08 Mar 2012 Looking Ahead: Ingredient Trends

The Hartman Group recently hosted a webinar entitled Looking Ahead: Ingredient Trends. This took an in-depth look at how cultural shifts in health and wellness impact ingredients in many of today’s and tomorrow’s foods and beverages. It attempts to give a better understanding on what shapes consumer perceptions of “healthy food”, and shows what’s trending in and what’s trending out. It’s now available as a PowerPoint download, FREE, and is, as usual from this impressive company, full of outstanding insights and beautifully presented information.

Key take-aways from the webinar:

1. Chefs, rather than policy makers, are the food educators of our time.
2. Purity, freshness, simplicity and ethics in cooking are defining the New Local.
3. Declining anti-fat sentiment contributes to the radical shift in thinking that fat is actually good for us!
4. Soy shifting form “being healthy” to “specifically avoided”.
5. For non celiacs, avoiding gluten may mean a possible deficit of fibre and added vitamins in the daily diet.
6. The alkaline (and gluten-free) properties of millet suggest it may be the next “it” novel grain.
7. Snacks with balanced nutrients from real food sources appeal to consumers seeking quality protein and fibre from real food sources.

Download the presentation here