IFT Annual Meeting
FruitSmart Fiber Ingredients Gain Upcycled Food Association’s New Certification Mark
Company to highlight new ways of thinking about how fruit and fruit fiber can be used in food and beverage applications.
Booth #S4606
FruitSmart specializes in premium fruit-based ingredients. Regarded for its not-from-concentrate apple juice, its range also includes fiber products from apple and blueberries. They can enhance consumer appeal, for example by enabling health claims, as well as providing manufacturing functionality such as moisture retention.
Furthermore, because the fibers are produced from materials left over from FruitSmart’s Cold-Press fruit pressing, they can be labeled as upcycled.
FruitSmart was one of the brands that participated in the UFA’s Upcycled Certification pilot program in 2021. It has now been awarded the organization’s certification mark, which highlights upcycled ingredients. This helps manufacturers meet a growing market need – with 30% of food globally going to waste, 60% of consumers want to buy more upcycled products.1
FruitSmart will showcase its range of innovative concepts at IFT, highlighting new ways of thinking about how fruit and fruit fiber can be used in food and beverage applications. The company will demonstrate how they can be paired with other ingredients, such as protein, which can allow dual or multiple health claims, as well as improving texture and mouthfeel.
The concepts will demonstrate FruitSmart’s focus on solutions and its ability to turn ideas into reality. They will include:
- A protein drink with apple fiber and raspberry
- A protein bar bite with blueberry fiber, blueberry pieces and DS Cherry juice concentrate
- A deli cracker with apple fiber
- A cranberry fiber and white chocolate coated cranberry biscotti containing cranberry pieces, cranberry powder and cranberry juice concentrate.
“Upcycled ingredients help overcome food waste by creating value from materials that would otherwise be discarded,” said Wayne Lutomski, president of FruitSmart. “It’s emblematic of how FruitSmart is passionate about getting creative with fruit, as well as helping make our customers’ ideas real. In addition to its health benefits, fruit can provide exciting texture and mouthfeel, and classic flavors – often with an exotic or intriguing twist. Our goal is to open people’s minds to what’s possible – we want them to say, ‘I didn’t know you could do that with fruit.’”
Other FruitSmart concepts at IFT will include apple clusters – in which apple chips cluster together for a snack – and a cherry ginger tea. The company will also showcase vegetable and botanical ingredients, demonstrating its expanded product offering, concept development expertise and potential as a one-stop shop for manufacturers.
1. Upcycled Food Association
