Highlight of Fi Europe 2013

Below some of the highlights of Fi Europe exhibition in Frankfurt:

Winners of the Fi Europe Innovation awards:

Most Innovative Food Ingredient: ROQUETTE - Roquette Microalgae High Lipid Algal Flour

Confectionery Innovation of the Year: IOI-Loders Croklaan - CristalGreen®

Bakery Innovation of the Year: ROQUETTE - Roquette Microalgae High Lipid Algal Flour

Beverage Innovation of the Year: Tate & Lyle - PROMITOR® Soluble Gluco Fibre

Dairy Innovation of the Year: Chr. Hansen - SaltLite

Savoury/Meat Innovation of the Year: DSM Food Specialities - MaxiPro HSP

Snacks/On-The-Go Innovation of the Year: Novozymes A/S - Novozymes Acrylaway® HighT

Sustainability Initiative of the Year: Symrise AG - simply vanilla(R) - Symrise Sustainable Vanilla

Some innovations as spotted by Leatherhead:

Mushroom salt reduction, award-winning algal flour and musical taste buds, Leatherhead takes us through the top three new products at this year’s Food Ingredients Europe (FiE)

http://www.foodnavigator.com/Financial-Industry/Leatherhead-s-top-3-new-products-at-FiE

2014 top 10 food and beverage trends list:

Innova Market Insights (http://www.innovadatabase.com/) presented its 2014 top 10 food and beverage trends list:

- Waste Not Want Not. For some time now manufacturers' sustainability efforts have been zeroed in on, with a more recent shift in focus being to reduce food loss or waste, wherever possible. Food loss during production and food waste at the retailer and consumer end of the food-supply chain will be heavily scrutinized. Ingredients derived from the waste stream will also hold enormous potential.

- You Can Trust Us. Recent food safety scares and scandals have crippled consumer confidence. Companies have their work cut out in order to regain consumer trust. Ingredient origin will be used as a marketing tool. The consumer should ultimately benefit from higher quality foods that are clearly traceable.

- Simpler Pleasures. Consumers are reassessing their needs and going back to basics, by finding more pleasure in simpler food. There has been a shift towards home cooking, with food bringing family and friends together. Where consumers shop has also been affected, with the so-called "hourglass model" still in effect. This relates to growth on the budget and premium sides, but the center ground being squeezed. Value packaging and "good value" claims on the products themselves and in-store value promotions are prospering.

- Look Out For The Small Guy. Small innovators are rising to the challenge, with the development of high quality and distinct products that have small-scale appeal, but big trend potential. Social media platforms have provided more opportunities for small companies to develop a market by directly targeting niches across their home market and abroad.

- Health is More Holistic. Nutrition is getting closer to being truly recognized as the answer to healthcare budget crises around the globe. Some big food manufacturers are looking to all areas of health for a more holistic approach in providing nutritious food and beverage solutions to consumers. Clinical nutrition is being eyed as a highly profitable platform along with health alternatives, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The other five trends identified by Innova Market Insights are: "New" Superfoods, Rise of the Hybrid, The Protein Horizon, New Stealth Strategies and Alternative Alternatives.

Flavor connections

Below some interesting reading from Nature and Scientific America magazine about global flavor preferences for anyone involved in flavor development, new product development or for amateur and professional cooks of course:  
"Julia Child famously said that fat carries flavor, but perhaps instead we should give thanks to 4-methylpentanoic acid. Unique combinations of such chemical compounds give foods their characteristic flavors. Science-minded chefs have gone so far as to suggest that seemingly incongruous ingredients—chocolate and blue cheese, for example—will taste great together as long as they have enough flavor compounds in common. "

"Scientists recently put this hypothesis to the test by creating a flavor map, a variant of which we have reproduced here. Lines connect foods that have components in common; thick lines mean many components are shared. By comparing the flavor network with various recipe databases, the researchers conclude that chefs do tend to pair ingredients with shared flavor compounds—but only in Western cuisine. Dishes from a database of recipes from East Asia tend to combine ingredients with few overlapping flavors"

Have a look and see which flavors go well together, as you will see beer taste great with almost everything !

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=flavor-connection-taste-map-interactive