|
|
 |
|
Viewing report
|
|
|
|
Opportunities in the Microencapsulated Food Ingredients Market
Frost & Sullivan, Oct 2005
Changing Food Trends Offer Significant Opportunities
Microencapsulation is increasingly attracting the attention of food ingredients companies as a way of achieving much-needed differentiation and enhancing product value. Since food manufacturers routinely track consumer trends and tastes, food ingredients companies are constantly looking to develop innovative products that help meet these changing needs. New and advanced microencapsulation technologies offer them the opportunity to do this since they enable the use of previously difficult-to-use ingredients. At the same time, food manufacturers need to introduce novel product lines to address complex consumer requirements as well as growing competition from supermarkets selling their own brand products. One way of achieving this is by using ingredients or processes that enhance a product in some way, such as a new flavor or a health benefit, and microencapsulation is an ideal tool to achieve this.
This Frost & Sullivan research service presents and analyses key growth opportunities for microencapsulation in the food ingredients market. It discusses major technology developments and their implications for food ingredients companies. The study also highlights key benefits of microencapsulation as well as important consumer trends that are driving such companies to increasingly use this technology.
Rising Trend towards Functional Foods Promotes Use of Microencapsulation
With the increasing consumer interest in functional foods, food companies are looking to incorporate new and health-enhancing ingredients. The growing functional foods market is the major driving force behind microencapsulation innovation, observes the analyst of this research service. Microencapsulation offers food companies a viable means of penetrating this lucrative growth sector because it has the ability to mask the taste associated with some of these ingredients, allowing firms to include these ingredients in many more products than before. Microencapsulating minerals or vitamins in an appetising application can help children get their recommended intake of these supplements.
Recent developments in microencapsulation are helping promote their potential in the food ingredients market further. For instance, the encapsulation of probiotics in hydrocolloid beads is helping improve their survival rate right through processing and digestion. Other new microencapsulation methods are enabling food manufacturers to incorporate Omega 3 fatty acids in food products.
Growing Demand for Convenience Food by Health-conscious Consumers
While consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious, Frost & Sullivan’s research service has revealed that they are unwilling to compromise on taste. Microencapsulation provides food manufacturers the chance to offer consumers healthy food that tastes good. New developments in microencapsulation, targeted in particular at the highly lucrative children’s market, have meant that chewing gum and candies can be fortified, says the analyst. Moreover, the encapsulation of sweeteners can reduce their hygroscopicity, improve their flowability and prolong their properties.
Microencapsulation can also help food companies capitalise on the growing convenience food market without compromising on quality. For example, in home-baked pizza products, sodium bicarbonate can be encapsulated to prevent early release of the bicarbonate and delay the reaction of the leavening phosphate until the crust reaches a particular temperature in the oven.
|
|
|
|
