With premium and natural products trending, Sensient is launching its new flavors for beverages –using only all-natural colors and flavors – with a focus on exotic fruits, citrus fruits and local fruits.
Within the local fruits category alone, the company’s new concentrates include an apple, blackcurrent and cranberry line and a rhubarb and pear variety, which the firm says “leads to a bitter-sweet fruit explosion on the tongue”.
‘Popular fruits from people’s gardens’
“Local fruits like rhubarb and pear are becoming a trend in the beverage industry now,” Hans-Juergen Sachs, who is general manager of Bremen, Germany-based Sensient Flavors, tells BeverageDaily.com.
“They used to be very popular fruits out of people’s own gardens for a long time. The local fruits used in the concepts are already popular, but the combination of these local fruits is innovative in soft drinks,” he adds.
Sensient’s ‘classic’ varieties such as lemon, orange and grapefruit have a 10-20% fruit content, and all the firm’s products are available as concentrated, semi-finished beverage systems.
The company claims its products have a natural, fruity taste and well-balanced sensory profile, and despite commanding a price premium, Sachs insists consumers will spend more for a drink “when it additionally offers benefits, e.g. provenance, premium quality or innovative taste experiences”.
Lemonade and childhood nostalgia…
Lemonades, for instance, are very common in central Europe, Sensient notes, especially with adults who want non-alcoholic alternatives to wine, beer and mineral water during evenings out.
Sachs said the company’s classic lemonade flavorings conjured up “nostalgic memories of childhood and meet increasing demand for comfort food”.
The high fruit content of all the products on the new line are its key unique sales point, and Sachs says this ensures its premium appeal, as does the use of natural flavors and colors.
Premium appeal has been a trend in soft drinks for a couple of years now, so what – aside from higher fruit content and natural colors or flavors – can help differentiate drinks as ‘higher end’.
“The use of direct juice instead of juice from concentrate, excellent new flavor profiles on local fruits and talking about provenance can make a difference,” Sachs says.