but it is still a timid subject because confectionery products are directly linked to indulgence and mood improvement. There is still significant potential, but the focus is always on maintaining taste at a low cost.

And although vegan confectionery is niche, with a low presence on the market, we see growth in sales volume, and mainly an improvement in the taste and texture of these products.