Food As Medicine

The Immunity Advantage in a Post-COVID World
The onset of the novel coronavirus outbreak accelerated already-rising consumer interest in food and personal care products that deliver a promise of enhanced immunity or other health benefits. Immunity boosting or otherwise functional botanical ingredients will be particularly appealing to consumers moving into a post-COVID world and the “next normal”.

Products with a “health halo” or better-for-you ingredients will resonate with consumers focusing more on their physical, mental, and immune health during and after lockdown. Brands can take a holistic approach to support wellness by using ingredients that provide antioxidants, improved sleep, nutrition, reduced stress, or gut health.

Ingredients with a Health Halo
As consumers pay closer attention to labels and seek immunity-boosting features; beverages, supplements, skin care, and food brands can all leverage
ingredients known to aid the immune system. Some ingredients we expect to see on the rise due to their perceived “health halo” or association with the Immunity Advantage scenario include:

Ashwaghanda

Astragalus

Black Garlic

Echinacea

Elderberry

Ginger

Maqui Berry

Mushroom Extracts

Olive Leaf

Reishi

Rhodiola

Schisandra

Turmeric

These ingredients can be incorporated into new products that appeal to shoppers that fit the “holistic healer” profile. There is a lot of room for creativity in these launches. Developers can look beyond just the usual wellness categories into other applications where a consumer might be pleasantly surprised to find immunity-boosting ingredients.

Some brands are already starting to pivot in this direction. Innovation with digestive claims in sweet biscuit products has dropped over the last three years globally, while immunity claims have more than doubled (Mintel 2020).

Natural Colors and Functional Extracts
Functional claims continue to gain popularity in the better-for-you food and beverage space. Brands need natural ingredients that meet consumer demands for immunity-boosting, energizing, stress relieving, and other health and lifestyle-focused claims.

In order to support developers seeking opportunities with functional claims, we have developed functional extracts that are compatible and stable in systems with natural colors and juice concentrates. We started with stability testing in gummy and fruit snack applications, as these are a popular category for functional claims, and we are planning to expand our stability testing in 2021 to other applications.

Energy Formula

Pure-S™ Orange Natural Color

Organic Orange Carrot Juice

Organic Yerba Mate Extract

Green Coffee Bean Extract

Full formulation available upon request.

Immunity Formula

Crimson Antho™

Elderberry Juice

Cranberry Juice

Hibiscus Extract

Full formulation available upon request.

Gut Health/Immunity Formula

Natural Blue Vegetable Juice

Cranberry Juice

Concord Grape Juice

Ginger Extract

Full formulation available upon request.

Although these are shown in gummies, the extracts, juice concentrates, and natural colors are available for use in other applications as well. Ask Sensient ingredient experts how Ginger, Yerba Mate, Green Coffee Bean, or Hibsicus Extract can elevate your next launch!

Reach out to your Sensient Account Manager for more information or request a sample to see if these ingredients can boost your next gummy or fruit snack formulation!