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Fruit slushies can replace artificial flavoring by using fruit purees
Alimentos SAS • Jan 26, 2022
Undoubtedly, slushies are an all-American food product. They have been popular for decades all across the country. Nowadays, consumer trends are making producers wonder how to make healthier versions of it. Read on to discover what fruit slushies bring to the table in that conversation, plus the many ways fruit purees make for a useful ingredient.
The world of slushies
The food market is in a constant state of change. On the one hand, new products roll into retail aisles regularly. In recent years, consumers may have come across different types of yogurt, innovative snack drinks with protein or nutritious super fruits, or functional antioxidant drinks.
On the other hand, classic favorites are no strangers to revamping processes in the hopes of winning over new customers. Just last year, PepsiCo launched two products that aimed at having younger people wonder, ‘what is cream soda?’ The Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop line, consisting of black cherry cola and cream soda cola, called back to traditional soda fountains.
Innovative players in the frozen drinks segments seem to be taking notes from the nostalgia trend. Slushies have been American favorites for decades, since their inception in the late 1950s. Essentially, they are non-alcoholic frozen drinks made from water, flavoring, and sugar. The mix gets its signature light, airy yet frozen texture from a particular condition called supercooled liquid. This situation occurs when the liquid is colder than the average temperature at which it could become ice without freezing (David, 2018).
Movement during mixing is usually responsible for preventing slushies from an all-over freeze. Moreover, sugar also acts as an anti-freezing agent. It helps to keep the mix from freezing at 32° Fahrenheit. Additionally, some slushy machines add carbonation to make the drink smoother and fluffier (McCarthy, 2016).
So, how are slushy manufacturers renewing their offer today?
Fruit slushies: catering to health-concerned customers
Consumers nowadays gravitate more and more toward healthier, more natural food products. The trend shows growing interest in options with fewer artificial ingredients, cleaner labels, higher nutrition value, and low-calorie or no-calorie compositions (Persistence Market Research, 2017).
Such health-driven preferences have put products like fruit purees at the forefront of the food industry. They retain nutrients and flavor from fresh fruit (Dohler, n.d.) and act as natural sweeteners (Grand View Research, 2020). These traits turn purees into a leading ingredient to create fruit slushies –a healthier alternative to traditional slushies.
What purees can do for fruit slushies
As mentioned, fruit purees can replace artificial components in slushies. Let’s take a look at what they bring to the table (Grand View Research, 2020. Allied Market Research, 2021. Transparency Market Research, 2021):
- Natural taste, color, and texture enhancement.
- All-natural sweetening properties.
- Nutritional content.
- Non-artificial intense fruit flavor.
Specifically, the latter two traits deserve special attention. Firstly, purees can carry nutritional content to fruit slushies, an important benefit in the frozen drinks market. According to TGM Markets (2021), the segment will grow in size during the next seven years by focusing on certain aspects, like value-added products that can do more for consumers than only catering to their taste buds.
Secondly, purees have the power to instill intense fruit flavor naturally. This can be critical to quality fruit slushies. Why? Frozen drinks need concentrated flavor levels to successfully convey a specific taste, as ice crystals can water it down (McCarthy, 2016).
Such properties are some main reasons food manufacturers use fruit purees. Today, they are part of products like dairy, confectionery, jams, jellies, pastries, baby food, and beverages (Grand View Research, 2020).
The beverage segment holds the highest volume share of the global fruit puree market, at 29%. Producers exploit the flavor and nutritional content of purees in popular products like fruit drinks, for example (Persistence Market Research, 2021). Moreover, purees are also fruitful for players in the beverage and juice industry as they are logistically more efficient and convenient than fresh produce (Dohler, n.d.).
Fruit slushies certainly seem to have the potential to lure health-concerned consumers. They offer natural replacements for artificial flavors and sweetening in a beloved product.
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