Manchester, UK: Ingredion will showcase its latest ingredient innovations at this year’s Djazagro exhibition with a range of on-trend recipes available on stand AA 023. Formulated with Ingredion’s plant-based ingredient solutions, including sugar reduction and specialty sweeteners, the recipes demonstrate how Ingredion helps food and beverage manufacturers address affordability challenges in the growing Algerian agrifood market — forecast to increase by USD 530.7 million by 2027^[1] — and the wider African and Middle Eastern markets.

Taking place from June 05 to June 08 at SAFEX Exhibition Park in Algiers, Algeria, Djazagro is expected to attract over 20,000 agrifood industry professionals, including food and beverage manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers. Delegates will be able to sample a range of Ingredion’s recipe prototypes, which demonstrate how manufacturers can deliver affordable plant-based and reduced-sugar products. On-stand prototypes include a no-added-sugar mojito (alcohol-free) and a range of plant-based foods, including an Algerian meat-like ‘cachir,’ a batch of fluffy muffins, and spreadable cheese.

Quentin Labbe, Sales and Technical Services Manager for the Middle East and North & West Africa at Ingredion, says: “Increasing inflation within the economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is causing slower economic growth and commensurate food insecurity, with MENA’s GDP expected to slow to 3 percent in 2023 — down from almost 6 percent in 2022.^[2] Inflation means consumers now require affordable food and beverage products. However, manufacturers must still deliver high-quality products that meet consumers’ interest in the growing health and wellness trend.

“Health and wellness, and the general growth of the plant-based trend, continues to prove a key driver for consumer purchasing and consumption habits across Northern Africa. Therefore, today’s consumers are showing a growing preference for foods and beverages with claims like ‘protein enriched,’ ‘natural,’ ‘plant-based,’ and ‘sweetener of natural origin,’ as well as claims around sugar reduction.

“This demand presents a significant opportunity for food and beverage manufacturers in the MENA region to tap into this growing market, with new or reformulated product developments that answer consumers’ interests. Crucially, manufacturers must still deliver a memorable eating experience — without compromising on taste or texture. At Ingredion, we are passionate about combining our global formulation expertise with cost-effective ingredient solutions to help manufacturers manage their own cost reduction goals, while still delivering on quality.”

Ingredion’s on-stand prototypes will be created using a range of solutions from Ingredion and PureCircle™ by Ingredion and KaTech, which was acquired by Ingredion in 2021. The mojito will utilise PureCircle by Ingredion’s specialty sugar reduction and sweetener solutions portfolio. The foods, meanwhile, will utilise Ingredion’s VITESSENCE® range of plant-based proteins and KaTech’s functional food systems.

To find out more about Ingredion’s solutions and to sample their on-stand prototypes, please visit their stand, AA 023.

To learn more about Ingredion, please visit: www.ingredion.com

^[1] Technavio, Agriculture Market in Algeria 2023-2027, 2022

² World Bank, Altered Destinies: The Long-Term Effects of Rising Prices and Food Insecurity in the Middle East and North Africa, 2023

About Ingredion

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR), headquartered in the suburbs of Chicago, is a leading global ingredient solutions provider serving customers in more than 120 countries. With 2022 annual net sales of nearly $8 billion, the Company turns grains, fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based materials into value-added ingredient solutions for the food, beverage, animal nutrition, brewing, and industrial markets. With Ingredion Idea Labs^® innovation centers around the world and approximately 12,000 employees, the Company co-creates with customers and fulfills its purpose of bringing the potential of people, nature, and technology together to make life better.

About PureCircle™ by Ingredion

PureCircle by Ingredion is the leading producer and innovator of great-tasting stevia sweeteners and flavor modifiers for the global beverage and food industry. PureCircle combines advanced R&D with full vertical integration from farm to high-quality, great-tasting innovative stevia ingredients. The Company collaborates with farmers who grow its proprietary stevia varieties and with food and beverage companies, which seek to improve their low- and no-calorie formulations using plant-based, non-GMO ingredients. For more information, visit: www.purecircle.com 

About KaTech Ingredient Solutions

KaTech Ingredient Solutions is a food technology company whose business is the development of food products and supply of textural food ingredient solutions to the food industry. The German-based business with subsidiaries in the UK and Poland specialises in Plant-based foods, Savoury foods, all Dairy products, and Bakery.