Market Insight Be in the know
A new segment to Kennedy’s Confection - here we speak to key figures in the food analysts and market insight world to find out exactly what is trending in confectionery and why.
What’s next for plant-based milk chocolate?
By Marcia Mogelonsky, Ph. D. Director of Insight, Mintel Food and Drink
T
he growth of plant-based foods has been making headlines globally over the past year. In confectionery, the trend is exemplified by the increase of vegan milk chocolate confectionery. Replacing dairy milk with oat, almond, or other
plant-based alternatives has migrated from margins to mainstream as multinationals including Lindt, Cadbury and Hershey launched vegan milk chocolate bars in 2021. They joined Galaxy, whose entry to the vegan confectionery market occurred in 2019. Vegan, or plant-based milk chocolate is just starting to catch on in many markets. For consumers, barriers to acceptance include taste and texture or mouthfeel. But, as the trend towards plant based alternatives to animal
products grows, consumers are looking for more ways to remove animal products from their diets, making this a good time to explore the non-dairy options available in confectionery. Manufacturers are finding ways to provide a positive experience by enhancing the mouthfeel and texture of dairy-alternative milk chocolate by ramping up their use of other ingredients and by expanding the range of plant milks used, from almond to oat and coconut, and beyond. Another opportunity for using plant milks centres around highlighting the flavour notes of different plant milks, and differentiating between them. Oat milk, for example, has a different flavour profile from almond milk. And, it is possible to ameliorate the flavour by pairing the milk with the actual ingredients. For example, products could pair almond milk and whole almonds or peanut milk and peanut pieces. Bars that use nut butters as well as nut milks can also provide a rich and smooth texture.
Another way to emphasise the use of non-dairy milk is to
tie its flavour to the flavour of a cocoa bean from a specific terroir. Promoting the intrinsic flavours of cocoa from different regions has already helped drive the success of the premium chocolate market. In order to champion vegan chocolate, manufacturers could pair the taste of specific cocoa ingredients with the taste of different plant-based milks.
40 Kennedy’s Confection June 2022
KennedysConfection.com
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