Consumers want products that are the closer to nature—made from ingredients that are recognisable, familiar and authentic. That means clean and simple ingredient labels. Products that are clearly free from undesirable additives, and made with familiar ingredients they would find in their own kitchen cabinets. These insights, based on research, fuel our efforts to meet the clean and simple trend so you can deliver the products consumers will purchase again and again.
We make it our business to understand what consumers around the world want in their products, with research pointing to insights that determine where we focus our energies[1]:
Consumers want to see labels that are clean and short with recognisable natural and simple ingredients. In fact, 73% of consumers find it important that they recognise a product’s ingredients[2].
Consumers prefer to see ingredients in a product that are exactly what you’d expect if they made it at home. Some 63% of consumers say a short and simple ingredient list is important[3].
Most shoppers feel that if a product is “natural,” it is healthier and safer. Therefore, a clean label can be much more than an aesthetic preference. When you provide products with simple and familiar ingredients people understand and accept, you build trust in your products—from the label in.
Research also reveals that “natural” beats “no artificial ingredients” in product appeal, yet “no artificial ingredients” may cause more consumers to switch brands.[2]
Consumers perceive products as “natural” because of what is not in the product. This drives the ‘free-from’ trend, differentiating products that are free from gluten, lactose, animal products, nuts and other allergens. Of course, they still want the taste, texture and other qualities those ingredients traditionally add to the product.
We know which ingredients consumers think of as “familiar,” such as starch, and which remain “unfamiliar,”[2] such as monosodium glutamate (MSG).
All of these findings help us better guide you to product formulations that can win consumer approval—and deliver all-important sensory appeal.
An ingredient for every challenge |
With more than 100 years of developing plant-based ingredients, we have a deep understanding of what they can do and how—and we are constantly innovating new and better ways to deliver the wholesome products consumers enjoy and feel good about purchasing.
We pioneered the clean label movement 20 years ago with our clean label NOVATION® functional native starches. Now, we offer full lines of sweeteners, nutritional ingredients, , nature-based emulsifiers and non-GMO ingredients. In conjunction with our formulation expertise, they allow you to offer clean-label products with functionalities hard to imagine 20 years ago.
At our 25 Ingredion Idea Labs™ innovation centres across the globe, we bring science-based problem solving and innovation to every step of the product development journey. Working with you, we focus on consumer insights, applied research, applications knowhow and process technology. Your consumer is at the heart of everything, inspiring our consumer centred approach.
Innovate with cleaner labels and the highest levels of product performance—from seed to shelf. Your needs and challenges are complex—but your products can be wonderfully simple.
