PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2018

21 PRODUCTS PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 03/18 www.petpla.net Mixed milk drinks The turmeric latte, often referred to as “golden milk”, was last year’s popular drink. According to the Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), imports of hot drink products containing turmeric rose by 359% in the European retail sector between 2013 and 2017. Julia Büch, a food and drink ana- lyst at the Mintel Market Intelligence Agency, spoke of this latest drinks’ trend at the Dairy Congress on “inter- national dairy trends” in Munich, Ger- many. “The idea for the turmeric latte was inspired by a traditional Indian remedy made from hot milk, turmeric and other spices such as pepper, cin- namon and ginger. The drink is said to have positive health benefits but the golden milk’s rich photogenic colour which goes down particularly well on social media may better reflect the drink’s popularity. Milk is not usually renowned for being a fashionable drink, nor is it often seen on Instagram. However, colourful and delicious drinks such as turmeric latte could soon change all that”. According to the analyst, new recipes will focus more on colours and textures. Inspiration could come in the form of matcha or spirulina. These ingredients, which are already common in Asia, are something new to the Western world. “Fizzy milk”, a carbonated mixed milk drink which is already extremely popular in Asia, is being talked about as the next popular drinks product. Texture is emerging as the next major trend in food and beverage recipes as was predicted by Global Mintel Food and Beverage Trends “New Sensory Impressions”. New ingredi- ents that give drinks an unusual texture are on the rise. One such example is macchiato tea from China, a drink which combines tea with whipped cream cheese. Although popular in Asia for centuries, matcha is currently experiencing a boom in the West and, for example, can be found in colourful matcha lattes. New European imports in the hot beverages’ sector of products that contain matcha increased tenfold between 2014 and 2017. Spirulina is one of Mintel’s trend ingredients of 2018, one that gives the popular “Mermaid Latte” drink its pastel blue colour which is increas- ingly to be found on Instagram. Imports of fizzy milk drinks, i.e. mixed milk beverages that contain carbonic acid, have also gone up in recent years despite initial numbers being very low. The Asia-Pacific region was the area that accounted for 86% of fizzy milk drink imports in 2017 and is the birthplace of this popular drink. The mixture of carbonic acid and milk creates a creamy texture which is unusual in fizzy drinks. According to Mintel research, this innovation is well positioned to be the next big thing on the market. www.mintel.com