New Berry Ingredients for Confections, Snacks

Companies announced new berry ingredients for use in a variety of food applications, including confectionery and snack products.

Frutarom Health BU will launch its new Incaberrix™ superberry ingredient formulations for confectionery products at Fi Europe, Paris, December 1 to 3, while Taura Natural Ingredients launched a line of concentrated fruit pieces for use in baked goods and snacks.

Incaberrix is an all-natural ingredient sourced from Inca golden berries, the ancient Andean physalis fruit (Physalis peruviana). It combines superfruit health benefits with an exotic sweet-and-sour flavor.

Among its nutritive qualities, Incaberrix is rich in B-complex vitamins, protein and minerals, and is high in  vitamin C and carotenoids. Frutarom will provide prototypes at Fi Europe, including gummies with natural mixed berry flavor and natural colors from Frutarom Peru.

“We see a rapidly growing interest from the market, not only from beverage producers, but also from food supplement and confectionary companies seeking new, natural ingredients rich in phytonutrients," said Yannick Capelle, product manager for Frutarom Health. “Incaberrix meets the increasing demand for natural ingredients, specifically for natural sources of minerals and vitamins."

According to new global product launch activity tracked by Innova Market Insights, the use of superfruit flavors in confectionery increased 13 percent from 2013 to 2014. In the confectionery category, superfruit flavors were most prevalent in sugar confectionery (22.5 percent), gummies/jellies (19.7 percent), hard candy (17.6 percent), and chocolate blocks (16.8 percent).

Taura’s new URC® speciality range of  concentrated fruit pieces includes named-variety fruit ingredients made from France’s unique Normandie apples and apricots du Roussillon, as well as American Concord grapes. URC (ultra-rapid concentration) is a unique process of concentrating the taste, texture and natural goodness of fruit into pieces, flakes and pastes for use in applications such as baked goods, confectionery, chocolate and snack bars.

Raf Vanlommel, Taura’s marketing manager for EMEA, explained these ingredients retain the flavor characteristics of the original fruit variety. The fruit pieces are suitable for applications such as premium biscuits, cookies, cakes, chocolate and bars. They can also be eaten indepentently as a snack.

Taura will showcase the new fruit pieces with provenance at Fi Europe 2015, as well.