Ten innovative food and drink launches in Germany

Made With Luve Chocolate Flavoured Lupine Ice Cream is made from lupine protein developed by Fraunhofer IVV. As 20% of German 16-24 year olds say they are actively reducing their intake of dairy products, “new” protein sources, combined with popular flavours, are set for success in a country in which the vegan trend is booming like never before.

Organic Carrot & Curry Tea is a vegetable tea mix of carrot and curry, featuring natural organic ingredients and containing no flavourings or additives. With one quarter of German adults thinking that eating healthy snacks is a good way of managing weight, vegetable tea taps straight into the healthy snacking trend.

This pasta is made with the organic konjac root and contains no carbohydrates. While Konjac noodles are relatively new to Germany, there are indications that this natural, low calorie and low carb alternative to pasta is gaining traction as the number of new food product launches with low carb claims more than doubled in Germany between 2014 and 2015.

Voelkel’s Vegan to Go is gluten free and suitable for vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians, while being described as a small meal or snack, made with vegetables, fruit, quinoa, wheatgrass, spirulina and matcha tea. This drink puts its own stamp on two major trends in the world of food and drink: healthy snacking, and the active movement towards more plant-based diets.

Leerdammer’s Deli Frisch prominently features a cheese wheel as well as the claims “deli fresh” and “cut from the loaf”. The claims, combined with the strikingly plain and puristic package design, are set to appeal to the modern consumer who demonstrates a renewed excitement for freshness, valuing it as a marker for quality, healthy nutrition and full flavour.

Helga is a low-calorie carbonated soft drink based on freshwater microalgae chlorella. Only 30 calories, it is high in protein and will be welcomed by the three out of five German consumers who either have tried or would like to try algae as a protein source.

Space Mallows Marshmallows with Sour Cola Flavour feature a sweet core and a sour coating. As three in ten German consumers aged 16-24 years old express interest in ‘extreme’ flavours, the confectionery market is seeing a move towards “super sour” products, but in the marshmallows sector, “sour” as a flavour can still be considered a novelty.

The 100% natural Knorr Dry Seasoning Base for Lasagne is prove that naturalness is one of the biggest trends in Germany’s fiercely competitive food and drink industry. In the seasoning mixes segment, naturalnees can be addressed by using fewer, simpler ingredients and expressive packaging design that signal naturalness to consumers as shown by Knorr.

In November 2014, Fürstenberg revived its Bilger Stümple beer with the original retro bottle from the 70s, as German beer drinkers are rediscovering regional and local beer brands, giving smaller brewers the opportunity to leverage their heritage and authenticity and share their beers with a wider audience.

Dr. Oetker’s Spicy Vegetarian Pizza is made with vegetarian minced meat, paprika, maize and chili tomato sauce. Even though vegetarianism is on the rise in Germany, between 2010 and 2014, just 3% of the company’s pizza launches in Germany made vegetarian claims, although over a third of the recorded launches contained no meat/meat products.