Frutarom targets elderly with ‘50plus’
The turnkey programme was launched last week at Frutarom’s annual two-day festival at its innovation facility in Wadenswil, Switzerland.
It targets four key health areas:
- cardiovascular health
- digestive balance
- mental agility
- bone health
Company spokesperson Susanne Fassler said 11 product concepts have been developed that deliver benefits in areas including savoury, beverage, candy, chocolate, cereal bars and dairy products such as yoghurts and one-shot drinks.
Fassler wouldn’t reveal the range of ingredients being used but told NutraIngredients.com ‘50plus’ was developed on the back of Frutarom consumer research that highlighted key concerns and attitudes among the elderly.
“We found they were concerned with premium ingredients and products, that they were interested in authenticity and favoured natural ingredients,” she said.
“We also found they don’t want to be marketed to in the same way as products aimed at a younger crowd. They have more than 30 years as consumers – they know what they want. At the same time old fashioned techniques will not necessarily work either.”
Frutarom’s 11 product concepts offered food and beverage makers ideas for developing such products. Fassler emphasised the importance of clever packaging.
“It is a difficult thing to get all aspects of a product launch right – especially when it is being targeted at such knowing consumers and that is why we have put together these samples.”
Formulation advice was also available.
“If you are talking about herbal ingredients or fruit extracts then taste neutrality is not granted, and so formulation advice is a large part of what we do,” Fassler said.
She said its sales force was introducing the concept to European customers with Asian and American food and beverage manufacturers to follow.
In March, Frutarom launched a similar ingredient concept around the energy sector to assist manufacturers that targeted bothphysical endurance and recovery and mental alertness with combinations of Frutarom´s natural herbal extracts and other functional ingredients.
Frutarom’s innovation festival each year brings representatives from the food, beverage and functional food industry together.
“In these times of constantly changing trends and short product life cycles, the topic of innovation gains in importance,” said Axel Graefe, Frutarom regional manager of flavours for Europe, the Middle East and Asia and Innovation Days organiser.
“The Innovation Days, as well as the Innovation Center, are our answers to that challenge. We want to get in touch with our clients, open doors, create space for new ideas, and cultivate out of the box thinking in order to create real innovations.”
