Despite the pressures R&D professionals face, many of the trends guiding new product development endure from the past few years, according to findings from Baking & Snack’s 2024 Trends in Commerical Baking Industry Product Innovation & Development study, conducted by Cypress Research. Clean label, for example, continues to dominate in every way. Seventy-nine percent reported that was a trend influencing product development strategies for the next 12 to 18 months. Sixty-one percent cited clean label improvements as their main ingredient priority. There is some softening, however, between the 2022 to 2024 studies. In 2022, 79% of respondents said their companies were focused on “cleaning up” current products, but in 2024, the share edged down to 62% who indicated it was a focus. 

“Clean label is such a dominant product development trend because consumers are increasingly prioritizing health, transparency and sustainability in their food choices,” said Sergio Machado, senior director of RD&A, Corbion, during the State of the Baking Industry webinar that discussed the study results and is available on-demand at bakingbusiness.com. “People want to know what’s in their food and prefer ingredients they recognize and trust. This shift toward simpler, more natural ingredients is driven by a growing awareness of how diet impacts health and a desire for cleaner, more wholesome eating options.” 

Still, much of the other trends and ingredient priorities also bolster the clean label trend. Ingredient reduction is influencing 48% of bakers’ product development strategies. Natural flavors (47%), natural colors (42%) and non-GMO ingredients (41%) were all ingredient priorities as R&D professionals look ahead to the next 12 to 18 months. 

Clean label isn’t the only guiding force, however. Convenience was the No. 2 trend influencing R&D department strategies with 53% of respondents focused in that area. A third of R&D professionals were looking at premiumization or increasing the value perception of products among consumers as influencing their company strategies. Thirty-one percent of respondents were focused on adding product value such as protein, whole grains, fiber, etc., and a quarter were pursuing development strategies that include functional health benefits, such as gut health, energy and cognition. 

Ingredient priorities like ancient grains (43%) and whole grains (38%) continue to benefit from their nutritional profiles and perceptions. A focus on sugar (39%) and sodium reduction (30%) show that there’s still an impact from both nutrition trends and regulatory demands. 

“Ancient grains are continuing to have a moment,” said Marjorie Hellmer, president of Cypress Research. “Non-GMO has that staying power, and then we see product developers focus on sugar reduction and whole grains. A lot of these are tied to the health and wellness trend that continues to drive the industry and companies wanting to innovate around them.”

With the spike in chocolate prices earlier this year — at the time this survey was fielded — 35% of respondents cited chocolate/cocoa as one of their ingredient priorities looking ahead. Dietary fiber, gluten-free, calorie reduction and sustainable ingredients all came in with about a quarter of R&D professionals prioritizing them.

Bakery product development teams are using a variety of sources to discover what trends have the most viability and can help guide their R&D efforts. Consumers remain the top source for new product ideas, up from 71% of respondents in 2022 to 81% in 2024 reporting the final consumer as their source of inspiration. Internal product development team is next at 75%. Monitoring retailers and market research were in the third and fourth spots for new product inspiration with 70% and 69%, respectively; both new additions in the 2024 study. In fact, 67% of R&D professionals said they leverage formal market research to respond to market conditions. This is a mix of third-party and internal market research, with 42% saying their R&D teams use both, 16% relying exclusively on third-party market research and 9% relying on internally generated market research only.

Wholesale bakery or snack startups saw a massive increase in interest with 44% of baker respondents citing them as a source of inspiration in 2024 compared to only 15% in 2022. Despite the buzz around artificial intelligence, only 21% of respondents in 2024 use it as an inspiration source compared to 34% in 2022. 

This article is an excerpt from the September 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on State of the Baking Industry, click here.