Three major food trends in India and how they are transforming the food and beverage industry

Indian consumers are becoming more health-conscious and better educated particularly when it comes to understanding food labels.

One area undergoing a major shift is the use of sugar replacers. However, substituting the properties of sucrose is a challenging task as each food product and process is unique. Besides sweetness, sugar also contributes to many functional properties like bulkiness, binding, texture and shelf-life.

With the global sugar substitutes market valued at more than USD 13 billion, which continues to grow by more than four percent annually until 2024, food producers and ingredient suppliers are taking steps to meet this demand. For instance, DKSH in meeting this growing trend for sugar replacers in India has assembled various functional ingredients to replace sugar while maintaining the same taste and function provided by sucrose.

The use of natural ingredients like Stevia and monk fruit is also on the rise: Stevia’s RebA extracts are 200 to 400 times sweeter than sucrose while monk fruit extracts are 150 to 200 times sweeter. Both sweeteners provide a clean sweetness profile with fewer bitter after taste and they are also more stable at different processing temperatures and pH conditions.

By combining these with ingredients such as polyols, fibers, flavors, bitterness maskers and hydrocolloids, we can equalize the sucrose equivalence levels to match with all the functional properties.

The following are some examples of the ingredients used and their respective applications:

• Reduced sugar muffins and cupcakes using soluble corn fiber
• Reduced sugar/no added sugar cookies using sucralose and soluble corn fiber
• No added sugar beverages using Stevia, low-calorie beverages using fructose
• No added sugar protein premix using Stevia
• No added sugar protein bar using soluble corn fiber

Fibers are not only important for gut health but also help to lower cholesterol levels, control blood sugar level and aid in weight management along with few functionalities. Although whole foods give us plenty of good fibers, our current lifestyle makes it difficult to meet the daily intake required.

Recent research showed that more than half of consumers worldwide are now trying to increase fiber intake in their food. Fortifying food with fiber is a good option as it does not require changes in existing food patterns, habits or individual compliance and can be introduced quickly.

DKSH’s portfolio of fiber includes functional beta glucan fiber, soluble corn fiber (prebiotic benefits, increases calcium absorption, reduces calories) and prebiotic polydextrose (calorie reduction, fiber enrichment).

The following are some examples of their applications:

• Fiber-enriched drinks with prebiotic polydextrose and soluble corn fiber
• Cookies with added fiber using prebiotic polydextrose and soluble corn fiber
• Protein bar with fiber using soluble corn fiber
• Soup premix with added fiber using soluble corn fiber
• Prebiotic protein premix with prebiotic polydextrose
• Zero-fat dressing using soluble corn fiber for texture enhancement and fiber addition

There is increased awareness, both globally and in India, for high-protein food products particularly towards products that combine all sources of protein for weight loss. The global protein ingredients market exceeded USD 38 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to grow more than nine percent annually until 2027.

Protein ingredients are perceived as a healthy source of various amino acids that are not produced by the human body or are concentrated in muscle. The trend of plant proteins is also growing in India.

DKSH's portfolio of whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate can act as egg replacers because of their emulsifying and foaming activity. They can be incorporated based on the functionality and the protein content which varies from 50 to 80 percent.

Caseinates which are highly nutritious and have good emulsifying and foaming activity are incorporated into various dairy-based applications to strengthen the proteins present in food products. Meanwhile, the isolates of soy protein which are dispersible in water and with significantly fewer off-notes remain a perfect addition to nutritional supplements and other high-protein applications.

Here are some applications available in the market:

• High protein cookies using functional whey protein concentrate
• High protein baked snacks using soy protein isolate and whey protein concentrate
• Protein premix using instant whey protein concentrate and soy protein isolate
• Baked protein bar using milk protein crisps, soy protein isolate, sodium caseinate and functional whey protein concentrate