Givaudan revamps consumer trend programme

Givaudan has refreshed its future-forward FlavourVision® consumer trend programme to reflect the impact of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. As the benchmark consumer trend platform in the industry, the FlavourVision® update will serve as a critical tool to help Givaudan's customers decipher and understand how consumer behaviours and product development in the Food, Beverage and Nutraceutical industries may be affected.

In this ground-breaking FlavourVision® Refresh 2020 edition, the Company examined the *seven FlavourVision® trends through the lens of Covid-19 and identified six significant shifts that have the potential to shape a “new normal” in the long term.

Through the use of Givaudan's unique and proprietary methodologies, the FlavourVision® update tracks shifting consumer attitudes and how this translates for food and beverage products, so companies and brands can stay relevant in today's fast-moving environment. Using these insights, Givaudan works closely with customers to turn vision into reality, decoding the trends and drawing on the latest ingredients and taste technologies to generate successful innovations, which connect with consumers and their evolving needs.

Stephanie Puel, Global Marketing Director, Taste & Wellbeing explains: “Our real-time research shows that five of the seven trends have been amplified by the pandemic, notably those that are socially focussed, such as “Human Connection” and others that are very much wellness related like “DelightFULL” for example. These are being played out in many ways as consumers adjust to newfound needs and pressures that arose unexpectedly this year.”

Human Connection highlights the intensification of our need to interact with others and the priority given to finding ways to do so.  Technology and social media have been at the centre of facilitating connection and have given big business the opportunity and permission to forge more authentic, human relationships with consumers. As restrictions gradually begin to lift, people will be increasingly selective about who makes it into their trusted inner circle.

The DelightFULL trend notes that Covid-19 has shifted the focus from the out-of-home experience economy to novel, indulgent and comforting in-home experiences—and foods. Further, people are turning to nature for a sense of escape, and brands are responding by evoking nature through sensorial cues in their products and services. Economically and otherwise vulnerable groups in both developed and developing markets, on the other hand, are focussed more on safety and survival than indulgence, comfort and escape.

The 2020 refresh also highlights six big shifts, with a broad range in scale and scope that are expected to outlast the pandemic, shaping the “new normal”. From “home as sanctuary” and “hygiene & health” to an insistence on increased corporate accountability, these shifts will likely affect daily life in the future.

“Customers expect us to anticipate changes in consumer behaviour to help them plan ahead in uncertain times. Our FlavourVision® Refresh 2020 is uniquely able to help them to do just that” concludes Puel.

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