Puratos finds key food trends from 3-year study

Puratos Canada, the Canadian arm of global Belgium-based brand Puratos has released some key insights into the consumer trends and the future of bakeries, with the results of a three-year study.

The their 2019 Taste Tomorrow study is the world’s largest independent bakery, patisserie and chocolate consumer survey.

The 2019 Taste Tomorrow study is the third of its kind, with events that took place in Asia, Europe, North & South America. The study is conducted once every three years on a global scale. The results provide Puratos with in-depth insights into global and local consumer behaviour while identifying future trends into bakery, patisserie, pastry, and chocolate.

For this year’s study, 17,000 consumers in 40 countries were surveyed. The survey also included interviewing 80 foodies in 8 trend-setting cities and conducting additional interviews with both customers and industry experts.

“As leaders in innovation, Taste Tomorrow has become a key factor in our decision-making as a business and also in being at the forefront of this industry,” says Liesbet Vandepoel Director of Marketing for Puratos Canada in a press release.

“Exclusively available to Puratos customers, insights from the full Taste Tomorrow research gives a head-start within R&D departments, product development planning and marketing.”

The study offers a Foodstep into the future by tracking the evolution of trends and unveiling new ones. The top nine trends within the North American region include:

• Taste above all – clients prefer to have food that tastes decadent
• A healthier future – they are also aware of what they eat and feel what they eat defines them
• Freshness defines the consumer’s perception of quality
• Consumers crave hand-crafted goods
• Ethical food choices shape our future – more consumers are looking for Fair Trade ingredients or are concerned about having local farmers get their fair share
• Clear labels provide transparency – consumers like to feel that they have some control over their ingredients
• Ultimate convenience: 69 per cent of North Americans buy or order their food online
• Next level experience: 53 per cent of North Americans are willing to try 3D-printed food
• Hyper-personalization: Food that are catered to specific tastes, dietary requirements or have a personal feature that they can connect to will sell more

Canadians highly value the quality of ingredients and the authenticity of recipes and packaging – food with a real, human touch. Sixty-two per cent of Canadian consumers are willing to pay more for artisan, handcrafted products.

The report also states that 77 per cent of Canadians are drawn to traditional flavours while 55 per cent want to try exotic new global flavours.

Consumers seek greater transparency and increasingly consult packaging labels to have a more informed choice of consumption. Sixty-five per cent of Canadian consumers read ingredient lists and nutrition labels.

The perception of freshness is based on the manufacturing date for 72 per cent of Canadian consumers followed by the smell at 58 per cent.

These figures are a sample of the insights the Taste Tomorrow study contains. For more information about the survey and its results, please visit www.tastetomorrow.com or reach out to the media contact listed to speak to a spokesperson from Puratos Canada.