The consumer industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by health and wellness, taste, and convenience, and growing importance of digital food management, personalised nutrition, and food safety and transparency. In the last three years alone, there have been over 450,000 patents filed and granted in the consumer industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in Consumer: Glycoside-based sweetners. Buy the report here.
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However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
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40+ innovations will shape the consumer industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the consumer industry using innovation intensity models built on over 110,000 patents, there are 40+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, hydrogel dressings, dextrin-based compositions, and safety injection needles are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Wet wipes dispenser, carbon fibre sports equipment, and cigarette rod making device are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are portable toothbrush cases and anabolic muscle supplements, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for the consumer industry
Glycoside-based sweeteners is a key innovation area in consumer
Steviol glycosides are extracted from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant, meaning that they can be positioned as coming from a natural source, which is an attribute increasingly being sought by consumers when choosing food and drink products.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 10 companies, spanning technology vendors, established consumer companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of glycoside-based sweeteners.
Key players in glycoside-based sweetners – a disruptive innovation in the consumer industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to glycoside-based sweetners
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2022) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| Ingredion | 164 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Conagen | 156 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Royal DSM | 100 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Evolva Holding | 76 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Firmenich International | 29 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Amyris | 28 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Manus Bio | 15 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Cargill | 13 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Tate & Lyle | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Evolva Nutrition | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Ingredion is one of the leading patent filers in the glycoside-based sweeteners space. Some other key patent filers include Conagen, Royal DSM, and Evolva Holding. Recently, Ingredion entered a partnership with Amyris, to produce steviol glycosides via fermentation.
In terms of application diversity, Evolva Nutrition leads the pack, with Evolva Holding and Royal DSM in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Evolva Nutrition holds the top position, followed by Tate & Lyle and Cargill.
With consumers increasingly seeking healthy food options, the demand for glycoside-based sweeteners will increase in the coming years.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the consumer industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Consumer.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
