The Flavor Industry Rise As A New Global Food Trend
Driven by new global food trends, the flavor industry has grown towards organic and natural ingredients. Ever-changing guest interests lead to demands for the flavor market.
Flavor industry: Market overview
The global flavor market has experienced dramatic growth in the food & beverage sector in the past few years. The flavor industry has chiefly been influenced by the food consumption of various food and beverages. Due to the fast-faceted customer preferences, the demand for ready-to-eat food products has been increasing. Thus, this aids the development of the food flavor market.
Flavors can be classified into natural and synthetic flavors. The natural flavors are made from edible foods such as fruits, vegetables, etc. Meanwhile, synthetic flavors from inedible substances like petroleum are processed in the labs to generate flavors. New technologies help to derive the flavors from fruits and vegetables. Nowadays, the demand for natural flavors is predicted to increase significantly regarding health and wellness aspects.
The global food flavor market is led by Switzerland, followed by the US and Germany. The current flavor market now is getting affected owing to the outbreak of covid-19. Most countries are in lockdown, the customer purchase volumes have negatively impacted the growth of processed food items. Moreover, many custom software development companies introduce various food industry software systems that make food readily available to customers.
Flavor market segment analysis
The flavor market is segmented based on flavor type, applications, and geography.
Based on flavor type
The flavor market classifies into different categories, including chocolate and browns, vanilla, fruits, nuts, spices, herbs, etc. Amongst them, fruits and nuts are estimated to make up the largest market share of the food flavor market by 2020. This higher absorption leads to the rising preferences for fruits and nut flavors in food products such as snacks, dairy products, etc.
Additionally, the rising adoption of nuts boosts the demand for innovation and adventurous food and beverage items. Nevertheless, spices and herbs are estimated to grow at the fastest speed in the forecast time. The dramatic growth of these segments is owing to healthy living, discovering new tastes, sustainability, and awareness about the medicinal attributes of herbs and spices.
Based on application type
The food flavor market divides into the application types of flavor regarding dairy products, confectionery food, meat, baked products, etc. The beverage segment dominated the largest share of the food flavors market (2020) due to the demand for beverages with disposable income in urbanization and changing lifestyles.
Besides, the increase in urbanization and lifestyles have impacted the consuming-food-habit of customers. They can usually replace main meals with something more flexible, light, and convenient snack selections. Thereby, the savory and snack sector is forecasted to experience the fastest growth during the covid-19 pandemic.
Based on geography
The flavor market is also segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of the world. Europe commanded the global food flavor market in 2019 with a total market share of 31.7%. The increasing consumption of convenient food, frozen dessert, and dairy products in Europe led to this domination. However, the Asia-Pacific area is believed to have the fastest-growing CAGR between 2020 and 2025 for the high production of flavors and different food items.
Factors driving global food flavor market trends
Global flavors market size was USD 14.12 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $19.28 billion by 2027, showing a CAGR of 4.36% in the forecast period.
1. Increasing demand for natural ingredients
Consumers have gained flavors toward purchasing clean goods, which offer a wide range of naturally sourced ingredients. Thus, the increasing demand for natural ingredients is a primary factor driving the global food flavor market.
To solve the growing demand, food manufacturers offer products from artificial flavorings and gradually changing toward natural flavors. Recently, consumers are more concerned about the long-term health effects of additives and artificial flavors in food. So the artificial flavors are now being replaced by natural ones in the global market.
2. European people making up a large share of the flavor food market
As the exiting demand for organic products, UK companies dominate the natural food flavors market. For example, the sales of organic food and beverage in the UK increase significantly. More food industry software services introduce custom apps that make food delivery easier.
The F&B industry in France has experienced a reduction in synthetic food flavors, which own the applications of natural ingredients in the bakery and confectionery market. With a massive demand for organic food and beverage products, the European market drives the growth of the global flavor food industry.
3. Consumer preference towards botanicals and floral ingredients
Floral flavors have emerged as one of the major flavor trends. The floral and fruity flavors are added to bakery products giving a natural aroma and taste. In the past few years, the floral and botanical flavors have gained popularity. The floral flavors are chiefly used in baked products, and the growth rate of flavors was 132% in the years 2015–2018.
For example, lemon-lavender cookies, lemon-violent granola, and others refer to regular floral flavors in bakery products. Besides, the adoption of floral flavors has become a trend attributed to spending on natural food products.
Factors reducing food flavor market growth
The flavor industry has grown significantly in recent years; however, Some reasons constrain the food flavor market growth. First of all, the high cost of natural flavors production is the main factor for its growth. Besides, natural flavors are not stable enough to use. Thus, it would reduce the shelf life of food and beverage products.
Additionally, there are obvious health effects of some chemicals making natural and artificial flavors. For example, the benzaldehyde compound has hydrogen cyanide which can lead to central nervous system depression. Or benzyl acetate might cause bronchial, skin, and eye irritation. Certain amounts of toxins (diacetyl, monosodium glutamate) in natural flavors come from fruits or plants. These effects can restrain the flavor market growth somehow.
Flavor industry: Opportunities & Challenges and flavor trends
Natural foods have become a global trend, so the food industry strives to develop new sources of flavors. Castoreum extract derived from the anal glands of a beaver is a natural flavor in beverages, confectionery, and desserts. Knowledge of the biogenesis of plant volatiles, enzymes, and genes paves the way for food flavor evolution. Furthermore, technologies also play a vital role in delivering processed foods more efficiently, aiding the way people order food. Some custom software development solutions could help take orders from customers.
Marine sources are used for flavor extraction, for example, seaweed is one of the most innovative ingredients in well-established flavor houses. Diversities of superfruits in the rainforests drive the demand for the consumption of natural flavors. These innovations and delivering processes have given many opportunities for the flavor market growth.
Food flavor industry facing some notable challenges
The food flavors industry addresses a legal obligation to comply with the norms and regulations. These regulatory requirements can vary among different countries; however, there’s a common rule of ensuring safety. The regulations emphasize the usage of flavors and labeling of food and beverage products.
Furthermore, the regulation sector can prevent new food products from launching, leading to increasing the prices of these products. Therefore, the execution of new regulations may have negatively affected the food flavor industry.
Flavor trends — Emphasizing the development of natural flavors
The global food flavors market structure has shown the presence of many key players in the market. With a huge demand for natural or chemical-free flavors, food manufacturers should focus on the production of natural ingredients to take the flavor trends. It helps to provide transparency in the production and supply of food products. Now some custom software development services offer delivery food apps improving customers satisfaction when people order processed food.
The rising organic trends and the adoption of clean-label food products are factors that drive the growth of natural food flavors. Consumers tend to use plant-based ingredients, which helps them to have a healthier lifestyle. Moreover, positive awareness regarding natural products (chemical-free) and clean-label ingredients contribute to the increasing demand for organic ingredients for food.
The Organic Trade Association reports that the figure for sales of organic food (2017) in the US was $43.3 billion. The growth rate of this kind of product was 5.3% (from 2016 to 2017).
The flavor industry has witnessed dramatic growth in the overall global food flavor market. Consumers are stepping towards increasing demand for various organic or natural food products. Also, customers find it easier to order organic or processed food owing to the online ordering apps of the food industry software companies. Thus, this is predicted to aid in the growth of the food flavor market in the future years.
