In the confectionery market, as in the large-scale retail, the search for healthy products seems to be an unstoppable trend: the modern consumer, stimulated by the emergence of new styles of consumption, is increasingly looking for natural, organic and free from products.
New purchasing habits that, on one side, depend on the greater attention to eating disorders (in industrialized countries, gluten intolerance has grown by more than 20% in the last 5 years), but also on the perception the consumer have about these products understood as “healthier”. Here then, the clean label becomes the lever that drives the purchase decision: the absence of dyes, preservatives or allergens is one of the most appreciated characteristics.
The combination of food and wellbeing pushes the consumer to prefer products of certain and/or certified origin, so doing products “without”, organic, IGP, Zero miles and local, are increasingly gaining space.
A search for naturalness that affect the confectionery sector, which records growth rates before pandemic up to +8% per year, of which over 40% comes from bakery products, followed by chocolate and cocoa products (over 30% approximately), ice cream (15%) and confectionery. In this new, highly specialized market segment, it becomes essential for success, to know how to renew its own production and anticipate consumer trends, which are increasingly demanding in terms of naturalness and ethics.
In this context, Cesarin S.p.A, an Italian company of semi-finished fruit and vegetable products, that has made innovation its competitive advantage, stands out.
With over 100 years of experience in the processing of candied fruit, Cesarin has been able to anticipate market trends to propose high-quality solutions that guarantee the maximum attention in the search for raw materials from certified origin and the absence of artificial flavours, dyes and preservatives.
An example of this is the line of Fruit HG with low water activity: it is a product studied in the Company Research Development Centre, that inhibits the activity of water and keeps unaltered the taste and structural characteristics of the raw material, with a softness and a fresh flavour not comparable to a traditional dehydrated or freeze dry product.
Created as an inclusion for chocolate bars, today it finds its best use in the production of biscuits, energy bars and cereal mixes. The product is naturally gluten-free, contains no artificial colours and is OGM free.
Fruit HG Cesarin is also available in the Light version without added sugars (sweetened with maltitol) in the flavours most requested by the international market: from classic red and yellow fruits, to the more exotic flavours of mango, pineapple and papaya and the highly appreciated lime and ginger, or in the version with Sorbitol for excellent resistance to high temperatures and soft texture after baking.
Following the trend of freshness, naturalness and low sugar added, Cesarin offers as an alternative to the traditional candied fruit, the Semi-candied fruit TuttaFrutta, obtained by a cold process from the best fresh fruit on the market, ideal to garnish and fill baked products or ice cream.
But in Cesarin the focus is not exclusively on the sweet pastry side. Over the years, the company has established itself on the international market also for the search for a line of vegetables dedicated to the food industry.
An example of this is the Vegetables HG with low water activity that represent the perfect solution to all the problems associated with the use of dehydrated or frozen vegetables: stabilization in fact allows the preservation of vegetables through the partial inhibition of the water activity naturally present in the fresh raw material.
This process guarantees a better organoleptic appearance and a less fibrous structure than dehydrated products and a higher resistance to mechanical stress as well as less water release than frozen products.
The stabilized vegetables are obtained from vegetables harvested strictly by hand at the right degree of ripeness, to ensure the high-quality standard.
Stabilized vegetables can be used as a topping to improve the aesthetic appearance or as an ingredient in sandwiches, ready meals, quiches, crackers, breads and rice/pasta salads.
Talking about sugar-free foods, Cesarin launches the MisterAlberto line – Without Sugar Added on the occasion of the company’s 100th anniversary, to celebrate the company’s founder.
The MisterAlberto line includes fruit jams and ice cream ripples with over 50% less sugar than the average standard products, designed to enhance some of the best Made in Italy products. In this case the choice falls on the natural sweetness of the raw material and on the nutritional properties of the fruit.
In addition to the MisterAlberto line, Cesarin is famous for the quality of the jams produced, all bake stable, and the various fruit preparations aimed at the food industry.
Many innovations and many alternative products that do not forget the fundamental relationship with the territory of origin: Cesarin is very attentive to its environmental impact.
This is demonstrated by the strict controls to which the Company is periodically subjected as the environmental management system (EMS) conforming to ISO 14001:2004, those to the progressive reduction of resources used, the continuous improvement of its infrastructure in terms of environmental impact, through the search for effective and increasingly efficient solutions.
For more information: Cesarin S.p.A Verona (Italy)
