Food is not just something that satiates hunger. It is integral to our health and well-being, and essential to support active lifestyles. Around the world, but importantly in Latin America, food takes center stage on many daily and special occasions. With our strong focus on the food & nutrition market in Latin America, we work closely with our business partners to capitalize on its vibrant food culture, identifying new opportunities that cater to the region's food requirements.
Our Food Innovation Center showcases our commitment to the food market. This state-of-the-art facility is equipped with high-end technology and experienced industry professionals to drive innovative food solutions. Since its inauguration in October last year in São Paulo, Brazil, the new and expanding food and nutrition team has had its hands full with new applications, reformulations, and co-creation of brand-new recipes in collaboration with our customers and principals.
Renata Costa, Head of the Business Unit, and Erika Manzi, Marketing Development Manager, are fresh off their very first food trade show Nutri Ingredient Summit, showcasing an innovative food ingredients portfolio used to prepare product samples in different categories.
These included chocolate energy bars, sugar-free and low-sugar beverages, and more, covering trends like hydration, muscle health, immunity, concentration, and energy, as well as low-sugar and low-sodium formulations. Consumer trends continue to be the main inspiration for driving innovation in our solutions. Observing consumption patterns gives an insight into what people want or might need, and the team can develop solutions that effectively meet their needs.
"Right now, for example, we are seeing the beginnings of a supplements fatigue,” says Renata, “Consumers would rather eat an energy bar than limit themselves to nutritional supplements, which is why we are working on both formulating such products and procuring the ingredients for customers."
If consumers inspire innovation, so do customer and principal challenges. The team of experts understands the needs of the market and also has the knowledge to formulate and customize products when necessary. "When customers request low-sugar formulations, our team must balance the product structure, mouthfeel, and taste. Gone are the days when going healthy meant trading off on taste. Now, balancing taste, texture, and other functionalities is a given, no matter the trend,” explains Renata.
We have been working with principals in our Food Innovation Center to co-create formulations and support customer requirements.
“Innovation is a collaborative effort. We not only work together with our principals but also with our food experts in other regions.”
The team has been using Caldic’s proprietary brands Trusol – customizable blends for attributes like appearance, taste, viscosity, stability, and more, and Daminaide – enrichment blends to fortify food products with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients – to formulate products.
In the coming months, the team plans to expand the food portfolio beyond the current segments, which presently include dietary supplements, beverages – especially low-sugar or sugar-free variants, and dairy products.
“Essentially, the Food Innovation Center helps us materialize our business partners' and our ideas and bring them to life,” says Erika.
Food trends move fast, like wellness, taste, plant-based and sustainability. Caldic blends global sourcing with local labs to co-create delicious, functional, on-trend solutions. We help food brands scale faster, reformulate smarter, and deliver what consumers crave.
