What do consumers want, and what foods and beverages drive growth? Market research gives us some answers. The current 2026 Top Ten Trends from Innova Market Insights once again show that foods and beverages that promote physical and mental wellness are very much in demand from consumers – especially if they offer the perfect taste. Foods adapted to the individual requirements of consumers are popular, as are affordable or sustainable offerings. With new ideas for high-sales food & drink concepts, Hydrosol helps manufacturers address the trends of tomorrow.
High protein remains the Top Trend
“Powerhouse Protein” for overall wellbeing is the most important trend for this year, according to Innova Market Insights. Consumers are looking for protein-rich products, ideally enriched with vitamins and minerals, that support mental fitness as well as gut health and the immune system. Healthy aging, weight management, and athletic performance are further important criteria. Hydrosol has developed multiple concepts to meet these expectations, including a stabilising system for meal replacement drinks. The system ensures stable emulsions with creamy mouthfeel and high satiation effect. The final product features high protein content and can also be declared as a source of fiber.
Wide range of delights
The many facets of indulgence are at the focus of the second Innova Top Trend: “Layers of Delight.” It is based on four pillars: comforting moments, mood enhancing, rich sensory enjoyment, healthier enjoyment. Familiar flavours are in demand as are new creations, and Hydrosol offers the right inspirations for both. For example, with one of the stabilising systems from the Stabisol series dairies can make a trendy matcha latte. The system provides high stability and a pleasant mouthfeel. It can be combined with plant proteins and offered in a range of flavours. Another advantage is that there is no sedimentation during storage.
Individual moments
Convenience is a common denominator in the expectations of different target groups that Innova addresses together in the Top Trend “Made for Moments”. Whether small portions for single households or family packs, consumers are looking for varied formats in snacks, fresh meals, and individual portions. The choice of new flavour sensations should be at least as varied. DIY ice cream in pouches is one example. The product is easy to make on a UHT line with the help of a new Stabimuls series compound. After filling into pouches it can be sold in stores in liquid form, or deep-frozen just before consumption, for example at a kiosk. Creative compositions in various flavours can be made to meet customer demand. Thus, these DIY ice creams give dairies access to a new category.
At this year’s Gulfood Manufacturing in Dubai, Hydrosol is focusing on sugar-reduced milk beverages.
Less sugar, same enjoyment
Given the worrying increase in obesity around the globe, reducing the amount of sugar in foods and beverages is a major issue worldwide. More and more governments are demanding low sugar products or introducing sugar taxes. But sugar isn’t just a matter of taste. It also gives products body, texture and a pleasant mouth feel. These are the effects that Hydrosol’s individual stabilising and texturing systems address. They are suitable for many different applications – yogurt, drinking yogurt, pudding, refreshing fruity drinks, energy drinks, ketchup, whippable plant cream with reduced sugar content, and more. Natural flavourings round out the flavour profile. Hydrosol’s sister company OlbrichtArom, also exhibiting at Gulfood, offers its SugarBooster for reduced-sugar products. This natural flavouring amplifies the delicate taste profile of the final product without influencing its characteristic flavour.
New to the product range are stabilising systems for very diverse milk mixed beverages, from conventional varieties like cocoa, vanilla and strawberry to trendy flavours like cappuccino, walnut and pistacio. These proven systems are offered in a carrageenan version, which enables stable products without high-pressure homogenisation, as well as in an alternative version with gellan. This lets milk beverages be filled at high temperatures, up to 40°C. The stabilising systems in the Stabiprime MFD Range are soluble in water as well as in sweet whey. They can be used for the manufacture of sugar-reduced as well as low-fat or lactose-free milk beverages. High-protein milk drinks are also possible.
Demand for flavoured milk beverages is seeing steady growth worldwide, and the product variety in the markets is correspondingly large. There are trendy flavours like cappuccino, coconut and walnut that also appeal to adults, plus the classic cocoa beverages and milk drinks with vanilla, strawberry or banana flavour. In addition to tasting good, they address a wide range of consumer wishes, from low fat and reduced sugar to lactose free to high protein. With the new Stabiprime MFD range from Hydrosol, it’s easy to make all kinds of milk beverages.
Stabiprime MFD consists of carefully selected hydrocolloids. These stabilising systems are soluble in water as well as in sweet whey. They are easy to use, and make it economical to produce milk mixed beverages. In addition to the proven system with carrageenan, Hydrosol also offers a gellan alternative, Stabiprime MFDG. Its advantage is that it enables milk beverage filling even at high temperatures, up to 40°C. The main property of Stabiprime MFDC with carrageenan is that it lets manufacturers make stable products without high-pressure homogenisation, preventing sedimentation even with cocoa. Thanks to the special combination of hydrocolloids in both Stabiprime MFD versions, producers can make high-quality milk beverages easily and profit from the worldwide growth in this category.
Hydrosol now offering trend-forward concepts for fruity refreshment drinks
The market for refreshing beverages is growing around the world. The main drivers in the category are fruit juices and fruit juice drinks, which are seeing disproportionate growth. Hydrosol’s new all-in compounds let beverage manufacturers as well as dairies benefit from this growing demand. Its Stabifruit functional systems contain all the important components for making refreshing fruity drinks, and offer many advantages over concentrates.
Fruit juices and refreshing fruity drinks have a very positive image with consumers. According to research by Innova Market Insights, flavour and health benefits are the most important sales arguments from consumers’ point of view. Fruit juice manufacturers must meet increasing consumer demands while at the same time addressing various production challenges, from growing cost pressure to requirements placed on storage of concentrations, to guaranteeing the optimum product quality. There are also regulations concerning enrichment with vitamins and minerals, as well as the increasingly frequent calls to reduce sugar content, which negatively impacts the mouth feel and viscosity of drinks.
With its Stabifruit line of all-in compounds, Hydrosol offers an attractive solution. Since these functional systems are in powder form, they have high storage stability along with optimum logistics. Unlike with fruit juice concentrates, there are no expiration date issues. Water-free formulations are microbiologically safer than juices or concentrates. In addition, with no water there is less weight to transport. These are measurable cost benefits for users. In addition, these powdered products can be used by manufacturers who were previously not part of the fruit juice industry, and so do not have the specific machinery park.
Naturally the compounds are free of preservatives. They are easy to use, and with just small dosages give refreshing fruity drinks with appealing mouth feel, colour, flavour and viscosity. Individual components can be used flexibly depending on customer wishes. The fruit content is variable. Sugar content can also be reduced without impacting the quality of the beverage. Cloudiness stability is also important, i.e. keeping particles suspended in cloudy drinks. The unusual cloudiness stability of Hydrosol’s formulations has been demonstrated in scientific testing. Hydrosol’s close collaboration with its sister company SternVitamin is an advantage for customers, since it makes it possible to enrich the all-in compounds individually with vitamins and minerals. This gives manufacturers a custom beverage concept from a single source.
A wide portfolio of fruit flavours is available, including favourites like orange, peach and mango as well as special flavours like raspberry, banana and currant. That means that the new Stabifruit line of all-in compounds provides the basis for a wide range of fruit drinks whose mouth feel, colour, taste and viscosity leave nothing to be desired, while offering substantial economic, logistical and production benefits.
