Based on the latest findings of nutritional science, the Doehler team is developing the products of tomorrow – products that combine plant-based nutrition, naturalness and optimised nutritional profiles with unique multi-sensory experiences and meet the needs of environmentally and health-conscious consumers.
Doehler’s new portfolio of Natural SuperHEROES opens up new options for products with a healthy positioning that provide a range of health benefits – everything from heart health, mental fitness and gut health to the immune system and general well-being.
As well as new lifestyle products – for example healthy soft drinks with a fermented base such as kombucha or water kefir – refreshing lemonades, light fruit splashes and many other exciting beverage concepts with little or no sugar are all in demand. Even alcoholic beverages with reduced sugar, such as hard seltzer, are popular among consumers. Doehler’s MultiSweet Classic is the ideal sweetening system for the trendy, low-calorie beverage and many other reduced-sugar products. By combining different high-intensity sweeteners with its own MultiSense taste-balancing flavours, the company offers a large portfolio of sweetening solutions to match a wide range of different beverage applications.
Natural foods like fruit have a natural sweetness and are increasingly being used to sweeten products. Fruits and spices can be employed as sweeteners in snacks and bars, yoghurts, smoothies, baked goods and many other applications. Even vegetable ingredients can be used to reduce sugar – juices and purées made from courgette or cucumber contain less sugar than fruit-based equivalents while also creating innovative taste sensations.
Doehler’s MultiSweet Fruit offers one way to use the natural sweetness of fruit. Produced without chemical additives throughout the production process, MultiSweet Fruit has a sweetening intensity comparable to that of added sugar and offers the full, rounded taste of real sugar.
More and more people are pursuing a modern and sustainable lifestyle. As part of this, many now largely or completely avoid animal products. The market for plant-based foods is predicted to grow by 11.9 per cent per year between 2020 and 2027.
Creamy and fresh – the perfect taste of milk! Many consumers who love every aspect of the traditional taste of milk are yet to be convinced by the taste and texture of plant-based alternatives. If their popularity is to increase, the aftertaste needs to be reduced, the typical milk taste enhanced, and the rather watery mouthfeel improved. Doehler’s Plant-Based Signatures are based on innovative technologies like precision fermentation and are the ideal solution to this challenge. Using oats, rice or chick peas as their starting materials, these novel products create totally new taste sensations and help to make a plant-based product taste exactly like milk, cheese or yoghurt.
The market for plant-based cheese alternatives is forecast to grow by eight per cent per year between 2019 and 2026 (Mintel 2021). Doehler has used its ferments to create the next generation of plant-based cheese, with a very similar appearance, mouthfeel and taste to familiar, traditional cheese and good melting properties. Plant-based proteins also give it a better consistency and enhanced nutritional value.
Products made from and with chick peas are also rich in protein, with a creamy consistency and a buttery, nutty taste. An innovation here is aquafaba – the water the chick peas are cooked in, which can be used to replace beaten egg whites. It enables the production of plant-based alternatives to ice cream and macarons. Doehler’s aquafaba is suitable for applications like plant-based mayonnaise, butter, delicious dessert alternatives, and baked goods such as sponge cake, and tasty meringues.
Combining alcohol-stable and dairy-free ingredients like coconut, almond and soya with traditional flavours such as chocolate and coffee, or exotic fruit flavours and juices, enables the production of creamy liqueurs and drinks. Alongside alcoholic plant-based beverage applications, their non-alcoholic equivalents are also becoming increasingly popular.
The first product characteristic to be perceived is the colour – it creates expectations and influences the purchasing decision. Choosing the right colour is a way to manage the product positioning of food and beverages. White, for example, is associated with purity. In the past, the white pigment titanium dioxide was used to give foods a light, clear tone. However, it is no longer approved for use in many markets and products. Doehler has drawn on the enormous palette of natural colours to develop a natural white colour that provides whitening solutions for all kinds of boiled sweets, as well as pan coatings for confectionery – without any titanium dioxide. Doehler’s White Diamond can be absorbed by the body and has additional nutritional benefits.
Mouthfeel is also essential for unique indulgence, as an unmistakeable texture can be the argument that triggers a repeat purchase. What makes the perfect bite varies from product to product and needs to match the other product characteristics. There are thus numerous ways to complete the perfect multi-sensory experience – with unique crunch, a tender, creamy consistency, or perfect melting properties.
Doehler’s pectins based on apple or citrus are the ideal solution for outstanding results in the texture of jams and fruit fillings with high Brix values. Apples and citrus fruits are naturally rich in pectin and cellulose fibres, which give the fruits their firmness and flexibility. This makes the solutions especially cost-efficient compared to alternatives on the market and allows use of the claim ‘Clean Label Texturiser’. Pectins are also soluble fibres and therefore have a positive effect on intestinal flora.
Demand for healthy snack options is also increasing, with multi-sensory taste variants extremely popular. Freeze-dried, crunchy fruit drops are especially popular and suitable for snacks, muesli mixes, confectionery and baked goods. They give products an intense fruity taste and add the colour typical of the fruits. As well as their crunchy texture, they impress with a pleasant mouthfeel and slow melting properties.
In order to provide the world’s growing population with healthy and sustainable nutrition, Doehler works with its customers to develop innovative product concepts that are actively shaping the future of the food industry.
We bring ideas to life. With natural raw materials and innovative technologies as our starting point, we always go one step further to create real added value for customers and consumers. This is how we pave the way for turning smart ideas into amazing products – for unique, multi-sensory experiences. For more visit doehler.com
