Geeky (and important) insights into 6 of tomorrow’s functional ingredients

“If you can get a functional ingredient into something that isn’t going to change a consumer’s behavior, they can still get the nutritional benefit without popping pills.”

—Todd Runestad, New Hope Network

Part 1: Probiotics

Highlights:

• Increased interest in nutrition is driving the addition of functional ingredients in foods and specialty supplementation. 
• Prebiotics are playing an important role in the effectiveness of probiotics.

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Part 2: Research affects trends

Highlights:

• Drinks formulated with probiotics multiplied from eight to 51 products in four years.
• The probiotic growth trend stems from the research being conducted on the microbiome and the how it affects a wide variety of health outcomes.
• Probiotic strains matter. They are more specific than lactobacillus acidophilus—a genus species with a number and a letter after it indicate a well-researched strain. 

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Part 3: Collagen

Highlights:

• Collagen in the marketplace is prevalent and still growing at 30 percent.
• Applications range from supplements to beauty products to food and beverage. 
• The flavorless powder of collagen added to food and beverages easily delivers nutritional benefits to the gut, bones and skin without popping pills.

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Part 4: CBD

Highlights:

• The three main legal issues around CBD involve the DEA, the FDA and the Farm Bill. 
• Researchers are still learning about the presence of receptors in the body, dosages and the variety of health benefits. 
• Full-spectrum hemp oils, which capture CBD’s benefits, are making their way around the supermarket, including in pet products. 

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Part 5: Protein

Highlights:

• The momentum behind protein is driven by the popularity of a low-carb, high-protein diet.
• Protein is popping up in multiple categories, both in plant-based and meat-based products, in drinks, grains, pastas, and snacks, cookies and candy.
• Protein is being redefined with an emphasis on quality of protein over quantity. 
• There’s a large shift in the market toward plant protein. 

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Part 6: Kernza and regeneration

Highlights:

• Kernza is a domesticated cousin of the wheat plant debuting at Natural Products Expo West that supports healthy soil and carbon sequestration. 
• There is a growing interest in the mitigation of climate change through regenerative agriculture and food systems.
• Eight of the top 20 solutions to climate change identified at Climate Day are related to agricultural practices.
• A number of brands want to do more than just prevent harm to the environment, they want to heal it.

This session—Tomorrow’s Ingredients: A Forecast for What’s Next—was recorded at Natural Products Expo West 2018. Click "download" below to access the presentation slides.