Puratos holds Taste Tomorrow in HK

Puratos, an international group headquartered in Belgium, provides innovative products and application expertise for artisans, industry, retailers and food service customers in the bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors. To provide its customers with consumer insights that impact these sectors five years into the future, the group holds the Taste Tomorrow event in 40 countries. Surveys are conducted by market research company Ipsos for Puratos.

On 7-8 March 2019, the group held Taste Tomorrow at the Kerry Hotel in Hong Kong with 364 participants from the APAC region in attendance. The event schedule included trends presentation from keynote speakers, a culinary stadium, marketplaces, digital app experience and instant access of recipes via QR codes.

Puratos speakers reveal insights to shape the bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors.

Taste, health and freshness expectations are evolving, but remain key

Across the globe, when consumers buy bread, pastry, patisserie or chocolate, their decisions are driven by three key criteria: taste, health and freshness. Of the three criteria, taste is the most important and 53% of Asia-Pacific consumers expect food to become even tastier in the future!

Yet, it goes further than that. Consumers want to be impressed by all their senses. A feast beyond the eye is essential to create a sensorial delight.

When it comes to health, 72% of Asia-Pacific consumer still expect producers to remove some ingredients, such as sugar or fat, to create healthier products. However, it is not only about removing ingredients: 73% of consumers also mention that it’s about adding ingredients such as proteins and fibres.

Event visitors enjoyed a variety of breads and pastries at the Marketplace.

Authenticity, ethics and transparency

Consumers highly value the quality of ingredients and the authenticity of the recipe and packaging. This is about food with a human touch.

Beyond the final product, they also wish to act more conscientiously, so they look to make ethical food choices and consider the impact of the production, distribution and preparation of food on people, the environment and the animals. For instance, 72% of Asia-Pacific consumers agree with “I am what I eat, I pick my food carefully”.

In this process, consumers seek for greater transparency and increasingly consult packaging labels to have a more informed choice of consumption.

A personalised experience

Consumers lead busier, more connected and on-the-go lifestyles that result in an ever-growing quest for convenience to get what they want when they need it. They want to be amazed and surprised so they expect to be offered an eating experience that goes beyond the food. This is confirmed by 75% of Asia-Pacific consumers who agree that the experience around food matters.

Online buying/selling holds the most potential in the chocolate category. Consumers are open to digital solutions and innovations, but 61% is against the disappearance of shops. Asia-Pacific consumers are very open to innovations: 76% would welcome automatically scanned shopping trolleys, 67% would welcome digital assistants and 58% automatic stores and automatic food delivery.

Consumers are not only looking for greater choice to fit their personal preferences, they want it to be hyper-personal, tailored for their needs and desires.  This is confirmed by 66% of Asia-Pacific consumers who think food is personal and should be adapted from person to person.

“To share this learning with our customers, and to inspire their future product development, we organise events around the world. During these events, customers can network with other executives, gain more valuable insights from keynote speakers, and learn how to further boost their business based on the latest trends,” concludes Pascale Jantcheff, Marketing Services Director.