Functional food goes organic

Published: 19-Jul-2019

Marc van Essen, Sales Director at SternLife, on the market potential in bars and shakes

Sales revenues of organic foods in Europe continue to rise. In addition to traditional drivers such as the dry foods category such as cereals, other categories including protein bars and shakes are also in upward trend.

“The growing demand for organic products is becoming more and more obvious in health and fitness-related categories,” commented Marc van Essen, Sales Director at SternLife.

“So we offer a large part of our range in organic versions as well. From vegan protein bars and protein shakes to breakfast and fitness shakes to smoothie powders, we provide high-quality functional food made with organically grown raw materials, with a difference you can taste.”

Headquartered in Norderstedt (Germany), SternLife is one of the leading suppliers of functional lifestyle and sports nutrition products. From an extensive range of organic raw materials, the company also develops exclusive organic product lines for major brands.

The raw materials can be from animal or plant sources as desired. For example, protein sources can be pea, rice, hemp, sunflower and pumpkin, or milk and whey.

“Continuous consumer and market research is fundamental to the successful development of our product concepts. We have a very good knowledge of which organic raw materials are in demand at any given time,” said SternLife Product Manager Lüder Holsten, adding: “That means we can always implement the latest product trends for our customers.”

The proper combination of raw materials is at least as important to achieving high bioavailability and thus high product functionality. SternLife developers and technologists examine these aspects very carefully in applications testing.

With regard to the organic market, functional bars are of special interest. Few organic offerings exist, and demand is rising rapidly.

SternLife has therefore developed a wide selection of exciting concepts for the entire range of bars, from Pure to Deluxe. Whether chocolate-coated or uncoated, with sprinkled bits or filling, whether vegan or conventional, SternLife has many possibilities for individual product lines with protein content up to 30 % (vegan) or more (conventional).

In the powder category, customers can engage SternLife to create custom organic shakes for different target groups and occasions, working from a wide portfolio of raw materials.

Powders can be conventional or vegan; the vegan powders can contain up to 60 % protein while meeting all sensory requirements. In addition to raw materials from organic agriculture, SternLife naturally also offers UTZ and RSPO-certified raw materials, combined individually to customer order.

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