According to a 2014 General Mills survey, US people eat 48% more whole grains now than in 2009. It is an impressive rise to compare with the less than 1% growth shown between 2000 and 2004. A whole grain stamp has been created and is appended on nearly 10,000 products. The whole grains movement is driving demand for ancient grains such as amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, couscous, sorghum, teff or brown rice.
First innovation products were composed of quinoa grains. According to Innova Market Insight, global launches of new products made with quinoa rose 50% last year and among them, 38% promoted their gluten-free properties.
Bakery, breakfast cereals and snacks now account for the largest number of new product introductions composed of whole grains, with side dishes and meals gaining quickly.
Leading producers and distributors of packaged bakery foods in the United States, has experienced spectacular growth in demand for whole grain products. While white bread is still their largest sales, which is their core market, they observe a clear consumer switch wheat bread to products.
Portfolio management and innovation
Companies need to manage their portfolio by terminating old and unprofitable products and launching new products. Consequently, innovation is key and an effective formulation tool considerably eases R&D tasks. The impact of adding whole grain in any formula or changing components is immediately visible and allow R&D teams to better adapt products to consumers needs and wants. Lascom provides a packaged PLM solution dedicated to FMCG companies, to help them to better manage their innovation process.
With Lascom solution, manufacturers are able to quickly:
- Optimize innovation processes by using a comprehensive formulation tool
- Merge product information and data to generate specifications, labels etc.
- Organize information in a single repository
- Enhance product traceability
- Improve collaboration by providing a single version of the truth about product (no waste of time and energy looking for last version, validation stage, next step, etc.)
