Kerry’s goal for sustainable nutrition is to reach more than 2 billion people with sustainable nutrition solutions by 2030; however, to succeed in doing this we must be cognisant of the changing nature and perception of “sustainable nutrition.”

Consumers are demanding sustainability; there’s no doubt about it. This shift has become even more prevalent in recent years with more than half of consumers saying they are eating more sustainably, with this accelerated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Paired with this increased demand, consumers are also expecting more from their sustainable purchases—moving past environmental concerns to seek holistic sustainable nutrition solutions that also deliver on taste and quality.

Sustainable nutrition is ultimately that which is delivered in a way that is mindful for people, the planet and society. In more detailed terms, it is the ability of food systems to provide sufficient energy and essential nutrients to maintain good health of the population without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their nutritional needs.

This branches several dimensions—the first being getting the right food and nutrients to the right people—ensuring the nutritional quality as well as safety of our food. For example, reducing intakes of nutrients linked to disease, such as sugar or salt, while increasing nutrients that are beneficial for health, such as fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals.

Kerry research finds 59 percent of today’s consumers believe that sustainably sourced meals and drinks are healthier for you. Nutritional claims are becoming more important than ever before, especially when linked to reducing sugar and salt, and explicitly linking sustainability to healthier options could help drive demand for customers.

To take sugar reduction as an example, we are seeing pressures from multiple areas, including a continued push from global governmental bodies through education campaigns and, increasingly, on a country level, implementation of sugar taxes on product and stringent FOP. Consumers are increasingly aware that high intakes of free sugars are linked to obesity, however a lesser-known impact is the environmental cost that sugar carries with it, taking around 1,110 liters of water to produce one kilogram of cane sugar, leading to 0.42kg of CO2e.

Further complicating the matter, while nutrition and environmental factors are a priority, consumers are not willing to compromise on taste. Taste is consistently the most important factor for people, demonstrated across Kerry’s widespread sector research. Delivering a great taste promise is key, and as manufacturers reformulate products, from soft drinks and cereals to pasta sauces and frozen dinners, they must maintain a balance of taste and nutrition.

Sugar reduction often requires flavor expertise created exactly for this purpose—to maintain a sweet taste experience while improving nutrition. Kerry’s Tastesense Sweet delivers on all these fronts. As the first certified organic sweet flavor modulator in North America, it balances flavors and delivers clean, sweet taste across products, including flavoured sparkling water, low- to no-sugar beverages, energy and functional drinks and both high and low ABV alcoholic beverages. Tastesense Sweet also delivers on being mindful to the planet. A lifecycle analysis commissioned by Kerry found that using it at the recommended dosage to reduce sugar by 30 percent would result in a 30 percent reduction in both water usage (and calories) while delivering a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions.

Let’s put that into context. If Tastesense Sweet was applied to reduce the sugar content of the 8.572 billion liters of full-sugar cola purchased annually in the European Union by 30 percent, it would save the equivalent of 68 billion sugar cubes; reduce carbon emissions equating to taking 29,800 cars off the road for a year; and reduce water usage by the equivalent of 11 million people’s showers annually. This really puts into perspective the multi-faceted nature of sustainable nutrition, and the complex nature of consumer demands that requires expert solutions such as Kerry’s in solving.

Another important dimension of sustainable nutrition is food safety. This aspect of health and nutrition is paramount to all endeavours in sustainable nutrition but can prove a difficult challenge. This intersects with a third dimension of sustainable nutrition—reducing food waste—with consumers looking for natural products with ‘no additives or preservatives’ but sensitive to those which create food waste due to a short shelf-life.

Kerry’s fermentation and clean-label expertise answers this in a holistic manner. The company recognizes that today’s consumers are increasingly looking for food they can trust, including food that is closer to nature and healthy. Through its clean label preservation solutions, including Accel, DuraFresh and UpGrade the company is able to offer customers a way to overcome shelf-life challenges without using artificial preservatives.

A core ingredient in Kerry’s natural preservative arsenal is vinegar, with a supply of vinegar via the business’s nine vinegar plants across the U.S. 2022’s focus has been on meat and bakery – the two largest contributing categories to food waste globally—including a pipeline of natural fermentation-based preservatives such as Accel, DuraFresh and UpGrade which are formulated via fermentation, vinegars and plant extracts.

This includes the company’s patented combination of cultured dextrose and buffered vinegar for low sodium, high moisture poultry deli meat which fully replaces the functionality of lactates and nitrite.

Kerry also launched IsoAge Ca—its latest bakery product, which is also vinegar-based and offers positive sensory results to help bread maintain the same quality which conventional preservatives provide while applying a natural label.

Are Functional Ingredients Sustainable?

Generally speaking, consumers want clean ingredients in the foods they eat. Increasingly, however, they’re looking beyond a food’s inherent benefits to the added functionality of ingredients that help support their health concerns. Often this means foods such as a breakfast bar enriched with probiotic benefits, or an everyday food like yogurt with added immune-supporting ingredients.

To align with consumer demands for sustainability in the food supply chain, it’s critical that functional ingredients provide a clear provenance. The best way to ensure that functional ingredients meet clean-label objectives is to work with a trusted supplier who offers ingredients well-supported for their safety and efficacy.

How Can Sustainable Nutrition be Achieved?

Science-based targets are key to achieving effective change in our food system and, to meet our aim of reaching over two billion people with sustainable nutrition solutions by 2030.

Nutrient profiling classifies foods according to their nutritional composition for reasons related to preventing disease and promoting health. There are multiple models such as the UK Multiple Traffic Light System or Nutri-Score used on food and beverage packages and although this is primarily for consumer education, it can also be used to evaluate product portfolios and their contribution to sustainable nutrition in the food and beverage industry.

Kerry has recently launched KerryNutri Guide, which can support brands in navigating this changing landscape, quantifying the nutrition score of products against over 10 global nutrient profile models and guiding users on how that score can be improved.

By using nutrient profiling in a similar way, companies can hold themselves accountable for the nutrition of the products or ingredients they produce. Combined with science-based targets for environmental, economic and socio-cultural metrics, nutrient profiling can act as a cornerstone of change for driving the food system toward one that is more sustainably nutritious. NIE

Juan Gabriel Aguiriano Nalda is Global Executive, Food and Beverages Industry, Kerry Group Head of Sustainability and Technology Ventures