Texture Is Trending

Back in 2014 Elizabeth Sloan at Sloan Trends Inc postulated that ‘Texture’ was the next megatrend in food and beverage product development.  

An article in Food Product Design magazine
stated that “Foods and beverages without texture are boring, especially to consumers who are becoming more adventuresome and expanding their horizons in the culinary world. 

"Consumers are taking time to not only enjoy their meals, but to savour each and every bite that a particular product has to offer, focusing on the flavours and textures alike.

"A potato chip without the crunch, a soggy cracker or a yogurt that’s slippery all miss the mark, as products are often defined by their textural properties. As consumers become more food savvy, expectations increase.”

Texture can be described as the next market differentiator, in part, because foodies are expressing interest in the textural qualities of products. These people savour their foods and snacks and strive to experience all that a food has to offer. Texture also drives flavour and implies freshness. Besides inferring that a product is better-for-you because it is minimally processed, texture verifies product quality.

Product designers are striving to create products with the desired creaminess or smoothness or to optimise the bite of crispy, crunchy foods. In dairy, texture is particularly crucial — according to Innova Insight Market Database North America, from 2010 to 2013, 25 percent of new dairy products used texture claims as a point of difference.

Texture development is not unlike formulation of other attributes — developers must look at the whole picture. A key element is understanding the manufacturing process and then formulating to specific process parameters to achieve the desired textural characteristics. Product designers not only must choose the right ingredients, but use them properly.

For a closer look at the role of texture in food and beverage products, as well as how to formulate with texture in mind, you might be interested to download the free Special Report, “Texture: Science & Innovation" from Food Product Design’s FoodTech Toolbox (Natural Products Insider).

Exciting new food textures will be among the emerging trends over the next three years, together with more "playful" products for adults and more widespread use of edible packaging, according to a leading food futurologist. Click here to read more of this article in Food Manufacture.

Millennial fusion and provenance among the texture trends to follow, claims Ingredion. 

The leading global provider of ingredient solutions has published the global texture and taste trends that it claims are shaping the future of product development through the company’s Idea Labs Culinology Group. The trends identified stem from North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia and capture the emerging food texture trends in each region. 

Ingredion initiated the research project to identify the texture and taste trends from around the world in order to provide new ideas and fresh concepts to food and beverage manufacturers aiming to appeal to evolving demographics. Each of the company’s regional culinologists researched and shared traditional texture trends and how they have shaped the eating culture in each region. Click here to read more...

Here at Stable Micro Systems we’ve also noted how the world is becoming more sophisticated and hungry for new food textural experiences. 

You might like to request a copy of our article ‘It’s time to perform textural magic – an introduction to Culinology, Texture and Molecular Gastronomy’.

Or, if you are specifically interested in textural developments in the bakery industry, you might like to request ‘Revealing the new textural experiences in hybrid bakery products – how creativity and tradition combine to produce novel delicacies’.