Unseen insights from your esteemed Future Ingredients Competition judging panel
The ingredients industry is partaking in an evolution with more plant-based alternatives, sustainable solutions, and an expansion on healthy, better-for-you, and nutritious projects. Food Matters Live is looking for these new, pioneering, and innovative ingredients, with our first ever Future Ingredients Competition, now open for entries.
Do you have an ingredient of the future? Perhaps it has a chance of winning our competition. And with a particular set of criteria, and a fierce competitive set of entries already (entries close 1 October) we sat down with Nick Bennett, Technical Director at Chrysalis Health & Beauty, one of the competition judges.
Nick reveals what he is looking for in this year’s winner, with some predictions for the ingredients industry as a whole. Continue reading to discover whether or not your ingredient holds the ability to meet the growing industry trends predicted to be on the rise.
What are some new industry trends which you predict to be on the horizon?
“Clean label is a growing trend, but to achieve clean label, formulations require a lot of technological knowhow and innovation, particularly if the new formula is going to work as well as a regular one. More vegan alternatives and sustainably sourced ingredients are going to be in greater demand.”
What innovation do you think is currently happening within the market which holds promise and opportunity for the industry?
“Vegan alternatives hold great opportunity for the industry as it satisfies multiple customer demands.”
What do you think is the importance of ingredients being developed with nutritional, sustainable, ethical, or functional credentials in today’s environment?
“Sustainability and ethical sourcing are climbing the average person’s priority list, but they still need to have a balanced cost.”
How fast do you think the mainstream of nutritious, sustainable, and healthy diets is going to be achieved? And what is the importance of our community’s developments of ground-breaking ingredients for the achievement of such?
“Taste is always paramount with food, but less so with supplements, so there may be some faster progress in the supplementary field. Ground-breaking ingredients are needed to tackle vegan and sustainable demands.”
Where are you excited to see innovation within our community and industry?
“I’m particularly excited to see innovation that helps to reduce food waste or make better use of less than perfect foods.”
In your opinion, what are you looking for most in the candidates for this competition?
“My focus is on innovation that enables more people to have a nutritious diet.”
What do you see as the future of the ingredients industry?
“Ingredients are fundamentally there to provide a benefit, whether that is functional, taste, increased sustainability, simplification or to reduce cost. There are so many new advances that innovative ingredients can bring, it is always exciting to see which ideas come through.”
About Nick Bennett
Nick Bennett has worked in the food supplement industry since 1996 specialising in all matters relating to product development, regulations, and the support that appropriate nutritional supplementation can provide to health and well-being.
Nick qualified in Nutritional Biochemistry from Nottingham University in 1994 and has been a Registered Nutritionist since 2003. During this time, he has worked in a variety of food supplement companies of different sizes from very small UK focussed, to very large international, before joining Chrysalis Health & Beauty in 2021.
Stay tuned as we cover more questions and answers from other judges in our newsletter next week.
Check out much more about the Future Ingredient 2021 Competition.
Have any questions about entering the competition? If you are an Ingredient Innovator and would like a Discovery Session of your own, contact David, our Head of Client Relations to discuss whether your brand could be a fit for the competition here.
