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Ingredients in Focus is Food Dive’s bite-sized column highlighting exciting developments in the ingredients sector.
Demand for specialty ingredients has surged in recent years.
Between changing dietary preferences, growing population, and increasing consumer awareness of the health benefits associated with specialty ingredients, research and development efforts are pouring into the market.
The specialty food raw materials market size was USD 112.4 million in 2022, and is expected to reach USD 168.6 million in 2031, growing at a CAGR of 5.2%.
On how the food industry defines this growing category, Martin Williams, CEO of Above Foods, said that food is basically the opposite of a commodity.
“There are probably 100 definitions. Frankly speaking, the way we define it is that it is an ingredient that is specifically tailored to the needs of our customers and cannot be replaced with any other similar ingredient,” he told Food Dive. “Products are determined by price. You can find it. “It’s a specialty ingredient everywhere, but it’s usually grown differently, processed differently, and handled differently.”
Abofood produces differentiated ingredients using grains and proteins such as chickpeas, oats, quinoa, lentils, peas, and fava beans from the northern plains of the United States and the prairies of western Canada.
We promote a traceable and transparent plant-based supply chain so customers and consumers know exactly where their food comes from.
“The growing demand for specialty ingredients starts with the consumer,” Williams said. Consumers are really just people,” Williams said. “What are we eating? How are we eating differently? What do we want to eat? Many of our beliefs about health have evolved and now include diet.
According to Williams, specialty ingredients really reflect a growing trend in the broader food sector.
Retailers are allocating more shelf space to better food, and more consumers are turning over their food to see where it comes from, but that wasn’t the case five years ago, he said.
According to Williams, Above Foods is one of the world’s largest producers of regeneratively grown food. The company has specialized technology to inform customers about how their raw materials were grown.
“We ask ourselves whether our technology helps farm producers produce better soils, better farms and more sustainable agricultural products, because this is what matters to our customers,” he said.
Above Foods manages and supervises products at every stage of the food production process.
The products include flour, puffs and a plant-based milk base, all grown using regenerative farming practices.
