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Healthy bio dairy products on shelf of supermarket.

Protein innovation enters diversification era as quality and functionality overtake the gram race

Protein innovation is moving into a new phase. For years, much of the discussion focused on animal protein versus plant protein, or conventional protein versus alternative protein. That is changing. Food and beverage companies are now looking at a wider mix of proteins, including dairy, plant, fungal, and yeast proteins, as well as proteins made through precision fermentation. The goal is not to find one protein that does everything. It is to use the right protein, or combination of proteins, for the right product.
Worker on food packing line.
Clean label enters redesign era as formulators tackle taste and texture trade-offs
In 2026, the clean label challenge for F&B manufacturers is reformulating products with simple ingredient lists while protecting taste, texture, and shelf life. The practice of simply stripping ingredients from formulations is giving way to integrated formulation systems.
Putting chocolate on pralines.
Syensqo director explains vanillin’s shift beyond flavor into reformulation
Syensqo is positioning vanillin as more than a flavoring ingredient, arguing that it has become a multifunctional formulation tool for F&B manufacturers grappling with sugar reduction, volatile cocoa prices, clean label demands, and supply chain pressures. Thibaud Caulier, global commercial and marketing director for Syensqo’s Aroma Performance Business Unit, tells Food Ingredients First that demand is increasingly shifting toward solutions that solve several challenges at once. We sat down with Caulier to hear more about how Syensqo is expanding into fermentation-derived natural options and emphasizing regional manufacturing, traceability, and supply reliability, as manufacturers seek to reformulate products without compromising taste or consumer expectations. 
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Case study: reformulate a sweet-and-sour marinade
For food professionals, product reformulation is often a complex challenge. How do you improve a product's nutritional composition without compromising on taste, functionality, consumer acceptance, or commercial results? Dutch Spices supports producers in addressing these issues and developed two case studies.This Technical Paper is brought to you by Dutch Spices.
AGRANA Fruit webinar promotional graphic showing a shopper reading a label beside text about gaps in functional F&B
When Healthy Isn't Enough: What's Missing in Today's Functional F&B?
As consumer demand for functional food and beverage products continues to rise, delivering health benefits is no longer a differentiator, it’s an expectation. But while brands compete on claims, many overlook a critical driver of repeat purchase: enjoyment.Taste, texture and sensory excitement often fall short, leaving consumers with products that are good for them, but not compelling enough to come back to. In this webinar, we explore the missing link in today’s functional F&B landscape: “fun.” Why is indulgence still important alongside functionality in many categories and how can brands bridge the gap between nutrition and pleasure without compromising on either.Join us as we unpack emerging consumer expectations, highlight key trends, and demonstrate how a holistic approach to product development can unlock both health and indulgence. Discover why the future of functional F&B lies in both what products do and how they make people feel.
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Raisio Food Solutions: How oats can elevate gluten-free product development

At Raisio Food Solutions’ offices in Helsinki, Finland, Heidi Romu from international business development explores how oats can elevate gluten-free product innovation. From boosting fiber and nutritional diversity to improving texture, creaminess, and water binding, Romu discusses the versatility of oats, the requirements of gluten-free production, emerging global demand, and the next opportunities for better-for-you gluten-free foods and beverages.

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Tate & Lyle sees “white space” as metabolic health enters mainstream F&B
Woman eating cereal and drinking orange juice.
Food and beverage manufacturers are moving beyond sugar reduction toward a more multifaceted reformulation brief, creating opportunities for ingredients that can simultaneously address sugar and carbohydrate content, fiber enrichment, calories, and product functionality, according to Tate & Lyle. The ingredient supplier’s new report, Future-Proofing Nutrition: Designing Products for Lifelong Metabolic Wellness, argues that growing consumer interest in metabolic health is changing how manufacturers approach healthier product development. For the mainstream F&B sector, the shift is significant because it moves reformulation away from a single target — such as removing sugar — and toward products that can offer consumers positive nutritional attributes, while still delivering on taste, texture, and eating experience. 
Tufts University launches food-tech hub for scale-up and commercialization
Lennie Cheung, a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Innovation Hub for Food and Materials.
Tufts University has launched a new shared research and development hub designed to help food-tech companies, researchers, and entrepreneurs turn early-stage ideas into commercial products. The Innovation Hub for Food and Materials, based in Medford, Massachusetts, will give users access to equipment and expertise for food prototyping, bioprocessing, formulation, scale-up, sensory testing, and consumer research. Interim space is already available, while the fully equipped 17,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in fall 2026.
False confidence? Cocoa research challenges reliability of sustainability audits
A close-up view of a person's hand using a smartphone to photograph or scan a ripe, yellow cocoa pod hanging on a tree.
A study of cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa-producing country, has found that sustainability monitoring can be vulnerable to manipulated data. The researchers say their findings raise serious questions about how reliably companies and certification schemes can verify claims about the environmental and social standards behind products such as chocolate.
GNT files US petition for safflower color amid FDA shift toward natural...
Exberry's yellow safflower beverage.
GNT has filed a color additive petition with the US FDA seeking approval for its safflower-based color concentrate. Approval would add another natural alternative to a US food color market undergoing significant regulatory change.
Wilmar H1 2026 profit rises as soybean crushing and tropical oil margins...
soy beans collection
Wilmar International has posted stronger first-half earnings compared with the prior-year period. Improving tropical oil refining margins and rising soybean crushing activity in China bolstered its agribusiness operations amid weaker sugar milling and lower palm crop production. The Singapore-headquartered agribusiness giant reported core net profit of US$641.5 million for the six months ended June 30, up 9.9% year over year. Pre-tax profit rose 12.8% to US$1.06 billion, while net profit increased by 2% to US$608.9 million. Revenue climbed 17.2% to US$38.56 billion. Wilmar attributed much of the revenue increase to the consolidation of AWL Agri Business, formerly Adani Wilmar, since December 2025, alongside higher selling prices across most product categories. 
Vitafoods Asia 2026: APAC beauty-from-within markets turn to gut-skin axis and...
Two women taking a supplement

Nutrition Insight

An awareness of healthy aging and the gut-skin axis is shaping a new wave of nutricosmetic innovations in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Ahead of Vitafoods Asia 2026, we explore opportunities in the region for brands that can combine convenient delivery formats with science-backed ingredients based on botanicals. Nutrition Insight speaks with Gareth Baguley, Vitafoods brand director, who says the APAC region has embraced beauty-from-within for many years, creating one of the world’s most established nutricosmetic markets. 
Highlighted features
Medicine container bottle with weight-loss drug Wegovy tablet pills from Novo Nordisk inside
Food Ingredients News
EU Wegovy pill approval could deepen GLP-1 impact on food...
The approval of an oral version of Wegovy in the EU could broaden the impact of GLP-1 medicines on the food and beverage industry, as easier access to weight-management treatment potentially brings more consumers into a market already showing changes in appetite, purchasing behavior, and nutritional priorities.
The US FDA building.
Policy & regulation news
FDA proposes mandatory GRAS notifications as US moves to...
The US FDA has unveiled its proposal requiring companies to notify the agency every time they conclude an ingredient is generally recognized as safe (GRAS). The move will close a route that the FDA says has allowed manufacturers to put substances into the food supply without informing regulators since 1958.
Drought impacts agriculture. Farmer looks at dried up crops.
Research & Science news
Rabobank warns of rising El Niño risks across food...
A strengthening El Niño is putting a range of agricultural commodities under renewed weather pressure, with cocoa, palm oil, sugar, Robusta coffee, and Australian grains among the markets most exposed to adverse weather, according to Rabobank.

Ingredient focus

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Clean label evolutionAug2026

Innova Market Insights data indicates that consumers globally are reducing artificial ingredients in their diets to eat healthier. Global data also shows that clean label claims are gaining ground in ...

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Product innovation

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New frontiers in protein Aug 2026

Innova Market Insights data indicates a 6% average annual growth in F&B launches with protein ingredients and high/source of protein claims between April 2021 and March 2026. The top subcategories were Cereal, Dairy, and Meat Substitutes. Soup and hot drinks with protein ingredients were emerging. The top protein ingredients were milk protein, pea protein, and soy protein isolate.

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What’s next in Desserts and Ice Cream?Aug 2026

Innova Market Insights data shows that flavor still plays a vital role in ice cream and dessert choices, with the category growing at a 4% CAGR from July 2021 to June 2026. While ice cream accounts for the largest share of these launches, toppings and flavor combinations are becoming more creative areas for NPD. Sour flavors are also gaining attention in desserts, growing by 132% over the past five years globally.

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Raisio video thumbnail: Smiling woman in front of wooden shelves displaying Elovena oatmeal, snack biscuits, and other packaged food products
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Raisio Food Solutions: How oats can elevate gluten-free product development

At Raisio Food Solutions’ offices in Helsinki, Finland, Heidi Romu from international business development explores how oats can elevate gluten-free product innovation. From boosting fiber and nutritional diversity to improving texture, creaminess, and water binding, Romu discusses the...

Erika Milczek, Curie Co.
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IFT FIRST 2026: Curie Co boosts dairy yields with protein-stabilizing enzyme
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IFT FIRST 2026: Nexira launches Eficacia Advanced to cut costs with lower dosage
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