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Greek Yogurt Thrives & Bakers Take Notice

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Anyone who has walked down a grocery aisle in the past year has witnessed the sky rocketing positions that yogurt, and more specifically, Greek Yogurt have been enjoying. As noted below, since 2008 sales have nearly doubled in the yogurt category. This appears to be a durable trend that does not show any signs of slowing in the immediate future. Competition between yogurt brands is at an all time high and the bakery industry has taken notice.

SIS has been developing bake-stable yogurt fillings for bakery use for decades. From Low Water Activity offerings to a full array of Danish-style fillings and toppings, our considerable experience can be brought to bear on any traditional or new product platforms. The market has demanded that we continue to refine our formulations to meet evolving consumer demands for this specific style of yogurt and explore new and innovative ways to include such a powerful market mover across many different snacking platforms. Contact us today about testing a sample of our Greek Yogurt-style fillings and toppings or submit a Sample Request Form so we can get to work on your next exciting project!

"Yogurt sales have increased by 40% since 2008 as consumers continue to demand healthier snack alternatives driven by the popularity of varieties and brands of Greek yogurt products."

Yogurt Wars: Can Anything Compete With Greek?

Indulgence Positioning vs Health and Wellness

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A terrific article came out last week entitled “The Doughnut Paradox: Indulgence Positioning in a World Obsessed With Health and Wellness” from Senior Foodservice Analyst Elizabeth Friend and it does a tremendous job of examining the concepts and consequences of the food industry’s approach to Health & Wellness and Indulgence.

In making sense of the seemingly contradictory demand in these markets, Ms. Friend suggests we need to consider the sophistication of today’s consumer. Even those that regularly seek out healthy snack options are open to occasional indulgences, requiring a new value equation allowing for both product categories to exist and flourish. To address these demands, SIS is committed to offering snack food manufacturers both purely indulgent products as well as healthier options without the sacrifice to experience. Meeting these challenges continues to excite us and new specialty ingredients are continuously being sampled and tested in our on-site lab on a diverse array of platforms and applications - INCLUDING doughnut and pastry fillings and toppings!

“...cupcakes looked pretty, tasted good, and were perfectly portioned for individual indulgence—a pastry that felt like an event, rather than a simple dessert. Likewise, these cupcakes were positioned as super premium items, incorporating specialty ingredients like Valhrona chocolate and Tahitian vanilla to justify prices as high as US$3-$5 per item... "…indulgence trends have been particularly notable in how quickly they rise and fall, but doughnuts and pastries have long been an important--if often overlooked--part of the US fast food landscape."
The Doughnut Paradox:Indulgence Positioning in a World Obsessed With Health and Wellness

USA’s largest supermarket chain embraces Natural

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In 2012, domestic sales of natural foods and drinks had increased 138% in only four years time. The recent report coming out of the IDDBA with regard to Kroger would certainly suggest that these trends continue to grow and thrive. Generation Y has been recently described as the most savvy, brand-sensitive consumer group in history, so there is no reason to think that these numbers will abate.

SIS is perfectly positioned to react to your customers’ evolving needs. As a functional ingredient supplier specializing in custom formulation, SIS stands ready to react to the most recent marketing research in the snack food category and is poised to accommodate all new projects. We continue to work with our customers to ensure that while we accommodate and adapt snack foods into healthier options, the expectations of great taste and a satisfying eating experience continue to be met.

Kroger President and CEO Rodney McMullen told analysts that natural and organic foods are the fastest growing department on a percentage basis, and sometimes dollar basis, at the nation’s largest supermarket chain.

Margins are not significantly higher in natural and organic foods than conventional grocery or private label, but it’s where the shopper is headed, noted McMullen. “Our existing customers continue to buy more and more organic and natural foods, plus the younger generation buys a higher share in those categories. So we see a huge opportunity.”

Source: January 2014 PLMA e-scanner

Calories Slashed Throughout Domestic Food Industry

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Stewart Ingredient Systems has the knowledge, experience and creativity to be an invaluable partner as you strive to develop and manufacture new products in this ever-changing regulatory environment that deliver on the reduced-calorie pledge. SIS has been at the forefront of reduced-calorie product development since the late 1990s as the preferred supplier of a 1/3 reduced calorie bar cookie filling at the world’s largest retailer. Sugar-Free and No Sugar Added formulations are also core competencies for us at SIS, so whatever your ingredient or claims challenges, we can help your company achieve its health and wellness goals without sacrificing great taste. Request a sample today!

“Some of the nation’s largest food companies have cut daily calorie counts by an average of 78 per person, a new study says, more than four times the amount the industry pledged to slash by next year.

The study sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that between 2007 and 2012, the estimated total cut in food product calories from a group of 16 major food companies was in the range of 6.4 trillion.

The 2010 pledge taken by the companies – including General Mills Inc., Campbell Soup Co., ConAgra Foods Inc., Kraft Foods Inc., Kellogg Co., Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Hershey Co. – was to cut 1 trillion calories by 2012 and 1.5 trillion calories by 2015.”

U.S. Food Industry slashes calories

Healthy Indulgence: Not Mutually Exclusive Anymore

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stewart-ingredients-healthy-indulgencesHealthy Indulgence is an exciting challenge for us. Stewart Ingredient Systems' custom-formulated fillings and toppings are perfect ingredients for delivering on consumers' evolving wants and needs. We firmly believe that our expertise in custom formulation is an enormous asset to our customers as the need for a satisfying eating experience goes hand in hand with the healthier-less processed ingredients needed to support the health and wellness focused snack foods category.

"Many companies are still looking to provide better nutrition in an indulgent product like a cookie or cake, says Simon Walley, Regional Business Director, Food Enzymes, DuPont Industrial Biosciences. These products, referred to as healthy indulgences, will not replace true indulgent products, he adds, but will provide a choice to consumers who want a bit more nutrition in their baked goods."

"Putting Better Baked Goods On The Table", Institute of Food Technologists

Yogurt Trends in 2014

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Raspberry and blueberry parfaitsAlongside the flagship varieties of Strawberry and Blueberry, SIS also offers a wide array of shelf and bake stable, fully functional yogurt-based fillings and toppings using Pomegranate, Mango, Guava and other super fruit varieties/combinations. With a seemingly endless list of flavor combinations in this category, consumers are beginning to try new varieties in increasing numbers. Innovation is necessary to keep up with evolving consumer demands, not only in flavor/variety, but also in product platform. Request a sample of one of our shelf and bake stable fruit and Yogurt Fillings TODAY! Call: Ross Stewart 312-254-3539 ex.18

“The possibilities may seem endless for dairy manufacturers looking to use various fruits, but ‘the top 10 flavors still account for 25 percent of yogurt flavors, with strawberry and blueberry still leading the way,’ says Ed McIntosh, marketing manager for supplier Flavorchem, Downers Grove, Ill. In fact, data from Mintel Group shows the top-selling spoonable yogurt flavors for the U.S. are strawberry (5.79 percent) and blueberry (4.04 percent), followed by vanilla, peach, plain, raspberry, honey, banana and strawberry, black cherry, berry, pineapple, cherry, key lime, lemon and banana -- in that order.” ...“U.S. retail sales of yogurt have more than five years if consecutive growth and will reach almost $7.4 billion in sales by year’s end (2013)... unique flavor combinations and ethnic flavors will be a driving force for the category’s continued growth--compounded by consumer demand for healthier snacks”
  2014 Flavor Trends: Yogurt’s Fruitful Union

Stewartis.com…New and Improved

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Welcome to the new and improved Stewart Ingredient Systems website. Stewartis.com was redesigned in 2010 in conjunction with our name change from Keith Stewart Fruit Products. This latest upgrade enhances the infrastructure of the site to the popular WordPress platform.

New features of the website include a redesigned sample request form, news & updates section and a new section on Health & Wellness, an area Stewart Ingredients has been at the forefront for many years.

Check back often and see what’s new with Stewart Ingredient Systems!

Our Company

Over the last 120 years we've earned a reputation for excellence in product development and dependability as a supply chain partner to the wholesale baking and cookie, cracker and biscuit industries. We're committed to the highest standards of rapid development services, lean manufacturing and complete product cycle service.