According to McCormick’s recent Indonesia consumer snacking survey conducted on over 400 consumers, innovation with spice and heat has emerged as the most popular area drawing consumer interest.
“It is clear that more Indonesians today are snacking, with about 60% of participants telling us that they picked up this habit of snacking more during the pandemic and this has led to them craving for more healthier options to be made available as well,” McCormick APAC VP for Flavour Solutions Betty Juliana Tan told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“There has also been a rise in the awareness around this ingredients being used to make these snacks and any health claims being made, and with these we have also seen that at least 60% of consumers feel that the use of herbs and spices are the top ingredients to make snack flavours healthier.
“The top five herbs and spices here are ginger, garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, and black pepper; whereas within the flavours of choice we are seeing basic standard choices such as smoky, spicy and meaty take the lead – but it is important to note that within these consumers are demanding a wider variety of choices, e.g. spicy cannot just be spicy anymore but must provide a variety of chilli spices to choose from such as Carolina reaper, jalapeno, habanero, ghost pepper and so on.
“There is no doubt at all that the trend is with spice right now, and more importantly to make sure there is a variety of spice made available.”
Tan added that this spicy microtheme is rising to become known as Spicy+, and in addition to variety, firms are increasingly expected to be able to create flavours that are very far out of the box especially if they wish to capture the attention of a younger audience.
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