KALE, blueberries and acai have each had their time in the spotlight as consumers are steered toward healthy food choices.
With a focus on innovation and consumer awareness, the Hort Connections 2018 “Future Food Trends” panel gave some insight into what fruit and vegetables will hit superfood status in the Australian market.
Panellists Chanel Day (Nielsen), Denise Hamblin (Colmar Brunton), Dr Heather Smyth (QAAFI) and Dr Maryann Augustin (CSIRO) agreed that consumers were willing to pay more for high quality products which featured an interesting aesthetic.
Using the purple carrot as an example, the panel discussed the health benefits and marketing strategies growers could use to break into the market using niche produce.
Value adding
REFERENCE was also made to overproduction and alternatives available to farmers who found they had a surplus of fruit or vegetables at the end of the season.
Dr Augustin suggested there was a myriad of benefits in turning surplus produce into a powdered product.
“The short shelf life of perishable vegetables and fruit means it may be more beneficial to process the waste in to powders,” Dr Augustin said.
She added that producers needed to develop evidence of the health benefits of vegetable and fruit powders in order to influence consumers.
“If farmers can’t get their fresh produce to market, they can process it to create a stable product with a longer shelf life,” she said.
“7.5g of broccoli powder, for example, equates to one daily serve and includes 30 per cent protein and 30pc fibre.”
Dr Augustin said the majority of powdered products currently on the market have been imported and urged producers to take advantage of producing a locally grown substitute.
“We need to be more creative in using food waste to fill the seasonal gap.”
Future thoughts
WRAPPING up the discussion, moderator Alice Zaslavsky (Alice In Frames) asked the panellists what their own predictions would be for the next food trend with everyone agreeing natives would see a comeback.
Ms Hamblin said consumers were becoming more concerned with the health benefits of the produce they were purchasing.
She said there was also a preference for products with long shelf lives.
The native Youlk or “Bush Carrot” was noted as being among the contenders.
With farmer and native plant agronomist, Geoff Woodall already domesticating the Australian species in Western Australia in preparation for commercialisation, Ms Hamblin said there was a renewed push to embrace Indigenous culture.
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“Consumers are looking to the Indigenous movements in terms of ‘food is health’ and the youlk is a great example,” Ms Hamblin said.
“It has a shelf life of up to two months and it will deliver high quality and convenience for consumers throughout that time.”
With so many new and innovative foods entering the market, Dr Augustin said it was important for producers to understand the marketing process and use it to their advantage.
“We have to be able to build a story around these products – they need to be functional and they need to look different from everything else on the shelf,” she said.
