From robots to smarter labels, we cover the top trends in the food and drink industry in this photo gallery.
Industry commentators give their view of what 2019 holds for the UK food and drink industry, with innovation ranging from pegan diets to the use of cannabidiol oil.
From robots to smarter labels, we cover these top trends in the food and drink industry in this photogallery.
While the continued rise of plant-based diets and meat alternatives may not be news to many, look out for some emerging sub-trends that are likely to be less familiar.
Pegan eating – a vegan-inspired version of the paleo diet – is the latest food craze expected to become mainstream in the next 12 months, according to EHL Ingredients. “The pegan diet involves eating lots of fresh ‘clean’ whole plant foods, fruit and vegetables, and cooking from scratch,” explains EHL joint managing director Tasneem Backhouse.
“It includes coconut and olive oils, nuts and seeds – all rich in nutrients – and herbs and spices feature heavily to add flavour and colour to meals.”
EHL also predicts vegan ‘fast food’ to feature more prominently in the year ahead. Its view will be backed up at the Sustainable Foods Summit in San Francisco later this month, which will show how a growing number of restaurants, cafés and similar outlets worldwide are adding vegan options to their menus.
“Pizza Express, for example, debuted the world’s first vegan Just Egg pizzas in Asia last summer,” says a spokeswoman for Ecovia Intelligence. “And in New Zealand, Domino’s has just introduced vegan cheesy garlic bread following the success of its vegan pizzas.
“Moving Mountains, meanwhile, is introducing its meatless ‘bleeding’ burgers in UK pubs. These examples demonstrate that demand for vegan and plant-based foods is becoming global, with product innovations and distribution driving market growth.”
Led by Instagram, the rise in food photography is another consumer-led trend that manufacturers should be striving to understand.
There has been a “phenomenal” rise in consumer-generated food photography, says Alice Bexon, purchasing manager at Beacon. Diners are displaying a strong desire to get that perfect picture for social media, and restaurants in particular are reacting to this, Bexon claims.
“It is more important than ever before to make food visually appealing to attract snap-happy customers, and to create an advantage over competitors for those social posts and reviews,” she explains.
“Beacon’s supplier, Classic Fresh Foods believes a pleasing aesthetic can be created by incorporating colourful vegetables or edible flowers to dishes, with popular varieties including borage, apple blossom and chive flowers.”
The ‘Instagrammable’ look of food is also helping to drive growth in bakery, suggests Jacqui Passmore, UK and Ireland marketing manager at Dawn Foods. “In today’s always plugged-in culture, technology plays a major role in spreading food love and this is only set to grow bigger in 2019 and beyond,” she says.
“Manufacturers are upping their game to offer goodies that not only taste good but offer the ‘wow’ factor in design as well – a birthday cake loaded with brownies, donuts and cupcakes or a sweet baked sushi roll, for example.
“Love it or loathe it, social media is here to stay in today’s food world.”
Driven by what industry data analyst IRI describes as ‘conscious consumerism’ in much the same way as veganism, plastic waste was one of the most discussed food industry topics of 2018 – and all the signs are this will only accelerate in 2019.
The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy, published in December, is likely to set the tone for the year ahead. Central to the strategy is a plan to introduce a tax on single-use plastics with less than 30% recycled content, and further proposals to ban the use of plastic packaging where alternatives exist.
“We will cut our reliance on single-use plastics, end confusion over household recycling, tackle the problem of packaging by making polluters pay, and end the economic, environmental and moral scandal that is food waste,” said environment secretary Michael Gove at the time of the launch.
According to Mintel, a “seismic shift” in how consumers think about plastic is underway, with bio-based packaging materials set to be a key component in the next generation of responsible packaging.
“In 2019 and beyond, sustainability efforts will include not only improving access to recycling, but incentivising consumers to recycle packaging and offering upcycled goods,” says Jenny Zegler, associate director at Mintel Food & Drink.
As the war on plastics escalates, this year there will be a greater onus on manufacturers proving their authenticity, transparency and sustainability, predicts Colin Elkins, global industry director for process manufacturing at software provider IFS.
“In 2019, packages, products or shelf tags embedded with near-field communication (NFC) chips will begin to become more common, driven by growing consumer familiarity with contactless payment systems,” Elkins believes. As with its close cousin e-labelling, NFC offers manufacturers huge opportunities, he suggests.
“With counterfeiting in drinks being such a common problem, NFC will initially be driven by food and beverage brands like luxury alcohol,” Elkins says. “But, as with smart labelling and e-labelling, the more products do it, the more cost-effective the technology will become.
“In 2019, we’ll see all three technologies rolling out big changes in mass and top-end brands. More than 1,700 Unilever food, beauty and personal care products already carry smart labels, letting consumers download an app to learn more information about the products, their value and their provenance. And this is only the beginning.”
The convenience sector has been on an upward curve for a number of years, but a new generation of convenience is emerging as manufacturers respond to rising healthy eating priorities, quests for foodie-inspired flavours, interests in personalisation and competition from speedy delivery services.
This ‘elevated convenience’ will result in a new wave of product offerings, according to Mintel. It will include more individual meal kits, foodservice-inspired packaged beverages, and a new generation of prepared meals, sides, and sauces that emulate the flavours and formats of restaurant meals.
“Also, advances in technology will elevate the expectations of convenient food and drink options for consumers, from planning to shopping to preparation,” says Zegler. “Interest in premium convenience will not be limited to dinnertime, creating opportunities for every meal, snack, and beverage break.”
Allied to convenience is the continued growth of the snacking market. Snacking is no longer the optional extra – it is now the “definitive” meal occasion, argues Lu Ann Williams, director of innovation at Innova Market Insights.
“For most consumers, snacking is a part of daily life and always has been,” she says. “What is changing, however, is the way people think about snacking and what is considered a snack.”
The number of global food and beverage launches carrying a snacking claim rose 10% annually from 2013–2017, according to Innova.
The idea of ‘snackification’ is simple but it can be adapted to suit any lifestyle, suggests Robert Rona, director of new markets, products and services at The Triangle Nutrition.
“Consumers are swapping sit-down meals for ‘snackfast’ options in the morning, and meals-on-the-go make lunch and dinner options much easier,” says Rona. “They rely on easy-to-make breakfast bars, porridge pots, protein shakes, noodle and pasta pots, ready-made salads and sandwiches, which require minimum effort.”
The trend of snacking is never going to go away, and the popularity of following a healthier lifestyle is constantly growing – so brands and retailers would be missing a trick to not embrace both trends, claims Rona.
“The great thing about creating products to fit into snackification is that they can be eaten as a standalone product or as part of this movement”, he adds.
According to the International Federation of Robotics, robot sales had a record year in 2018, increasing by 31%. And there’s every likelihood the growth will be even higher this year.
Trends such as human collaborative robots (cobots), simplification of use, and process learning have helped propel the use of robots in industrial automation, says Earl Yardley, director at Industrial Vision Systems.
“In the future, industrial robots will be easier and quicker to program, using intuitive interfaces,” Yardley explains. “The human-robot collaboration will support the flexible production of small quantities with high complexity. The reduction in complexity of use allows the widespread use of robots and vision systems in the mid to long-term.”
Up to now, robots used in food manufacture have tended to replicate repetitive tasks. However, combining robotics with artificial intelligence (AI) could result in a new level of robotisation, claims Marius Robles, chief executive and founder of innovation firm Reimagine Food.
Furthermore, given the level of dependence on overseas workers, Brexit may allow the UK to become a leader in “food robolution”, Robles told Food Manufacture in December.
While the debate over the terms of Brexit rages on, all manufacturers reliant on imports will have a keen eye on the impact of any final deal on the sterling exchange rate.
“If we see a dramatic change in currency rates it could be the mechanism that opens the pricing floodgates,” warns Stephen Jacobs, insight director at IRI.
“With food and drink prices and long-term inflation around 8% down on the wider market, will the market adjust prices around 10% to catch up on all that lost inflation? Or will we find ourselves fixed in an eternal price standoff? My guess is it will be somewhere between the two,” he says.
“Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best – but having no plan could leave you very exposed and miss a big opportunity that is only going to happen once.”
Timut pepper
The trend towards hotter and spicier flavours in recent years is expected to continue into 2019, says Tasneem Backhouse, joint managing director at EHL Ingredients.
“Timut pepper is expected to be the ingredient in 2019,” she says. “It’s a hot, spicy pepper from Nepal with a grapefruit-like flavour and is a great addition to condiments, chutneys, sauces and in Indian and Asian cuisine.
“It’s used in dumplings, noodle soups and broths and marinades, and we have also seen it used in flavoured gins and cocktails.”
Insect protein
Insects have long been touted as a valuable and sustainable protein source. Once sceptical about the commercial viability of insect protein, new product development pioneers Jonny Bingham and David Jones now believe progress is being made.
“Eat Grub’s launch into Sainsbury’s seems to be the start of something that could be quite noisy in the next year,” says Bingham.
“We’ve seen industrial insect farming in the Netherlands and some really innovative products that seek to utilise the protein in far more developed ways than just smashing them up, making a powder and shoving a small amount into a bar.”
Sunshine shades
In line with the Instagram effect, colourful food and drink development is expected to be prominent in 2019.
GNT Group anticipates the sunshine spectrum – bright yellow to deep orange – will feature heavily, as consumers seek out products that inspire upbeat, positive emotions.
“In 2019, consumers will prefer food and drink that can arouse a sense of freshness and light – qualities that yellow and orange shades deliver,” says Maartje Hendrickx, market development manager at GNT. “Generation Z will channel the positivity of sunshine shades to sprinkle cheerfulness into their lives.”
Cannabidiol oil
Recent speculation on the potential health benefits of cannabidiol (CBD) oil now appears to have sparked interest among food and drink suppliers.
“We have seen a huge peak in enquiries for developing products containing CBD oil,” says Lucy Thomas, co-founder of food and drink innovation firm Tastemakers.
“In California, near Venice Beach, organic grocery store Erewhon sells CBD water, juices, coffee and even chocolate. We expect more of these products to launch in the UK in 2019.”
