Synergy Flavors has predicted that East Asian flavours will take centre stage for sports nutrition products in 2022 and beyond, as outlined in its recent Flavours of the Future report.
Synergy’s research, which takes into account a range of factors from popular product launches to the impact of social media, has identified that emerging flavours such as salted egg custard, hojicha, Japanese plum, and ramune will become more prevalent across sports nutrition products, whilst already established and mainstream flavours such as dalgona biscuit, Japanese melon, jasmine, yuzu, and lychee are also likely candidates for popular future product launches.
The flavour house's report recommends manufacturers looking to innovate should turn their attention towards developing products that utilise these emerging flavour concepts.
Flavours of the Future 3, which offers more detail and insight into these upcoming flavour trends and how manufacturers can utilise these in NPD, is a sports nutrition-specific marketing report which highlights one geographical region every year, and identifies flavours from across categories in the chosen region which could offer opportunities for global sports nutrition launches. In previous editions of the report, flavours from North and South America have been showcased, and flavours inspired by Mediterranean regions.
Chris Whiting, European Business Development Manager, said: “Flavours of the Future is one of our most popular insight reports, which inform sports nutrition manufacturers on what flavours are poised to perform well based on current consumer interests. The newest report hones in on Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisine, and in generating this report we have come to realise that the impact of popular culture on the food and beverage industry cannot be underestimated.”
For example, record-breaking series such as Squid Game led to challenges that saw consumers attempting to recreate the now infamous ‘dalgona biscuit’, and its influences like these that help to shape the food and beverage industry and open up new areas and flavours for innovation.”
Flavours of the Future is one of our most popular insight reports, which inform sports nutrition manufacturers on what flavours are poised to perform well based on current consumer interests
Regions are selected through a range of data points, which identify trending and influential cuisines based on size of country, diaspora, market penetration, social media, and Google search data. After a region is identified, Synergy works with data partners to generate a longlist of flavours that fit within this region.
This longlist is then further refined based on research into recent product launches, social media listening, and mentions in content such as recent news items and blogs. When a shortlist has been created, the remaining flavours are split into four categories – “Emerging, Growing, Mainstream, and Established”, based on their position in the innovation adoption curve.
Once flavours of interest have been established, Synergy’s team begins to create flavour profiles by sourcing benchmarks which can undergo taste testing and profiling. Further analysis is performed by Synergy to identify key flavour pairings, whilst applications specialists work with the new flavours to create solutions that suit a range of applications such as vegan, whey protein, and clear protein.
Research into market growth also means that emerging markets needs can be addressed, such as flavour solutions for functional energy beverages that target the expanding eSports consumer base.
Flavours of the Future 3 is now available to download for manufacturers looking to create sports nutrition products that stay one step ahead of the competition.
