Innovation trends in chocolate, future of functional dairy ingredients - just-food's research round-up

This week's clutch of featured industry research from the just-food store highlights consumer and innovation trends in chocolate, the global packaging industry and consumer trends in the Italian ice cream market.

CHOCOLATE

Consumer and Innovation Trends in Chocolate
Despite difficult market conditions, there have been high levels of innovation in the chocolate category, which has evolved in line with consumers' complex and dynamic needs. This brief outlines the most important consumer and product trends impacting the chocolate category globally

Cocoa Bulletin (annual subscription)
This annual subscription to LMC's monthly Cocoa Bulletin provides consistent and up to date analysis on the cocoa market. In a direct and concise manner, it gives readers all the information needed to understand the current state of the industry, providing a comprehensive and revealing picture of the market and how it is expected to evolve in the short term.

PACKAGING

Packaging Techniques and New Packaging Trends in the Food and Beverage Industry - 2011-2012 : Survey Intelligence
This report provides a comprehensive account of commonly used forms of packaging in the food and beverage industry, packaging techniques which have already been implemented or are in the process of implementation to address food safety concerns, and total packaging budget allocation towards new packaging solutions in 2012.

Global Packaging Industry CEO Business Outlook Survey 2012-2013
The report provides data and analysis on expenditure, procurement, and developments within the global packaging industry. This report includes key topics such as global packaging industry expenditure, procurement behaviours and strategies, current size of the marketing and advertising budgets, and how spending will change, providing insight into global marketing behaviour

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

The Future of Functional Dairy Ingredients
This report reviews functional dairy ingredients and the products they are used in, and considers the impact of major consumer health trends, market dynamics, and the status of legislation such as EFSA's Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation on dairy innovation in the functional space. It contains case studies and product examples to forecast what will drive success in functional dairy.

Trends & Opportunities in Heart-Healthy Consumer Packaged Goods
Use this report to see what some of the top heart health ingredients are, and how these ingredients are finding their way into packaged food, drink and supplement products, worldwide. Review the market for heart health ingredients as well as growth prospects for the future. Identify outstanding examples of innovation in heart health products.

TRENDS

Consumer Trends in the Prepared Meals Market in the UK
This report provides integrated survey-based data on consumer trends, consumer groups and market data which show exactly the size of consumer groups, how much of the Prepared Meals market they account for and which consumer trends drive their behaviour.

Consumer Trends in the Ice Cream Market in Italy
According to this report, artisanal ice cream has the largest value share of the ice cream market in Italy. This indicates that consumers prefer smaller, local producers rather than the national brands. Marketers of take-home and impulse ice creams should be aware of this preference and the trends driving this behaviour when designing their campaigns.