FDBusiness.com

We have only been into two halls so far and already there are plenty of new products to write about at Anuga 2013.

Some of these include pizza on a stick from Hasta La Pizza of Italy, and Cupito fresh salads (in a bubble cup with a fork). Kuhlmann of Germany has developed six Cupito variants, including Asian noodle salad with wasabi, nuts and red pepper sauce, a TexMex salad along with chick pea, bulgar wheat and potato salad bases, all with tempting, spicy extras.

Looking at desserts, one consolidating trend is towards ‘dairy free’, with Foodheaven offering lemon and summer fruits dairy free cheesecakes along with dairy-, nut- and gluten-free chocolate mousse and rich tiramisu. The company produces products suited to the growing movement of vegetarians and vegans.

In the beverage sector, there’s Chjlya – a cachaca limette ready-to-drink cocktail from Stuttgart-based Hal Handelgesellschaft mbH, and from Kim’s Asia Import Export Company in Korea, a 4% alcohol, canned drink of rice wine and grapefruit called Icing.

I have just had a good discussion with two ‘new product development girls’ on the Netherland’s Medibel stand. The third largest producer globally of fruit concentrate and drink concepts, we ran through a few of the latest moves in flavours, with a growth in gently spiced products containing cardamom and cinnamon, and concepts in natural energy drinks such as blueberry and ginger, and coffee extracts with red fruits.

They can see substantial growth in nonalcoholic, ready-to-drink cocktails. You can read more on their predictions in the November issue of Beverage Innovation, which has a special report on natural flavour and natural energy drinks.

There’s so much more to see! We are keen to visit the Country Pavillions next, as they always have a few surprises in store. We will keep you updated throughout our time at the show.