Leading independent European manufacturer and distributor of speciality chemicals, raw materials and ingredients for the health, nutrition and food market sectors, Cornelius Group (‘Cornelius’), has revealed its projections for the food manufacturing industry as a result of Covid-19.
Utilising its birds-eye view that spans the full length of the health, nutrition, ingredient and additive supply chains, Cornelius has outlined the position of the sector, including its rapid changes in operation to accommodate agile working conditions and spikes in demand.
The business has highlighted the consumer’s evolving relationship with food safety, demand for innovation and exploration, and twists on ‘traditional’ flavours as areas in which the industry is seeing remarkable change in terms of consumer behaviour and trend influences through the pandemic. Cornelius believes this may point towards the future of food and beverage product design.
Jason Fitzgerald, Business Manager at Cornelius, commented: “The changes we’ve seen throughout the health crisis are quite unlike anything we’ve seen before. It benefits all businesses along the supply chain to pause and re-evaluate what today’s consumer wants. Shoppers are becoming more exploratory with flavours and products that perhaps under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t. For example, we’re seeing a surge in home baking and eastern-influenced cooking as consumer get to grips with the temporary shutdown of the restaurant industry.”
Insights collated by Cornelius underline the relatively stable position of food manufacturing as the sector continues to react to heightened pressure alongside surging demand. However, [name] argues that the nature of this growing demand isn’t stationary and represents a change in priorities for shoppers.
Fitzgerald concluded: “The food manufacturing sector has so far benefitted from a much more stable situation than many of its counterparts, the way forward will be how the industry can react to the significant changes moving forward, and what can be learned.
“The key will be creativity. The choice of ingredients, recipes, products and suppliers made today may just set businesses up for success through the pandemic and beyond. That’s why at Cornelius, we harness our position as an innovator and leader in the market to stay one step ahead of consumer trends and enable our customers to leverage that insight into their product ranges.”