20 Jun 2022
Never has it been more important to understand consumers in order to develop the products that will succeed in today’s fast-paced food industry. At Puratos, we are proud to be pioneers. We aim to combine a long history of expertise with the very latest innovation and trends, to make the future of food a reality today. That’s why over 10 years ago we have developed our very own consumer research initiative called Taste Tomorrow.
Taste Tomorrow is the world’s largest ecosystem for consumer understanding in bakery, patisserie and chocolate. By tracking local and global consumer behaviors, attitudes and choices it provides us with valuable, in-depth insights. This allows us to keep track of the evolution of trends and reveal new ones, so our customers can always stay ahead of the curve.
So how do we garner these valuable insights – and how can they empower our customers? Let’s delve deeper into the wonderful world of Taste Tomorrow.
BIG DATA, BIG DIFFERENCE?
Just like a sourdough needs only three ingredients; flour, water and salt; there are three critical elements to meaningful consumer insights too. With our Taste Tomorrow, we analyze the trends landscape at three levels and, even more importantly, we analyze the relationships between those levels.
- We start from Trend Signals; short-term, quick-moving expressions of change. At Puratos, we use semantic AI technology to interpret social media conversations and search data in real-time in 9 different languages.
- Semantic AI does a great job in laying the foundations and helping us to surface the hidden layers that are often not visible to the human eye. However, people are still indispensable when it comes to interpreting the true meaning and context behind these trend signals. By combining the latest digital technologies and the results from the consumer survey in over 44 countries, our experts are able to translate these insights into Trends.
- Some medium-term trends will evolve into established, deep currents that stay relevant for several years. At Puratos, we identified eight established long-team Food Steps: Taste, Holistic Health, Freshness, Craft, Ultimate Convenience, Phygital Disruption, Transparency and Conscious Consumption. Even though trends come in different shapes and cycles, Sustained Food Steps are grounded in cultural phenomena and social movements that remain relevant over the long haul.
This framework provides us with the ideal analytic model to predict and interpret the trend horizon, giving us the critical insights to determine short, mid and long-term opportunities for innovation.
GOING ONE STEP FURTHER…
Predicting the next big thing is not easy, it may be the hardest job there is. Taste Tomorrow is a unique and insightful tool for bakers, pâtissiers and chocolatiers that enables them to be closer to their customers. Its’ data helps us gather a global perspective on the food industry today and predict where it may be headed tomorrow.
At Puratos, we measure our success in the success of our customers. Taste Tomorrow, therefore, serves as inspiration on how to turn the experiences from food cultures around the world into new opportunities.
Want to learn more? Discover more about Taste Tomorrow and unlock new opportunities for innovation today.
