Last week, over 1,000 exhibitors and countless more attendees gathered at McCormick Place in Chicago for the IFT FIRST Annual Event & Expo.
Just a short drive down I-90 from Edlong’s headquarters, our team was there in full force to see, hear, and taste innovative ideas from around the industry that can play a key role in feeding consumers worldwide for years to come.
It’s also an amazing opportunity for Edlong to showcase the latest in dairy flavor solutions, including our newest masking technology to attendees from around the world.
“IFT FIRST is one of the must-attend events every year, and this year was no exception!” says Lauren Hopkins, Sr. Director of Business Development–Americas.
Lauren Hopkins, Sr. Director of Business Development–Americas
Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn!
“From the high turnout to the incredible and focused conversations, it really is a unique opportunity to get so many knowledgeable people from around the industry—and around the world–all in one place. Not to mention seeing the emphasis on innovation and even renovation of current products to deliver on and exceed consumer expectations. There really isn’t anything else like it.”
Our team had so much to take away from three jam-packed days at the world’s largest global food science and innovation expo that there’s no way we could fit it all in one post.
Here’s Part I, covering our Top Takeaways from the Showroom Floor.
Check Part II: IFT First 2024 with Edlong – A View from Booth #S1102
#1 Back to Basic Tastes
“Something I quickly noticed at this year’s expo was that quite a few vendors were going back to basics and were showcasing fewer products at their booths and focusing more on high-quality products and conversations,” explains Angela Lantman, Edlong’s NA Applications Manager.
Not limited to the presentation of their products, there also seemed to be a focus on addressing basic tastes.
One way that clearly stood out was approaching them from the better-for-you perspective.
Lantman continues, “Salt reduction and sugar reduction continue to be a big focus for many companies, and that was very clearly on display across the expo, and just by hearing how many people were asking us about our Sweet Spot™ technology.”
Julie Drainville, Edlong’s Global Sensory Manager, agreed, noticing a number of companies zeroing in on healthier sweetness, “Sugar replacers, modulators, and reducers were one of the ingredient solution types I saw the most of. One thing that was stressed was cleaner-tasting sweetening solutions that taste more like sucrose.”
Drainville adds, “However, it wasn’t exclusively all about sugar, salt, fat reductions, or added protein and other functions. The focus was on great-tasting products.”
Echoing this, Edlong’s Director of Marketing Jessa Friedrich states, “You could tell that taste was being placed front and center. The two most prevalent taste trends I noticed from walking the expo were solutions enabling food developers to innovate around imparting umami and spicey flavor profiles to indulgent products to really excite consumers.”
She went on to note in particular Ingredion’s Korean Spicy Flavor Chips and their Spicy Cheese Seasoned Chips demos as well as ButterBud’s mole sauce demo and Edlong’s own FUN-ctional Snack Bar that featured a snack mix of spicy three-cheese pretzels, aged cheddar chickpea chips, Tikha-mitha-seasoned fruit chips, honey butter corn cereal, and buttermilk ranch rice cereal.”
“This was very apparent from the samples companies were offering,” says Drainville, “From Edlong’s own Reduced-sugar Pink Drink and High Fiber Cupcake demos to ButterBuds Mac and Cheese, Ajinomotos Bloody Mary Mocktail with MSG, and Bell’s cupcakes that came in a variety of unique flavor combinations—many companies aimed to showcase indulgent products and profiles.”
#2 Indulging in Personalization
Speaking of indulgence, Friedrich saw that as a recurring theme at many of the booths.
“There seemed to be a resurgence of indulgent foods. Much of it was targeted at better-for-you options, but a lot of it wasn’t. I think a lot of companies are acknowledging that even as categories like plant-based and functional products go mainstream, indulgent experiences are what consumers crave.”
That being said, it’s not just about indulgence but rather personalized and tailored experiences.
“The line for personalized bottles of Kraft Heinz Ketchup, which remained wrapped around their booth consistently for all three days, reminds us that this is a trend that remains in the food industry: personalized products, as well as nutrition and functional ingredients, to meet specific consumer needs,” elaborates Drainville.
Friedrich agrees that there was a palpable recognition of the role functional products play in creating such products, “We’ve seen functional ingredients on the horizon for a while now, and I think after this year’s IFT, it’s safe to say they’ve arrived. But it’s not just established companies innovating in this space. At the start-up pavilion I saw more companies than ever focusing on functional.”
#3 Refining Plant-Based
While functional was the rising star of this year’s show, we can’t forget to mention the category that has dominated discussion over recent years: plant-based.
However, this year, there was definitely a different tone coming from developers in this space.
“While plant-based products were still a common theme this year it was more about optimizing current products as opposed to launching new ones,” explains Lantman.
“Several booths were showing texture improvements to the proteins themselves or other ingredients that can support texture improvements to finished products. For customers we encountered at our booth, addressing taste issues and refining that aspect of their product was a common concern.”
#4 Having Tough Conversations: Ultra-Processed Foods
With all of these impressive innovations and ingredients focused on improving the health of consumers and the industry’s impact on the planet, one topic stood out: ultra-processed foods.
“There was so much talk around things like functional foods and other solutions, that it only makes sense for the topic of ultra-processed foods to be top of mind,” says Friedrich.
“It’s clear that the industry is becoming aware of the implications of these definitions and how much they can impact consumer perception. This is going to continue to be an important topic going forward, so it was good to see multiple sessions at IFT addressing it.”
Aiming to help lead the conversation on this crucial topic, Edlong sponsored a Fireside Chat where Edlong’s President Michael Natale and Global VP of R&D Dr. Bernd Koehler aimed to answer the question ”Can Functional Foods Help You Overcome Biases Against Processed Foods?”.
We feel this conversation is so critical that it needs more than twenty minutes and a Q&A. Learn more in Part 1 of our in-depth two-part series Rewriting the Narrative on Ultra-Processed Foods, out now.
Insights from Across the Pond
Unable to attend this year’s expo, we reached out to Edlong’s Global Director of Strategy & Innovation, Anne Marie Butler, to see how the trends our team picked up from the showroom floor compare to the many international industry events she’s been a part of in 2024.
“Although I couldn’t attend IFT in person, I had the advantage of exploring much more through extensive coverage by Food Ingredients First. Their excellent reporting allowed me to follow various competitions and gain insights into new ingredients, such as AAK’s recent GRAS approval for shea stearin in the USA—an ingredient that Edlong’s EU team has been working with through AAK.
Anne Marie Butler, Global Director of Strategy and Innovation
Connect with Anne Marie on LinkedIn!
Discussions with colleagues highlighted key trends emerging at IFT, including complex and intriguing textures, protein-rich offerings, and efforts to reduce costs, salt, sugar, and fat. These trends align with what we have observed over the past year and are expected to continue growing. However, taste remains the primary focus for most companies, which, as we know, is a fundamental requirement for a successful product launch rather than a mere trend.”
Missed us at IFT FIRST this year? We’d love to show you everything that dairy taste can be for your next project. Reach out to our team today to get started working on your next innovation right away.
Topics: Better For YouClean labelCulinary indulgencePlant-Based
Resource Type: Article
Resource Region: US