Margaret McCarthy, PCF Business Dev Manager, Bord Bia - The Irish Food Board
Earlier this week 7 exporters exhibited on Bord Bia’s Origin Green stand at the 50th ISM tradeshow – the leading show globally for Confectionery and Snacks attended by approximately 40,000 trade visitors. The global market value for confectionery & snacks is valued at $473bn growing at a CAGR of 4.2% (2014-2019), according to Euromonitor International.
So where are the opportunities for added value for manufacturers?
Ingredients, Vegan, Sustainability, health, hybrids and experiences are some of the key trends that were called out by Innova Market Insights at ISM. Some leading examples of how these trends are being conveyed include
- Nestle’s launch of a new Kitkat wrapper in Japan that claims to be the world’s first recyclable confectionery wrapper.
- Ingredients playing the central character is a trend prevalent. That can take the form of functional ingredients such as probiotics or CBD, or ingredients that contribute towards emotional well-being and support healthier lifestyles. In other cases the provenance story of certain ingredients is helping to bring products and brands to life, and examples include Sno’s birch bark candy, or the traceability story behind Milka Chocolate’s Alpine cows.
- Plant based products are evolving at a much higher pace with a 58% rise in the number of new plant-based product launched in the past 12 months (Innova Marketing). With some of the large A-brands now presenting new vegan lines.
- Lastly, and not without irony, Sugar is being called out as ‘the enemy’, so consumers are increasingly looking for confectionery and snacks with low / no sugar, reduced sugar, natural sugar or no added sugar!
Packaging remains a key talking point at ISM with top tier customers interested in hearing manufacturers’ roadmaps to a more sustainable forms of packaging.
For companies looking to explore some of the key areas outlined Bord Bia recommends consulting two key resources –
Bord Bia’s Consumer Lifestyle Trends framework, and our report on Packaging Prospects which identifies some of the key future packaging trends for Food and Beverage manufacturers.
For more information please contact Margaret.mccarthy@bordbia.ie