Naturex launches a new Energy Chew concept, developed specially for the IFT Food Expo. The chews have been created to show confectionery manufacturers the potential for creating functional candy concepts with great taste and wide appeal among consumers, especially the growing numbers who are looking for a natural pick-me-up.

Set for launch at IFT 2013, the citrus-flavored Energy Chews contain the naturally energizing extracts guarana and panax ginseng root, from Naturex’s NAT healthy™ range. In addition, they are colored with natural paprika from Naturex’s NAT color™ range and texturized with pectin from the NAT textur™ range.

Naturex Business Manager Amandine De Santi said, “Functional confectionery is an emerging trend right now, and energy remains a popular benefit among US consumers. We’ve seen a number of successful energy confectionery launches in recent times, and we’ve developed our Energy Chews to demonstrate how we can help manufacturers and marketers looking to enter this exciting market.”

She added, “Our comprehensive range of natural colors, texturizers and active ingredients makes Naturex the perfect partner for any company developing healthier functional confectionery concepts. But we are more than a manufacturer of natural ingredients. We can also work closely with businesses to help them combine our extracts and create the finished products that are right for them.”

In order to showcase the documented natural benefits of its botanical ingredients, Naturex has created two functional instant drink mix concepts.

Zest Body is a low-calorie slimming drink containing Svetol®, a decaffeinated green coffee bean extract. Svetol is clinically proven to inhibit glucose-6-phosphatase and increase the rate of fat release from adipose tissue – a unique mechanism that results in highly effective weight management.

Svetol has grown to become a phenomenon in North America, and is now used in 100 co-branded products across the U.S. and Canada. It has a Facebook page of its own with more than 3,000 ‘likes’ and also boasts 3,000+ followers on Twitter.

Zest Body contains Talin®, a natural taste profile enhancer that combines with High Intensity Sweeteners such as stevia to improve the sweetness profile of low-calorie products.

Naturex’s second functional instant drink mix concept is Zest Power, which contains extracts of Ginseng root and Maca from Naturex’s NAT healthy™ range. These ingredients provide a natural energy boost – releasing the vitality of nature.

Both Zest concepts are colored with naturally sourced pigments from Naturex’s ingredient portfolio. They will be on show at the IFT Food Expo, which runs from July 13 to 16, 2013 at McCormick Place South in Chicago, Illinois. Naturex will exhibit at Booth 2338.

Naturex Business Unit Director Paul Janthial said, “The instant drink mix market is big in the US but consumers often have to settle for products containing artificial ingredients. Our new Zest concepts demonstrate how manufacturers can create more natural and functional products without compromising on taste.”