Traditional Flavors

Traditional and Alternative Beer in 2022

Introduction

Traditional and Alternative Beer ingredients are becoming increasingly important to beer-drinking consumers. FMCG Gurus consumer insights have revealed that beer drinkers are more attentive to ingredients in beer. For example, when buying beer, 68% of consumers want reassurance that the highest quality ingredients are used. This reveals that consumers are more attentive and conscious about the ingredients in the products that they are consuming. The Covid-19 pandemic is a key component for this health conscious shift. This proactive and health boosting approach is seen through consumers altering their dietary and drinking habits. In addition, consumers are incorporating active approaches into their lifestyles.

Consumers are also conscious about the production processes of products and their environmental impact. To cater to this demand for both functional ingredients and sustainable initiatives across product supply chains, brands should incorporate story telling in their marketing. Consumers value insights into the heritage of beer brands. So, it is essential that beer brands use story based marketing to create transparency and notions of heritage. Also, this will enhance brand identity.

Promote Naturalness

The naturalness of ingredients and the impact of on ingredients on health play a key role in the attentive nature of consumers. This highlights the motivations around health. FMCG Gurus consumer insights has revealed 65% of consumers who have reduced their beer intake have done this due to health reasons. Our findings indicate that consumers are more conscious and adopting proactive approaches to improve their health. To address this, brands should ensure that products are promoting health claims and alternatives on their products to encourage the guilt-free consumption of beer.

In addition, beer-drinking consumers are expressing a desire for products that hold maximum quality and value. One way that brands can fulfil this is by avoiding chemicals, additives and artificial flavorings. Instead, brands should be promoting naturalness and the use of authentic ingredients to shape their products around perceptions of purity and great quality. FMCG Gurus consumer insights highlight that 52% of consumers believe that claims of natural flavors in beer are important. Moreover, a streamlined ingredient list enhances perceptions of purity and naturalness, as it presents minimal, recognisable and trusted ingredients. FMCG Gurus findings indicate that a long list of unfamiliar ingredients may generate scepticism among consumers.

The Sensory Element of Non-Alcoholic and Beer Alternatives

As a result of the health-conscious approach by many consumers, beer-drinkers are changing their consumption habits. FMCG Gurus consumer insights found that 27% of consumers have switched to low or non-alcoholic beer alternatives. Our findings indicate that while the non-alcoholic beer market is a sort of niche, it is also a growing market in which brands should be attentive to and can capitalise on. This niche market highlights that enjoyment and taste are top priorities for consumers when consuming beer products, which has led to taste appeal being a key component for manufacturers and brands to attentive to.

Growing health-consciousness among consumers has offered a key opportunity for the non-alcoholic beer market to capitalize on this. As a result, brands should ensure that they promote the sensory appeal of these products to add value to them. This will generate a greater demand for products in this market. Further to this health-conscious positioning of non-alcoholic beer, brands should promote aspects of avoidance and moderation. Examples of this can include the avoidance and moderation of certain ingredients in alcoholic beer. For example, FMCG Gurus consumer insights highlight that 58% of consumers who made changes to their drinking habits moderated their intake of beer.

In addition, our findings indicate that across the next three years, consumers are looking to pay more attention to the ingredients that are used in beer. To enhance these notions of health, the non-alcoholic beer industry should introduce more experimental flavors to spark an interest among adventurous consumers. 

Story-Based Marketing

FMCG Gurus consumer insights highlight the significance of premium products with maximum quality. This perception of the premium is constructed by storytelling, which shapes brand heritage. This aligns with both environmental consciousness and health consciousness, as storytelling reveals how the product has been sourced and distributed. For instance, 69% of consumers agreed that they want the beer brands that they buy from to be as premium as possible. Further to this, consumers want reassurance from brands that products contain the highest quality ingredients. Also, the story and heritage behind beer brands appeals to consumers.

Lastly, a reasonable price and the offering of new and experimental flavors will increase consumer interest. This indicates that consumers are seeking out beer brands with story-telling which offers insight into the heritage of the brand and how the ingredients are sourced across the supply chain. If brands respond to this, story-based marketing will reassure consumers over the quality of the beer products and enhance the consumer’s perception of premium quality.

Story-based marketing positions beer brands as transparent and enhances brand identity and heritage. This ensures that brands are promoting elements such as sustainability initiatives and functional ingredients. Including these elements will help to differentiate these brands from their competition within the beer market, increasing consumer appeal.

This article is based on FMCG Gurus: Consumer Attitudes to Traditional and Alternative Beer - Global Report 2022.

Flavor, Color & Texture: New Flavors are Sparking Consumer Interest

Introduction

Flavor, color and texture play a significant role in consumers food and drink purchasing habits. Consumers are interested in new and innovative products that challenge perceptions of how a product should look and taste. Brands have the opportunity to move away from flavors that are perceived as traditional. Instead, the use of unique and exciting flavors, colors, and textures are increasing consumer interest in 2023 and beyond.

The Significance of Flavor, Color & Texture

FMCG Gurus consumer insights found that almost three-quarters of consumers like new and unusual flavors in food and drink products. The top kind of flavors consumers like to see are sweet flavors, local traditional flavors, and savory flavors. Consumers like to try new and unusual flavors for many reasons, the top reason being that they like to try new flavors from around the world and that they deem themselves adventurous. Half of consumers perceive new and exotic flavors to be healthier, which is a key priority for the health-conscious consumer. Therefore, brands have the opportunity to tailor and market products with new and exciting flavors towards being healthy.

FMCG Gurus consumer research also found that just over half of consumers state that they like food and drink products with unusual textures, the top textures consumers prefer for food products are smooth, creamy, and tender. Consumers like to be experimental with the texture of their food and drink choices, however, half of consumers who said they do not like unusual textures said this is because they associate certain food and drinks with certain textures and do not want to change this. Therefore, a challenge to new and exciting textures is that consumers are only willing to purchase foods of textures that they are familiar with.

Our findings also outline that just under half of consumers like food and drink products with new and experimental colors. The top reason for this is that new and experimental colors are fun and exciting. Two-thirds of consumers who do like products with new and exciting colors believe that they make the product more appealing. Colors that consumers consider experimental depend on the food category. However blue, pink, and green are seen as experimental for food and drinks.

Consumer Priorities

When it comes to taste and flavor versus price, FMCG Gurus consumer insights found that consumers are willing to compromise on price for taste and flavor. For instance, nearly one-third of consumers rate taste and flavor as the number one priority when choosing between food and drink products. Alternatively, 18% of consumers prioritize price. Flavor is prioritized significantly more than color or texture when consumers are choosing food and drink products. Our findings reveal that flavor is prioritized by 83% of consumers, whereas color is by 53% and texture is by 54% of consumers. Despite many consumers being drawn to new and exciting flavors, 55% of consumers still rate traditional flavors that they know and trust as being most influential on food and drink choices.

Notions of Naturalness

Consumers enjoy products with innovative taste, color, and texture; however, naturalness is still important. For example, 34% of consumers do not like food and drink with new and experimental colors. The top reason for this is that consumers do not associate new and experimental colors with being natural. FMCG Gurus consumer insights found that three-quarters of consumers agree that it is important that food and drink products do not contain artificial colors. Our findings demonstrate that 2 in 10 consumers are willing to compromise on the appearance of a product to ensure that the product does not contain artificial colors. Natural claims are the third most important factor, after taste, flavor and price, that consumers prioritize when deciding what food products to purchase. Therefore, when producing products that have a unique flavor, color, or texture, the origin and naturalness of the ingredients must be prioritized by brands.

This article is based on FMCG Gurus: Flavor, Color, and Texture surveys based in 30 countries in 2022. For more information, please click here.