The Future of

Mouthfeel
A report exploring texture and mouthfeel Issue 2024
trends in the future of food. Mastering the Marvel of Mouthfeel TM
Tate & Lyle and CP Kelco are
excited to bring you the first Contents
Mouthfeel Trends Report in Welcome to the Future of Mouthfeel 03
the industry. Developed with Hyper Crunch 07
market-leading research experts Air - The Next Magic Ingredient 08
at Kantar, this report will look into Multi-layered Mouthfeel 09

the future of food and opportunities Next-gen Naturality 10

to elevate the mouthfeel of your Convenience and Shelf Proof Mouthfeel 11

products, to always keep your brand Mouthfeel Mimicry 12

on consumers’ shopping lists. With Veggie Celebration 13

Blissfully Boosted 14
our combined businesses, we are
Climate Proof Food 15
strenghtening our ability to master
Food for Thought 16
mouthfeel- and to be your partner
in renovating and innovating
delicious foods and beverages
today and tomorrow.

2 | The Future of Mouthfeel

Welcome
to the
Future of
Mouthfeel
Are you ready for the next formulation waves?
New trends are set to disrupt the industry -
mastering mouthfeel will be central for your
brand’s success.

First thing’s first - what is mouthfeel?

Have you ever wondered why you like your favourite foods and drinks so much? One
crucial factor is surely the flavour - but is that all there is to it?
Think of a person who loves chocolate-flavoured cookies. Besides the chocolate
flavour, they probably like them for other reasons, such as their visually crumbly
appearance, which suggests texture even before taking a bite. That crunchy shell that,
when bitten, breaks with a soft sound to reveal a moist interior, with a creamy and
slightly chewy filling.
So, what is mouthfeel? Well, it’s all of these elements – and more.
Mouthfeel is a part of the overall “taste experience”. It is the texture and sensation you
experience when consuming your favourite food and beverages. This includes how
food looks, tastes, sounds and feels in your mouth.
Together, these sensations create the full experience of eating, impacting not just how
food tastes, but how it feels in our mouths – critical factors for keeping consumers
happy, and food and beverage brands successful!

3 | The Future of Mouthfeel

Taste, texture and trends: what’s influencing the food and
beverage industry?
Taste remains the primary reason people gravitate towards certain foods
and drinks, and it is the number one purchase driver of food and beverage.
However, taste encompasses more than just flavour – things like
texture, sound and appearance play a role in the crafting of tasty foods,
meaning that getting mouthfeel right in product formulation is a critical
consideration for manufacturers.
In an ever-changing marketplace, manufacturers will need to keep
innovating and renovating their portfolios to create products that are
healthier, more affordable, cleaner, and more sustainable, all while creating
an amazing taste sensation (and remember, that includes mouthfeel!).
In this report, through a series of expert interviews with industry leaders,
social media analysis, research into NPD and insights from industry
specialists across different markets, we’re aiming to help manufacturers
understand the newest trends in mouthfeel, and what it means for them.
There is an opportunity to meet the latest mouthfeel trends with a
knowledge of how new demands intersect with the broader food and
beverage trends, to create irresistible products that excite all our senses.

4 | The Future of Mouthfeel

 Getting mouthfeel right in formulation is crucial
to win in the future of food
Engineering a texture and mouthfeel that delivers an exceptional sensory experience and
appeals to consumers is an exciting, albeit rarely straightforward, task.
For many it means either renovating their existing products, or innovating new products and
recipes altogether.
The different drivers of innovation and renovation in the future of food – affordability,
cleaner labels, healthier foods and sustainability, among others – will impact the taste
and mouthfeel of food products. Formulators will need technical expertise and support to
work on three fronts; retain the mouthfeel attributes which are lost when optimising costs,
regain mouthfeel when reformulating products into healthier or cleaner versions, as well as
being able to innovate in texture and mouthfeel to create new sensory experiences to keep
consumers engaged with their brand.
At Tate & Lyle, our team of experts has been working with manufacturers across numerous
countries and categories to help them find solutions that deliver mouthfeel innovation,
maintain great taste, and tap into different consumer trends.
Hungry to learn more? This report will give you a flavour of the key trends impacting
different markets globally, to help you devise a recipe for success.

Affordability Cleaner labels Healthier foods Sustainablility

5 | The Future of Mouthfeel

Key mouthfeel trends To further deepen our insights, we also employed social media analytics to the very latest
conversations about mouthfeel across various markets, including Indonesia, Japan, United Kingdom,
In partnership with Kantar, we undertook a comprehensive research methodology to identify nine ever-
USA and Brazil, illuminating public perceptions and preferences.
changing mouthfeel trends in the food and beverage industry. Our approach began with an analysis
of macro forces influencing consumer behaviour, focusing on economic, environmental and societal Finally, our trend analysts decoded new product development manifestations, examining how
shifts. Key factors included urbanisation, rising living costs and concerns regarding water quality. trends appear in both out-of-home and packaged goods. By synthesising insights from these varied
sources, we identified nine key mouthfeel trends, sharing an insight into the future of our food and
We then translated these macro insights into specific food and beverage trends. Expert interviews
beverage experiences.
with research and development specialists, chefs and academics provided diverse perspectives on
consumer preferences and behaviours on a global scale.

Our thinking process started at a macro-level

and zeroed in on the mouthfeel trends...

Macro-forces Food and beverage trends Mouthfeel trends

Wellbeing Plant powered

Hyper Multi-layered
Air
Political Hyper-convenience Crunch Mouthfeel

Social Clean-label
Next-gen Convenience Mouthfeel
Environmental Responsible eating Naturality & Shelf Proof Mimicry

Economic Elevated experiences

Veggie Blissfully Climate Proof
Technological and more Celebration Boosted Food

An analysis of macro-forces creating change We clustered the Implications of the macro-forces From food and beverage trends, we
in the way people cook, eat and access food and layered further insight from expert interviews, unearthed a long list of Mouthfeel
- resulting in key implications for the world of Trend scoping, NPD decoding and Social analytics to Implications. These implications are
food and beverages. develop food and beverage trends. clustered into nine mouthfeel trends!

6 | The Future of Mouthfeel

 Trend one

Hyper Crunch
In a stimulation-seeking world, we’re increasingly hungry for
sensory input from our foods.
Consumers have an appetite for foods and snacks which deliver a more multi-sensorial experience and compel them to feel ‘in the
moment’. Whether sweet or savoury, there is a consistent increase in standards set for loud, crunchy experiences that delight the
senses, which can be attributed, in part, to the rise of the air fryer which has elevated people’s daily expectations for crunchy foods.
Crunch cannot deliver its experience alone. These extreme sensations are typically coupled with bold flavours like mature cheeses,
chilli, cinnamon and caramel. Foods such as these are paired with bold add-ons like spicy salsas or flavourful dips.

What does this mean for innovators?

While today we see crunch in snacks including crisps and popcorn, on meats, fish and poultry with a crumb or coating, and in breakfast
cereals and desserts, in the future there will be new foods and snacks that pack a punch of crunch. This includes vegetable and fruit
crisps, crumbed and coated veggies, and savoury food toppings and sprinkles like bacon bits.
Hyper-crunch is the next generation of crunch, snap and sound, and is a trend which has begun to travel across the globe. This trend
presents a host of opportunities for innovators, such as finding ways for products to maintain texture when combined with wet foods, and
ensuring brand-specific crunch expectations are met.

Trends in play
Today, crunch is bold and seen more often in savoury
foods, with combinations like pickles in cheese blankets or
air-fried pasta. Consumers are even adding baked rice to
their salads in an effort to experience that crucial crunch.
Tomorrow, crunch will appear more frequently in sweet
categories with more exotic twists. We can see examples
in creations such as a viral chocolate with crispy kunafa
filling (also known as “Dubai chocolate”) or the “crackle
coffee”, iced coffee cups coated with a layer of chocolate
that crackles when you squeeze the cup. Toasted hot
cross buns with ice cream will offer contrasting textures.
In the market, we can currently see examples such as
KFCs Australia’s New Waffle Double which features two
Crispy Chicken Buns sandwiching a crisp and chewy
waffle center.
These innovations reflect evolving expectations, merging
traditional flavours with new techniques to create
extraordinary crispy, crunch culinary experiences. KFC Australia Waffle double
https://www.instagram.com/kfcaustralia/p/C8DyKTUPgjL/

7 | The Future of Mouthfeel

Trend two

Air:
The Next Magic Ingredient
In contrast to crunch, air is all about making foods lighter, making
them melt in your mouth and giving bubbly sensations that deliver
both indulgent and calming mouthfeel.
Across food and beverage categories, there is a growth in the use of air to create more elevated experiences that melt, pop,
flake, and fizzle on the tongue. Air delivers a strong juxtaposition to the loud boldness of crunch, and consumers are finding
joy in the gentle dissolving of voluminous bubbles in the mouth.
The most prominent example of air incorporation is the use of foams and froths, where air can be used in some categories to
create a sense of elevation.
Desserts and baked goods use air to deliver elevated flakiness, ‘moussey’ and creamier textures. Confectionery and sweets
are incorporating light aeration to introduce a pillowy, soft mouthfeel.
Baked goods, beverages, and desserts are utilising air to add volume, provide a fuller mouthfeel, and mimic satiety.
Moreover, it has the potential to mask ingredients like protein and collagen by ‘lightening’ the mouthfeel experience.

What does this mean for innovators?

Where there is air, there’s room for innovation—protecting airy textures in packaged goods and creating foams, froths, and
whipped desserts at home. Leveraging air can create healthier products by increasing their volume, as seen in mousse-style
desserts. With products packed with air, satiation can be achieved with a lower caloric intake.

Where’s best for air?

Whether it’s whipped, puffed, or frothed, more categories are entering the airspace.
Today, air is used in puffed and popped snacks, baked goods, desserts, and beverages. The ‘air trend’
will increasingly enter households through alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages – the ‘nitro’ trend seen
in some beers migrated to be seen in coffee beverages and even soda. Canned flavoured foams help
consumers elevate their ‘barista’ experience at home adding lightness to coffee.
In baked goods, the airy inspiration comes from the East, where lightness is a key attribute seen in
products such as the pandan cake, chiffon and crepe cakes, and the trendy Singaporean ice cream Loti, an
airy sandwich bread dessert, all of which are starting to emerge in western menus.
Fermented foods, frozen desserts, cheeses, and butter are also incorporating more air for an airy, frothy,
and creamy mouthfeel, as seen in innovations such as whipped feta, a lighter mouthfeel version of the
cheese. Cotton candy has been doing this for years, and other sweets and confectionery will likely follow,
along with salad dressings and sauces. Singaporean ice cream Loti
Credits: https://guestofaguest.com/food/bites-on-a-budget-the-best-street-
eat-staples-from-southeast-asia&slide=2

8 | The Future of Mouthfeel

 Trend three

Multi-layered Mouthfeel
Sometimes, one texture isn’t enough. It’s about the contrasts and combination,
whether that be dry and wet, crunchy and soft, or another pair of opposites, which
create compelling moments for consumers.
Multi-dimensional mouthfeel is increasingly being incorporated into food and snacks, with different sensations gradually revealing themselves
as the item is consumed.
It provides foods and snacks with a more dynamic and engaging eating experience, captivating consumers with unique and intriguing
combinations.
From the dry crunch of a snack paired with a smooth, creamy dip, to the refreshing burst of a carbonated beverage with a chewy element,
these multi-dimensional creations offer a memorable culinary experience.

What does this mean for innovators?

The combination of textures holds significant potential for innovation. Pocky Sticks, for instance, exemplify consumer demand for multi-
dimensional mouthfeel experiences. Following their double-layered coating – pretzel sticks with a creamy strawberry layer and a crunchy,
freeze-dried strawberry coating – it became a social media trend for additional layering. Another social media trend was the “Fluffy Coca-Cola”
drink – an ice-cold crispy coke, combined with sticky marshmallow fluff.
Unique combinations across markets, such as acai bowls with crunch crackers or Indonesia’s satay, highlight dievrse textures.
The combination of crunchier outer layers with wetter fillings, balancing contrasting textures, all adds something new and exciting to the eating
experience - creating an equally unique avenue in innovation.

Trends in play
Today, multi-dimensional foods and snacks have
two or three textures at play, offering novel twists on
typical snacks and foods to elevate them above the
everyday experience. For instance, sticky, crunchy
chicken in soft bao buns, crispy filo pastry encasing
soft feta with a honey topping, and creamy butter
sandwiched between the crunch of radishes provide
delightful contrasts.
Tomorrow, multiple textures will interact with one
another to deliver an ever-changing experience to
excite all the senses, such as cracker candy with three
layers – saltine crackers, toffee, and chocolate, or
ramen soup dumplings that increasingly incorporate
more than one experience. Fluffy coke
https://livelaughrowe.com/marshmallow-coke-recipe/

9 | The Future of Mouthfeel

Trend four

Next-gen Naturality
Consumers are increasingly seeking cleaner
labels and ingredients in their food and beverages.
“Next-gen naturality” balances recognisability and
convenience without sacrificing mouthfeel, shelf life,
or sensory experience.

The next-gen naturality trend taps into the growing desire for food that feels real, made with a home-cooked feel
and ingredients people recognise and trust. This shift spans from snack bars to everyday meals, as consumers
increasingly look to avoid artificial additives and preservatives while still enjoying convenience. For some, it’s
about replacing highly processed elements with whole ingredients like fruits, vegetables, and grains; for others, it’s
about balancing naturality with time and budget constraints. As the pendulum swings between these preferences,
the aim is for a future where convenient and accessible options are also more naturally formulated.
Sub-trends like ‘clean label’ showcase this demand for simplicity, as more people expect ingredient lists free-from
synthetic additives. Innovations like natural thickeners and gentle processing techniques—such as freeze-drying
and cold-pressing—are keeping ingredients fresh and flavours intact without compromising mouthfeel or shelf life.
Products with visible inclusions, like seeded breads, drinks with fruit pieces, and naturally coloured snacks, provide
recognisable quality that satisfies the balance of naturality and convenience that consumers seek.

Trends in play
Snack bars made entirely of fruits and nuts leverage these natural ingredients
for their nutritional content and the textural sensations they add to the product.
D’Avocado’s preservative-free chocolate avocado pudding is another example
of leveraging avocado, a natural ingredient, for its nutrition but also the fatty
mouthfeel that makes pudding delicious. Yogurt brands such as Chobani utilise
tapioca starch, which comes from the cassava root, to thicken and create a glossy
appearance with creamy mouthfeel.
Innovators are presented with the need to balance cleaner labels with sensory
appeal, employing techniques like freeze-drying and natural thickeners to maintain
product integrity. It’s an enticing possibility, and those who can find a way to
navigate these demands will be well-positioned to capture health-conscious
Chobani yogurt
consumers in an increasingly health-conscious world. https://www.chobani.com/products/yogurt/zero-sugar/vanilla-cup

10 | The Future of Mouthfeel

 Trend five

Convenience and Shelf

Proof Mouthfeel
As consumers juggle busier lives, they demand convenient foods that deliver on
taste, texture and nutrition. Achieving satisfying mouthfeel with minimal prep and
longer shelf life is the next frontier.
The demand for convenience is soaring, but consumers refuse to compromise on taste or mouthfeel. They expect ready meals, snacks, and small
dishes that maintain texture—even after extended shelf life.
Innovative processing technologies, such as freeze-drying and vacuum-sealing, are crucial for preserving freshness and flavour in shelf-stable
products. Recent innovations in ingredients also support the delivery of great mouthfeel in convenience foods. Startches are highly recognized
for their functionality in keeping products fresh and tasty through freeze-thawing and long shelf life - and new innovations from Tate & Lyle are
continuously pushing these boundaries .
Convenience must also be versatile. Products that transition seamlessly from lunchbox snacks to main meals are driving growth in this sector.
Flexibility, freshness, and sensory consistency will be crucial for brands aiming to win over consumers in the future of convenient eating.

What does this mean for innovators?

For innovators, the path forward involves addressing a number of formulation requirements: retaining freshness and the feeling of a home-cooked meal
texture in foods that are shelf-stable, or frozen and thawed a number of times, whilst being easy to prepare. One of the biggest hurdles is the preservation
of texture—whether it’s keeping vegetables crisp, maintaining the perfect moisture in meats, or ensuring sauces stay smooth and creamy.
Another key consideration for future innovation will be finding ways to optimise quick-prep methods like microwaving and air-frying. Brands must
ensure that these techniques don’t compromise on an exemplary sensory experience. Lastly, finding new ways to minimise packaging waste while
ensuring the food’s integrity remains a priority as consumers demand eco-friendly options.

Trends in play
• Campbell’s Sipping Soups – Smooth, shelf-stable soups for on-
the-go consumption.
• Franco Manca cook-at-home pizza – Convenient frozen pizzas
with the same crispy and chewy crust of Neapolitan pizzas they
serve at their restaurants.
• Ramen Raijin – Frozen ramen kits preserving authentic noodle
chew. During the pandemic, when customers couldn’t join them
in restaurants, Ramen Raijin developed a frozen ramen kit with a
winning formulation to be able to scale the delivery of ramen while
preserving the key mouthfeel attributes such as the chewiness of
Frozen Ramen kit
the noodles. https://shop.ramenraijin.com/collections/frozen-ramen-kits/products/
frozen-ramen-kits-hakata-tonkotsu

11 | The Future of Mouthfeel

Trend six

Mouthfeel
Mimicry
As consumers seek healthier, affordable, and more
sustainable food alternatives, they remain unwilling
to sacrifice the familiar textures they love, driving
the need to reformulate while retaining mouthfeel.
This push for mouthfeel mimicry is revolutionising
categories from dairy to desserts.

Mouthfeel mimicry categories

As the trend for mouthfeel mimicry grows, it can be broken down into three key areas, each
addressing different consumer needs and motivations:
1. Compromise-free plant-based alternatives: As demand for plant-based options grows,
consumers seek indulgent, creamy textures similar to traditional foods. Credo Foods’ oat milk-
based spray cheese and Trader Joe’s vegan brioche replicate the mouthfeel of dairy-rich
cheeses and breads, satisfying cravings without dairy or eggs.
2. Health mimicry: Health-focused consumers want guilt-free versions of their favourite textures.
This trend is visible in crunchy, nutrient-dense snacks like shiitake and okra chips, offering potato
chip-like satisfaction with added health benefits.
3. Accessible luxuries amidst the cost-of-living crisis: Amid rising prices for luxury ingredients,
consumers look for affordable alternatives that don’t sacrifice indulgence. Brands respond with
budget-friendly innovations, such as chocolate-flavoured treats and plant-based ice creams that
recreate the creamy mouthfeel of traditional favourites at lower costs.

What does this mean for innovators?

Mouthfeel mimicry offers innovators opportunities to create indulgent products that prioritise health
and affordability. As traditional ingredients rise in cost, exploring alternative options becomes
essential.
This means innovators must find ways to refine their skills in recreating the creamy richness of dairy, CREDO Oatmilk
spray cheese
the juicy tenderness of meats, and the flaky textures of pastries. That requires skilfully combining https://shop.credofoods.com/

plant proteins, fats and stabilisers to achieve the desired mouthfeel without sacrificing flavour. products/oat-milk-cheddar-cheeze

12 | The Future of Mouthfeel

 Trend seven

Veggie Celebration
Consumers are seeking increasingly creative and novel ways to incorporate veggies into
their diets, with new ways of cooking and preparing them seen trending online all the time.

While dietary trends fluctuate between whole foods and processed foods, a growing focus on health means consumers today are focusing on eating a greater
quantity and wider variety of veggies - both for themselves and their children.
However, there’s a tension between the demand for veggies to support healthier lifestyles and making them delicious and interesting.
Today, people seek more veggies in their meals and snacks. Lunchtime options, whether school meals, office canteens, or homemade lunches, are key places
for consuming healthy but sensory-pleasing veggies.
For families, the need for invisible veggies to help kids appreciate them is growing, providing parents peace of mind about the nourishment in packaged foods.
In fact, 76% of six-year-olds prefer foods without lumps, seeds, or chunks, highlighting the challenge of incorporating veggies into children’s diets.
Another way the ‘Veggie Celebration’ trend drives innovation is by putting vegetables front and center to create exciting and novel textures. This can be seen in
the growing number of alternative-flour snacks made from chickpeas, beetroot, and sweet potatoes, which delight consumers with unique flavors and textures.

Where’s best for veggies?

Beyond main meals, veggies are appearing in snacks, small meals, and shared moments, like a plate of crudites at a dinner party.
Currently, frozen veggies, canned foods, and ready meals are common ways to shoehorn vegetables into diets. Packaging claims about the number of different
vegetables and their health benefits are often seen on ready meal sleeves.
Going forward, innovations will focus on incorporating veggies into beverages, snacks, baked goods, and salad dressings and sauces.

What does this mean for innovators?

Creative textures and unique combinations are driving innovation in
harnessing the power of veggies to create them in new forms.
Vegetable crisps made from beetroot, carrot or parsnip have been
popular for decades, with baked versions becoming mainstream
recently. Now mouthfeels, such as crunch, leather, and roasted, will
become more common - like this Garden Gourmet pizza, meeting
the desire for convenience with enjoyment.
Celebrating veggies is one of the most exciting avenues to go down
across mouthfeel for innovators, given they are something which
form our everyday lives. Maintaining the best texture in packaged
ready meals, like pizza, and snacks, creatively processing veggies to
incorporate more acceptable textures like crunch or creaminess, are
just some of the goals facing innovation going forward. Garden gourmet pizza
https://www.gardengourmet.de/produkt/veggie-lovers-pizza

13 | The Future of Mouthfeel

Trend eight

Blissfully Boosted
The blissfully boosted trend is redefining food
by blending exceptional indulgence with added
functional benefits, allowing consumers to enjoy
their favourite flavours alongside added health
support. It’s about foods that don’t just taste good—
they do good. From nutrient-packed hot chocolates
to enhanced snacks, this trend is transforming
every bite into a step toward holistic wellbeing.
The blissfully boosted trend reflects consumers’ desire for foods that are both indulgent and
supportive of their wellness goals. Leading this movement are products like high-protein pasta
sauces, nutrient-enriched crackers, and probiotic drinks, which combine enjoyment with nutrition
by incorporating functional ingredients such as botanicals, probiotics, and plant-based proteins
into familiar favourites like high-fibre breads, protein-enriched creamers, and antioxidant-rich
energy drinks. These enhanced foods allow consumers to savour their everyday choices, safe in the
knowledge that they are also enjoying added benefits typically associated with supplements.
This trend has a global reach, adapting to suit regional preferences. In Japan, there is a focus on skin
health and relaxation, with functional foods tailored to enhance beauty and wellbeing. In the UK and
US, convenience and natural ingredients are the priority, resulting in a wave of fortified snacks and
beverages designed to deliver specific health benefits. Meanwhile, in China, traditional medicine is
increasingly integrated into functional foods, tapping into the appeal of natural wellness solutions.
For brands, the opportunity is there to deliver taste, texture, and visual appeal while seamlessly
incorporating functional benefits. With wellness now a central focus, brands are innovating to meet
this demand, adding flavour-forward, health-boosting ingredients that feel as natural as they taste.
The blissfully boosted category is set for growth as consumers continue to seek foods that align with
their lifestyle goals without sacrificing flavour or enjoyment. For example, Yfood developed a bar with
a complete nutrient profile, with a good balance of carbs, protein and fibre, along with 25 vitamins
and minerals. The taste is as complete as the nutrition, with the bars boasting numerous layers with Yfood nutritionally complete and very
playful textures that make up a complex mouthfeel experience. indulgent bars, with multi texture layers
https://uk.yfood.com/pages/about-bars

14 | The Future of Mouthfeel

 Trend nine

Climate Proof Food

Rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns have had a significant
impact on ingredients supply chains. As we move forward, these impacts are likely to
be felt on stability and storage too.
The climate crisis’s impact on supply chains and the carbon footprint of our food is well-documented. However, the effects of rising temperatures on
food products themselves—when they’re on shelves and in homes—are becoming an urgent concern.
Issues include ensuring maintenance of product safety, reduced shelf life, and nutrient loss. As temperatures rise, challenges such as melting, limpness,
and souring increase, complicating manufacturers’ efforts to maintain expected mouthfeel. To address heat tolerance, reformulating items that currently
rely on specific temperature controls will be essential.

How will products be affected?

It’s no great secret that frozen goods are particularly vulnerable to instability across their lifespan. Manufacturers must ensure they resist heat during
transport to avoid ‘heat shock’, which creates gritty ice particles and unpleasant textures. Ambient and chilled products also face challenges: higher-fat
foods may become rancid, sauces can separate, and dairy products are at increased risk for bacterial growth. In baked goods, moisture loss can lead to
an unappealing dry mouthfeel.
All of this presents a significant opportunity for innovators to continue to create an unparalleled taste experience that consumers love.

How retailers are adapting

Retailers are taking significant steps to
combat rising temperatures. For instance,
chocolate bars, traditionally stored on ambient
shelves, are increasingly kept in visicoolers
or fridges to prevent melting. Mayonnaise
brands have adapted by using emulsifiers and
preservatives to maintain product quality at
higher temperatures. Similarly, Barry Callebaut
has developed chocolates that can withstand
temperatures up to 38 degrees Celsius (100
degrees Fahrenheit).
Many retailers are lowering store temperatures
to support on-shelf stability, though this
introduces risks of new temperature extremes.
Additionally, packaging innovations are
emerging to help preserve food quality and
make a point to communicate to customers
about a product’s freshness. Barry Calebaut thermo resistant chocolate
https://www.barry-callebaut.com/en/about-us/media/news-stories/thermo-tolerant-
chocolate-its-all-about-taste-and-newly-developed-toolbox

15 | The Future of Mouthfeel

Food for
Thought
As this report has shown, mouthfeel
represents an amazing opportunity for
food and drink brands to capture the
senses of consumers.
Taste remains front and center—and mouthfeel is the key to unlocking it!
For brands, prioritising taste and innovation in their pipelines is essential
as they explore new dimensions of texture and sensory experiences.
However, additional forces are shaping the future of innovation, affecting both
taste and mouthfeel.
Consumers are ever busier and are increasingly aware of their health, but their
grocery budgets are constrained. The task of formulators is to reformulate
and innovate products that tick all of these boxes while providing the desired
taste experience. Mouthfeel can’t be sacrificed during reformulation, otherwise
consumers may shy away from their usual brands and turn elsewhere.
Additionally, environmental concerns are now a major force in the food industry.
Climate change will drive innovation as retailers seek ways to maintain food
quality despite rising temperatures.
Tate & Lyle and CP Kelco are mastering the marvel of mouthfeel. Our combined
team of experts is equipped with the cutting-edge science and consumer insights
to help customers across a range of categories.
Our combined portfolio is a market leader in mouthfeel, with more than 250
speciality starches, clean label texturants, alternative flours, a range of fibres
including corn, citrus and FOS, hydrocolloids such as xanthan gum and pectin, and
so much more.
We are eager to partner with you to innovate and renovate your products for the
future of food, leveraging the trends we have mapped and ensuring an outstanding
taste and mouthfeel that will keep consumers coming back for more.

16 | The Future of Mouthfeel

For more information fill out the form at
tl.tateandlyle.com/mouthfeel-trends-report
and our team will be in touch.
Disclaimer
This document is part of a proprietary study that is
intellectual property of Tate & Lyle PLC, together with the
‘Tate & Lyle’ and ‘CP Kelco’ trademarks.. All other trademarks
of market products/brands mentioned in this report, belong
to their respective product/brand owner. Their inclusion in
this report is for illustrative purposes only.

17 | The Future of Mouthfeel