The flavour industry for the bakery segment is going through a significant evolution in India with an emerging demand for ethnic, exotic and natural flavours By Rituparna Chatterjee
The Indian food industry is on a high growth trajectory which has correspondingly impacted the demand for its inputs that is also growing at the same pace. Increasing disposable income and decreasing home cooking have been some of major contributors for this upward growth. According to MarketsandMarkets, a US based global market research and consulting company, the global food flavours market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.3 per cent from 2013 to 2018. North America is the largest market for food flavour, followed by Asia-Pacific and Europe. Asia-Pacific represents the fastest growing market, followed by Europe. Interestingly, India has also shown good growth in the food flavour segment. “There has been a growth of about 15 per cent in flavour consumption every year which is expected to continue till 2020,” states Bijou Bharadwaj, key accounts manager, CEC Flavours adding that though the food flavour market in India is valued at around Rs 1350 crore, the current market share of bakery flavours is only about nine per cent. “The growth of flavour consumption in the bakery segment has been lower than other food segments at about three to four per cent, due to traditional small and craft bakers using more natural fruit based products which results in lower direct usage of flavours,” he reasons. Moreover, in bakery, the quantum of flavours required is also comparatively on a lower side when we take into consideration other food industries. The major reason for this is the existence of a large percentage of unorganised players in the market. “There are many unorganised players in the flavour market in India, who are catering to the unorganised bakery sector which itself comprise of more than 55 per cent of the entire bakery market,” opines Pritam Aidasani, managing director, Alpha Bakery World.
Customising flavours
In recent times, the Indian bakery industry has seen the surge of many new and interesting flavours. Apart from some of the commonly used flavours like vanilla, chocolate, butterscotch, strawberry, coconut, rose, pineapple, cardamom, orange, mango, butter, etc, new flavours that are growing in demand include blueberry, hazelnut, raspberry, pistachio, to name a few. “The new trend in the bakery and biscuit industry is for ethnic flavours that are to replicate traditional sweets in biscuit/ cookie form like cashew katli, soan papidi, kulfi, rabidi, etc. Bakeries are also demanding exotic fruit flavours like blueberry, blackberry, passion fruit, etc, for cakes and pastries,” states Bharadwaj.
Another interesting trend that is steadily gaining momentum in the India market is an increasing focus on customising flavours. Globally, flavours are customised according to customer requirement and sold in bulk. However, in India flavours are customised only for large companies. “But we have a large retail segment where flavours are sold in small packing of 20 ml, 100 ml, 500 ml and one litre,” opines Bharadwaj. “From morning while using tooth paste till having coffee at night, we taste various flavours. After the revolution in the food processing industry in India (including juices, ice cream, confectionery, sauces, bakery, processed food, etc) the scope of food flavours in definitely on the rise,” opines Aidasani adding that the company has plans to launch a holy basil (Tulsi) flavour in the coming months for fruit cakes.
Furthermore, worldwide consumption of flavours for dairy application and meat and savory flavours for snack application are also on the rise. In India spice flavours for snack application are increasing. “We import specialty key ingredients primarily from Europe and the US. Since there is increasing demand for snack flavours, we would be launching innovative combinations of savory flavourings for snack applications,” reveals Bharadwaj.
Going natural
With increasing consumer demand for fresh and natural products, many food ingredient manufacturers are producing natural food flavours. “Natural additives, especially flavours and colours, are being demanded by many discerning bakers nowadays. We supply all the flavours required by our customers and even arrange new ones as per market demand and requirements,” states Rajendra Mangharam, director, R B Mangharam Foods. Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and European Union categories flavours into natural flavours, nature identical flavours and artificial flavours. “Natural flavours are expensive and unstable and are being used in high-end premium bakeries where price is not a concern. However, many bakeries are now using nature identical flavours which are similar to natural flavours’ molecular structure, but are more stable and affordable. Artificial flavours are cost effective, consistent in profile and have very high shelf life,” reasons Bharadwaj.
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Despite the growing popularity of natural flavours, care should be taken on its usage. “Presently the market size of such product is very low but is growing at very fast pace. While using natural flavours, bakers should also be made aware about the dosage of the same because high dosage will not only spoil the taste of product but will also have an adverse effect on health,” says Aidasani. In western countries, consumers before purchasing a product usually check its ingredient list. If there is any E series written on it, they will refrain from purchasing the product. “Same thing is expected in later years in India. The organised sector in Indian bakeries are aware of this and so they have started marketing their product with natural flavours. Although, natural flavour are very costly compared to artificial flavours but consumers are ready to pay this difference,” says Aidasani.
Future trend
Flavour consumption in all the food segments are further expected to grow significantly due to increasing consumption of processed food in India. “Flavour consumption in bakery segment would also increase though not as much as in other segments like beverage, confectionery and snacks,” predicts Bharadwaj adding that direct consumption of flavours in small and craft bakeries might come down but indirect usage through usage of flavoured fruit fillings, flavoured syrups and crush, flavoured glazes, flavoured non-dairy whip creams, etc, will increase.