The turmeric market continues to expand and is ushering in new opportunities for development. As the dried rhizome of turmeric, a ginger plant, turmeric has a variety of medicinal values and is widely used, and it is widely used in food flavorings, preservatives, beauty products, stomach invigorants and other fields.
Turmeric can be used in many fields such as baking, coffee, catering, snacks, beverages, etc., which helps to innovate products and enhance the consumer experience. And at a time when health functionalization is getting more and more attention, adding turmeric can also increase the functional advantages, which may also be an important consideration for brands to launch turmeric products. With the increase of consumer awareness, turmeric food may also appear more in the market in the future.
1. Turmeric is especially common as a condiment.
When it comes to turmeric alone, some people may be relatively unfamiliar, but when it comes to curry, many people should have a certain understanding. Whether it is in daily life or in the catering scene, curry has gradually become a relatively common condiment, and the food made from curry has also been loved by many consumers. Turmeric can be made into curry, which has a very important relationship with its coloring ability and nutritional value. On the one hand, the curcumin in turmeric is a natural yellow pigment that can be extracted, and it also has a relatively unique smell, which blends harmoniously with other spices in curry, and can color and add flavor to food. On the other hand, curcumin has a variety of functions, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and regulation of neurotransmitters and intracellular signaling pathways, etc., which can also play a role in physical health.
At present, curry may be a highly recognized turmeric condiment, but in fact, there are some other condiments that also add turmeric, such as yellow mustard sauce, satay sauce, etc., which play a role in coloring.
2. Add it to beverages to achieve functionalization.
Under the influence of the epidemic, consumers have maintained a high level of concern for personal health. This demand is projected onto the food and beverage category, which can be found to be more popular with food and beverage with functional claims, and consumers will increase their choice of such products.
According to Mintel's report "Functional Beverages - China - 2022", 30% of consumers believe that functional drinks can replace dietary supplements.
As an ingredient with many health advantages, turmeric can naturally also be used in beverage products, which can not only bring product innovation, but also increase the functional selling point of beverages and further enhance the attractiveness of beverages.
For example, the foreign brand Golden Brew has launched a lemon ginger turmeric apple cider vinegar drink, which uses apple cider vinegar as the main body to add lemon, ginger, turmeric and other ingredients, so that the function of apple cider vinegar to help digestive health is more prominent. It also changes the acidity of traditional apple cider vinegar, and the spicy taste of turmeric and ginger in this drink is more pronounced.
Wahaha launched a hangover and liver protection drink for drinkers - turmeric awakening.
In addition, the color of turmeric can also be used to launch some "dopamine drinks" that meet the current needs, using bright yellow to awaken consumer interest, bring taste buds and spiritual enjoyment, and also attract more consumers to come to check in and consume.
3. Add it to snacks to highlight the functionality.
Snack products are an area of rapid application of turmeric raw materials, market data shows that from 2014 to 2018, the number of turmeric snacks on the market jumped from 5th in 2014 to 3rd in 2018, and turmeric snacks accounted for 9% of the global food and beverage product launches in 20189%。
On the one hand, young people have gradually joined the health care army, showing greater interest in the health field, and gradually becoming the real main force of health care. On the other hand, the health of snacks has also become an obvious development trend, which provides a lot of development directions for snack product innovation and differentiation.
In addition, according to Ipsos' "2022 Health Insight Report", compared with 2021, gastrointestinal problems, sleep problems, and immunity are still the top three health problems among consumers, and weight management is highly concerned among young people. Starting from the needs of consumers for health functions, brands can also focus on these directions. At this stage, in the research on turmeric, it has been found that it has a variety of functions such as antioxidant, stomach, liver protection, cardiovascular protection, etc., which can solve the health problems that consumers are more concerned about to a certain extent, so the introduction of turmeric snacks is also a major trend.
4. Adding to dairy products brings innovation.
As the best high-quality protein, dairy products have not only been recognized by more and more consumers, but also continue to upgrade the category. Economy** - Yili Group's consumption trend report (dairy products) pointed out that consumers pay more attention to the quality of dairy products, and the demand for functional and healthy products has increased. Under this trend, functional dairy products are gradually occupying more share of the market.
At this stage, products such as lactose-free milk, sleep milk, high-protein yogurt, probiotic yogurt and other products have become more and more common, and the emergence of these dairy products is actually the direction of functionalization. Functional dairy products can meet the needs of specific consumer groups and health-seeking consumer groups, and are also an important way to innovate and differentiate dairy products.
At present, it has become possible to add turmeric as an important element to milk and yogurt, and among the many functional advantages of turmeric, brands can further highlight a function by adding other ingredients, so that consumers in need can choose related products more clearly. Although there are still relatively few dairy products with turmeric added to the market, with the development of the turmeric market and the increase of awareness, it may be used more in dairy products in the future.
5. Add more health attributes to cereal foods.
Cereals occupy an important position in people's dietary structure and are the first of nutrients such as dietary fiber, B vitamins, and minerals. In the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)", it is recommended that adults consume 200-300g of cereals per day, including 50-150g of whole grains and mixed legumes, and 50-100g of potatoes.
In their daily diet, consumers may be more inclined to choose cereal products such as oatmeal, whole wheat bread, cereal bars, etc., in addition to grain-cooked foods. These products have the advantages of being more convenient and delicious, and at the same time, they also have the characteristics of health and nutrition of cereals. The addition of turmeric to cereal products not only highlights the health benefits of the grain, but also alters its flavor to some extent.
It is also worth mentioning that hot and cold cereals are also a fast-growing category of turmeric products. Market research data shows that hot and cold cereal products containing turmeric grew by 928% and 620%, respectively, in 2019, with total sales in the U.S. reaching $1.35 million.
6. Develop turmeric plant milk to cater to the new trend.
In recent years, the plant-based milk market has developed rapidly, and the use of plants as raw materials can not only meet consumers' needs for protein supplements, but also conform to the trend of health and environmental protection, so it has set off a high popularity around the world.
As far as the domestic market is concerned, the more representative plant-based milk may be oat milk, as a category that has made a reputation for "plant-based milk" earlier, oat milk has great advantages in both consumption and cognition. In the world, oat milk ranks first in the growth rate of many plant-based milk markets, and the Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growing market for oat milk in the world, and the Chinese market will continue to be the most important market for oat milk sales in the future.
7. Develop turmeric dietary supplements.
Judging from the current consumption of dietary nutritional supplements, both middle-aged and elderly people and young people have begun to choose such products due to the pursuit of health, which has also promoted the development of the dietary supplement market to a large extent. In addition, it is worth mentioning that consumers' acceptance of dietary supplements is also expanding, which may have been more reflected in products such as fish oil and calcium supplementation, and now they have begun to choose products with other functions.
Swisse has launched a plant-based drink with artichoke and citrus aurantium, the main ingredients of which include citrus aurantium, turmeric, artichoke, milk thistle seed oil, etc., focusing on liver protection. With the deepening of turmeric function research, more functions may be discovered and certified, which also provides great convenience for the development of turmeric dietary nutritional supplements.
8. Add to bakery products.
In the "National Food Safety Standard for the Use of Food Additives" (GB 2760), turmeric is allowed as a coloring agent to be used in frozen drinks, instant rice flour products, baked goods and other food categories. At the beginning of last year, the National Health Commission also approved the expansion of turmeric's use for batters (such as drag batter for fish and poultry), breading, and frying powder.
With the increase in health awareness, consumers are also raising health expectations for baked goods. Under this trend, bakery brands have also paid attention to the selling point of health, and started to innovate in health from the raw material side.
As one of the main raw materials for curry in Southeast Asian countries, turmeric has more application experience and understanding, while in China, it may be more known through traditional Chinese medicine, colorants and other uses. However, in recent years, the research on turmeric has been deepened, and the application of turmeric in food has become more abundant, which provides a foundation for the development of more turmeric foods, and will also add more functional selling points and product features to food.