NEWS
WET-END
VEGETABLE
PROCESSING
Key Technology, a member of
the Duravant family of operating
companies, presents its most
versatile Veryx belt-fed digital
sorters, with specific design
elements that benefit vegetable
processors producing multiple
products.
Veryx is what the company
describes as the world’s only
belt-fed sorter that can inspect
product entirely in-air with top
and bottom sensors in order to
detect and eliminate all foreign
material (FM) and the right
amount of product defects to
make grade.
Featuring Key’s unique
recipe-driven operation, along
with the ideal hardware and
software to sort any number of
different products, Veryx can be
changed over to handle a new
product in seconds. With sort
recipes saved to memory for
quick recall, it eases use and
ensures repeatable results to
optimise product quality and
maximise yield.
CLEAN AND CLEAR STILL THE TREND
Its increasingly mainstream status
is illustrated in the fact that nearly
28% of global food and beverage
launches recorded by Innova
Market Insights in 2018 used one
or more clean label claims (natural,
organic, no additives/preservatives
and GMO-free), rising to nearly
39% in the USA.
There have also been associated
rises in interest in related clean
label areas such as vegan-friendly,
raw and paleo diets, and also in
the focus on minimal processing,
including the use of techniques
such as cold-pressing and highpressure
treatment. This is running
alongside increasingly wide ethical
concerns, including fair trade
and sustainability, packaging, the
environment, and animal welfare.
No additives/preservatives claims
continue to feature most strongly,
used for just over 15% of global
launches in 2018, rising to over
20% in the USA. The USA generally
sees higher levels of use of all
types of clean label positionings
and is also particularly notable for
the strong position of GMO-free
labelling. This featured on 17.8% of
launches, compared with under 6%
globally and was also the number
two clean label claim in the USA
overall, well ahead of both organic
on just over 13% and natural on
just over 8%.
“Flavour is still the number one
factor influencing purchasing
decisions”, reports Lu Ann
Williams, director of Innovation at
Innova Market Insights. “But it is
clear that in recent years, the clean
label trend has broadened out into
a wider movement, focusing on
an increasingly mindful consumer
trying to make responsible food
choices that are not only tasty and
healthy but also sustainable and
ethical.”
While interest in clean label has
kept organic and GMO free claims
in the spotlight in many countries,
rising levels of competition mean
that product offerings have had to
become much more sophisticated,
focusing more on value-added
products and combining both
specialist organic brands and
organic and GMO free variants in
existing conventional ranges.
Organic or GMO claims alone may
not now be enough and companies
are focusing on additional benefits
including other related clean-label
areas such as vegan-friendly, raw,
and paleo diets, as well as local
ingredients and sourcing, minimal
processing and unusual and
premium-style recipes and flavours,
including the use of seasonal and
limited editions.
EMERGING, LUCRATIVE: ANTI-POLLUTION FOOD AND DRINKS
Anti-pollution has the potential to become an
on-trend and highly lucrative product claim in the
food and drinks sector says data and analytics
company GlobalData. It says, manufacturers
must act quickly to capitalise on the opportunity
and take credible steps to actually address the
issue of pollution, rather than simply profit from
its existence. According to GlobalData’s 2018
Q4 Consumer Survey, environmental concerns
are at the forefront of consumers’ minds, with
32% of Asian consumers saying that their buying
decision is often based on how the world around
them is changing while 33% and 38% of Indian
and Chinese consumers, respectively, believe
that ‘living an ethical and sustainable lifestyle’ is
important or very important to their wellbeing.
Shagun Sachdeva, Consumer Insights analyst
for GlobalData, comments: “In a scenario driven
by alarming air pollution levels, heightened
consumer awareness and advances in nutritional
science, there is an opportunity for food and
drinks manufacturers to target the effects of poor
air quality. Food and drinks currently occupy the
initial stage of anti-pollution claims, which focus
primarily on emphasising ‘clean’ formulations and
implying purity.”
Clean and clear labelling concerns
are now well established in the
food and beverage industry, having
featured as a key and running
theme through all Innova Market
Insights’ Top Trends forecasts
in recent years. More than ten
years ago ‘Go Natural’ led the
Company’s annual top trends listing
and since then clean label claims
have developed and featured each
year in different forms, increasingly
weaving throughout the entire
trends listings until they are now
regarded as a given.
The term ‘clear labelling,’ which
Innova Market Insights coined for
its 2015 trends listing, has now fully
entered industry parlance, being
used in several company marketing
campaigns, with new commitments
on a clean or clear platform
regularly.
Labelling must present all the information to
the consumer and leave them not guessing
origins, ethics, contents and more.
16 AUGUST 2019