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2022 Product of the Year Canada Awards!

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A red square announcing the 2022 Product of the Year award winners. A display of winning products including Vector cereal, Sol Cuisine chick'n wings, Heinz wasabioli mayo and maple syrup flavoured popocorn.

Now in its 13th year nationally and 35th year globally, Product of the Year is the world’s largest consumer-voted award for innovation in product function, design, packaging and ingredients. For the Canada awards, products are voted on by a nationally representative sample of 4,000 Canadians. Here are a few winners that are on trend and caught our eye!

Product Trend #1 – Plant-based ingredients

Plant-based eating is here to stay according to our 2022 trends blog. These products combine a variety of ingredients to offer consumers more choice.

a package of Sol Cuisine cauliflower burgers

Cauliflower Burgers – by Sol Cuisine: Cauliflower continues to be a trendy, versatile and gluten-free ingredient used an alternative to bread, pizza crusts and rice. This veggie burger is made with cauliflower, sweet potato and chickpeas. Each patty contains 6 grams of protein and 4 grams of fibre. Gluten-free, soy-free and an excellent source of iron.

a package of chickpea tortillas

Chickpea Tortillas – by Dempster’s: We’re seeing more bean-based product innovations. This limited edition tortilla is made with a blend of chickpea flour and Canadian wheat flour. Interestingly, the product carries a company-created “V” logo to signify vegan. Note, at the time of writing this blog, the product was not available in stores.

The Laughing Cow Mix Chickpea with Herbs – by Bel Canada Group: This is the first product on the Canadian market that mixes real cheese with legumes. Portion packed in 8 single serve triangles, it’s yet another example of a product blending animal and plant-based ingredients. These products may appeal to “flexitarians” who wish to add more legumes into their diet without becoming completely vegetarian or vegan.

Product Trend #2 – Make it with Maple

Maple is a trending flavour profile that’s still going strong. Last fall, we noticed the launch of a maple brown sugar flavoured non-dairy creamer (by Silk) and a classic maple glazed doughnut at Krispy Kreme.

a package of maple and aged white cheddar popcorn

Compliment’s Maple & Aged White Cheddar Popcorn Mix – by Sobeys Inc.: A sweet and cheesy popcorn mix coated with sweet maple (made with real Grade A Canadian maple syrup) and savoury, sharp aged white cheddar flavour.

 

a package of salted maple popcorn

Angie’s BoomChickaPop Salted Maple Flavoured Kettle Corn – by Conagra Foods: Another ready-to-eat whole grain popcorn that combines salty with sweet. I guess we love popcorn!

Vector Maple Crunch Cereal – Kellogg Canada: First launched in 1999, Vector is a high protein cereal. This new flavour is made with crunchy maple syrup pieces and offers 10 grams of protein per 44 gram serving.

Product Trend #3 – Turn up the Heat!
It appears that Canadians like it hottt! These new products are sure to tantalize our taste buds.

a bottle of wasabioli mayo

Heinz CrowdSauced – by the Kraft Heinz Company: You guessed it! This is a combo of wasabi and garlic aioli. Other flavour pairings in the CrowdSauced line-up include TarChup (tartar sauce plus ketchup) and Hanch (hot sauce and ranch).

a box of sol cuisine chikn wings

Hot & Spicy Chik’n Wings – by Sol Cuisine: This meat-alternative is soy-based and a new option for vegans, vegetarians and are plant-curious consumers.

a package of tortilla chips in a bright purple bag with yellow lettering

Takis Dragon Sweet Chili – by Bimbo Canada: Sweet meets spicy in this rolled tortilla chip! While this flavour is a limited edition, the chips also come in Fuego Spicy Chili Pepper and Lime.

Now tell us, which product are you excited to try first?

 

Written by Sue Mah, MHSc, RD, PHEc, FDC – Award-winning dietitian and Co-Founder, n4nn

 

Images Sources:
https://solcuisine.com/product/cauliflower-burger/
https://productoftheyear.ca/winners-2022/
https://www.thelaughingcow.ca/products/triangles-en-ca/mix-chickpeas-with-herbs/
https://www.compliments.ca/en/products/maple-aged-white-cheddar-popcorn-200-g/
https://www.boomchickapop.com/ready-eat-popcorn/salted-maple-flavored-kettle-corn
https://www.kelloggs.ca/en_CA/products/vector-cereal-maple.html
https://www.heinzcrowdsauced.ca/
https://solcuisine.com/product/hot-spicy-chikn-wings/

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Food & Nutrition Trends from FNCE 2018

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One of the best things about our job as food and nutrition experts is going to conferences to learn about new trends and share our learnings with YOU! This year’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE) in Washington DC did not disappoint! It’s the world’s largest food and nutrition event, attracting well over 10,000 delegates with hundreds of speakers and exhibitors. Here are our top takeaways from the event.

1. FODMAP Friendly. This was by far, the biggest trend at the show. FODMAP is an acronym for “Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyphenols”. These are different types of carbohydrates found naturally in everyday foods such as fruit, veggies, grains, beans and milk product. For some people, eating foods containing high amounts of these FODMAP carbohydrates may cause gas, bloating and other digestive symptoms. Dozens of products at FNCE sported a “FODMAP Friendly” logo, including Prego’s Sensitive Recipe pasta sauce (made without onions or garlic) and Lo-Fo flours.

fodmap friendly logo

Prego fodmap friendly

fodmap friendly foods

2. Protein Power. We’ve been following the protein trend for years now – not only how protein help to keep your muscles strong but also the power of protein across the lifecycle. This year’s FNCE show featured several protein packed products such as a peanut-based protein shake and a protein enriched pancake mix.

Peanut protein shake

Pancake protein

3. Probiotics. At last year’s FNCE event, exhibitors flaunted numerous probiotic products. This year, we saw even more innovations ranging from infused probiotic beverages to a combination protein/probiotic hot oatmeal.

probiotic drink

probiotic oatmeal with protein

4. Plant-based. Following this trend were plant-based beverages such as “sesame milk”, “banana milk” and yes, even plant-based maple water. When it comes to calcium, vitamin D and protein though, not all of these products are equivalent to cow’s milk or fortified soy beverage.

Sesame milk

banana milk

maple water

5. Snacking. Among the countless numbers of protein bars, we found snacks such as barley bars, flavoured chickpea snacks as well as single serve, shelf stable bean dips for on-the-go energy.

barley bars

chickpea snacks

Black bean portable dip snack

Which trend are you most excited about? We can help you leverage these trends in your business and communications. Contact us and let’s start a conversation!