In a day and age where consumers of all ages are seeking out excitement and indulgence with every dollar spent, confectionery experts have highlighted a need for “advanced” products that can appeal to a more discerning consumer group.
According to expert insights, the only way forward may be to tap on multi-sensorial innovations.
“To consumers, taste is king and texture is queen when choosing their next purchase, and this is especially important when it comes to confectionery innovation,” Cargill Indonesia Country Representative Stephanie Sajuti told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“New textures can create excitement with consumers of any age group, and here, it is crucial to create products in such a way that they can affect consumers on a multi-sensorial basis.
“Take for example cookies - a regular cookie might be just crispy or just soft, but a cookie with large chocolate chunks or completely enrobed in chocolate will give a completely different experience.
“Similarly, a simple soft cake will taste different from one with chocolate coating; and a plain wafer stick will taste different from one filled with chocolate or caramel.
“Consumers are very aware of the fact that there are many exciting options out there and will go for these - our research shows that 40% of consumers say they will go for interesting textures when making purchases, so companies need to proactively innovate along these lines.”
Other key drivers
The current state of the economy has firmly instated affordability as one of the most important purchasing drivers globally, but even more so in a market like Asia, which was already price-sensitive in the first place.
“In Indonesia, for example, affordability is really seen as a basic necessity whereas healthier products are more of a newer, emerging category,” she added.
“But interestingly enough, affordability and healthier innovation have also merged in some categories as complementary strategies. As an example, one major strategy that confectionery companies are using to ensure affordable indulgence for consumers is the development of bite-sized products, and this is doing well. This portion control is also a sort of healthier innovation when it comes to indulgent categories like candies and chocolates.”
When it comes to more direct healthier innovation strategies such as sugar reduction, Saliba stated that although these are in the rise, more initiatives and education are still needed.
“This comes back to education and awareness, e.g. as mentioned in Indonesia, healthier innovation is still new, but in somewhere like Singapore, it is much more advanced,” she said.
“But all in all, sugar reduction is a big thing as not only educated consumers but also many governments want sugar-reduced products, which in turn is very much driving manufacturers to reformulate accordingly. So, it will take time, but definitely is growing in the region.”
