Savoury Dairy Products on the rise

Why consumers demand more vegetables

Related to the rise of kale various vegetables are getting attention in a range of restaurants and consumers products. The current trend to eat meat more consciously (and altogether less) plus the of 5-a-day nutrition recommendation is another push for chefs to come up with more creative ways to incorporate vegetables in their meals.

At the same time consumers demand more convenient ways to get enough fruit and vegetables. This leads companies to come up with some surprising categories with added veggies, like chocolate milk, snack bars, yogurts and desserts. For example in the dairy industry there has been an increase in savoury yoghurts. Between 2010 and 2014, the introduction of vegetables in yoghurts has doubled.

According to Mintel, in 2014, the US has been most active in terms of innovation of vegetables in yoghurts, followed by Brazil, China and Japan. The high interest especially in the US can also be explained with the growing popularity of dips based on Greek yoghurt. Looking at recent product launches, the most popular vegetables have been carrot and pumpkin. Rarely there is only one vegetable component in a yoghurt, but with fruited yoghurt we often see combinations. The study further shows that yoghurt brands actually underestimate how adventurous consumers are. Taking the UK as an example, every fourth yogurt consumer would be interested in trying savoury flavours in yoghurt.

For AGRANA Fruit preparing vegetables and developing new products is nothing new and our  Savory Expertise Center in Germany is at the forefront of creating and sharing new vegetable preparations. AGRANA Fruit can support your company with more than 25 years of experience with savory preparations for the food industry.