Cibus, more and more protein products with less and less sugar

Increasingly protein-packed, of course. But also enriched or lightened, "contaminated" by global tastes or centred on the recovery of local flavours: these are the more than one thousand new products coming into the food world that will be in the limelight during Cibus, the exhibition scheduled from 7 to 10 May in Parma. An authentic litmus test to understand how and where innovation is moving in its incessant search for new proposals capable, if not of generating the wow effect in consumers, at least of pushing them to purchase, counteracting the "glaciation" underway in the shopping trolley (-2.1% in the first three months of 2024, according to NielsenIQ).

"The food industry puts a lot of emphasis on innovation, because it attracts great interest: 70.9% of Italian households have bought at least one new product in the last year," explains Marco Pellizzoni of Consumer Panel Italy GfK. "In figures, we are talking about more than 18 million households, among which the 3.2 million with a high novelty orientation stand out and are willing to spend more to try them as soon as they find them on sale.

So innovation represents an important lever not only to keep up with market demands and maintain brand appeal, but alsoto offer value propositions, also in prices.
This is especially noticeable in the large wellness area, where most of the novelties are concentrated in response to the 65% of Italians who choose a product for its health values (source Consumer Outolook 2024). The new products ride thefashion of protein (increasing sales by 19.6% in 2023, according to NielsenIQ) and lower sugar intake (+23%), as well as the emerging demand for anti-ageing products, such as the collagen-enriched ginseng coffee proposed by Foodness. There is also a growing offer of products suitable for those suffering from food allergies and intolerances that add multiple benefits, such as the gluten- and lactose-free bakery products proposed by Farmo. The focus on wellness does not spare even the more traditional sectors. In poultry, Fileni presents chicken cutlets with 50% less fat than the market average, while in cured meats Rovagnati also brings its Snello line, characterised by reduced fat content and the absence of nitrites or nitrates, to the deli counter.

There is also great dynamism inanimal protein substitutes, a market that, according to NielsenIQ, has increased by +7.7% during 2023 also thanks to the arrival of numerous new products. That plant-based is a parallel universe where it is important to be there is demonstrated by the interest of many historic food companies, such as Polli, which arrives at Cibus with its new line of vegetable ragouts with a mouth-watering texture, or MartinoRossi, which is launching the vegetable preparation Beamy to be used in sweet or savoury recipes instead of eggs.

But one does not live on deprivation alone. In fact, the other side of food innovation pushes on hedonism, also on the wave of the sentiment of Italians who are less and less confident about the future and, therefore, increasingly focused on enjoying the present. An attitude substantiated in 2023 by the double-digit increase in spending on crisps, biscuits and candy. A major attraction is the ritual of the aperitif, to which various new products are addressed, such as the gourmet olives proposed by Monini and the Quartirolo Lombardo Dop cubed in oil launched by Arrigoni. Hedonism is also the pleasure of discovering flavours that come from other food cultures, such as the curry sauce by Saclà and the premium products for the preparation of Japanese dishes proposed by Riso Vignola.