Consumers are increasingly motivated to make healthier food choices. However, this shift comes with an expectation that taste shouldn’t suffer. For formulators, advanced mouthfeel science offers a way forward.
Food formulators are coming under pressure from regulators, consumers, and each other to ensure their products are healthier while at the same time consumers are not prepared to sacrifice taste.
With the cost of living crisis, consumers scrutinise more deeply what stays in the shopping basket, and choices are driven by the perceived value of healthiness and taste.
Healthier alternatives must not only meet nutritional targets, but also replicate the taste and texture that drive loyalty and repeat purchase. Without this, products risk consumer rejection. So how can manufacturers reformulate for healthier food without compromising taste?
The challenge for food formulators
Today’s consumers’ expectations are reshaping formulation strategies. Clean‑label, plant‑based and sustainability trends are gaining momentum, while affordability and improved nutrient profiles such as more protein or fibre, and less sugar, salt and fat remain top priorities.
Alongside rising consumer expectations, pressure as a result of policy decisions is increasing. Governments and regulators in many countries are bringing forward policies to improve product nutrition in response to rising rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
In 2024, 589 million adults aged 20 to 79 were living with type 2 diabetes worldwide, 11% of the global population, and this figure is expected to rise to 13% by 2050.¹ This public health backdrop is accelerating the need for effective reformulation.
Food formulators are well placed to address this challenge and enhance nutritional profiles, whether that means reducing sugar, salt and fat content or increasing protein or fibre. But the success of these efforts depends on consumers still enjoying eating the newly reformulated products.
Understanding sensory science will convey a clear business advantage for food formulators. By getting to grips with how consumers engage with taste and texture, how expectation and perception influence the taste experience, as well as how best to innovate with ingredients, food scientists can reduce the risk inherent in reformulation.
Mouthfeel unlocks product success
Taste is widely recognised as the number one purchase driver in food and beverage, and mouthfeel plays an important role in how taste is experienced.
Mouthfeel is the texture and sensation experienced when consuming food and drinks. It includes how a product looks, sounds, tastes and feels in the mouth. Mouthfeel often shapes product perception, including how indulgent and premium the product is felt to be. Ultimately mouthfeel can determine whether a product is deemed acceptable and desirable by the consumer.
When reformulating a product, it is not only the ingredients that may change but also the processes involved in production. These can both impact the taste and texture of the resulting product. So how can formulators preserve or even enhance mouthfeel while improving nutritional value?
When mastered, mouthfeel becomes a powerful solution. It enables formulators to recreate the creamy richness of mayonnaise with less oil, or deliver the indulgent melt-in-mouth and sweetness of ice cream with significantly reduced sugar and fat. The prize is “better for you” products that still feel indulgent.
Behavioural science can deliver helpful insights when it comes to consumer acceptance and adoption. Research shows that product descriptions, labels and pricing all shape taste expectations, and these can influence the real-life eating experience too.² Emphasising taste and mouthfeel cues when launching healthier versions of category leading and familiar foods can increase uptake.
Indulgent foods that still pass the test
Consumers are known to adopt certain food rituals especially around indulgent foods, and these link emotional response and sensory enjoyment. For example, products such as ice cream may be associated with specific times of the day, eaten with loved-ones or family members and in certain locations, meaning taste and mouthfeel go hand-in-hand with a sense of emotional comfort and enjoyment.
Today, consumers increasingly expect these rewarding experiences to come with fewer nutritional negatives. For formulators, a reduced-sugar or -fat end product will still need sweetness, creaminess, richness and stability. At the same time, the production process must remain sustainable and efficient.
Achieving this requires a holistic approach, considering formulation, processing, sensory perception and ingredient functionality together.
Turning science into reformulation success
Sensory science and ingredient innovation enable formulators to meet these challenges more effectively.
In this Mouthfeel Masterclass, Tate & Lyle experts and a behavioural scientist from Europe and the US will show how combining behavioural insights with sensory tools can help brands reformulate with confidence, to create healthier products that consumers relish and come to rely on.
Join the event to discover how Tate & Lyle experts will:
- Share insights into the global nutrition landscape and opportunities for healthier brands
- Reveal behavioural science strategies that encourage healthier eating without compromising enjoyment
- Walk through real‑world healthier reformulation case studies – including ice cream and mayonnaise – using sensory tools such as Tate & Lyle’s Sensation™
Join us for “Mouthfeel Masterclass: The Unlock to Making Tasty Food Healthier” on March 24 at 16:00 CET for a practical deep dive into how getting mouthfeel right can transform reformulation outcomes.
References
- International Diabetes Federation. The Diabetes Atlas.
- Joachim Schouteten, Ghent University, 2009 – strawberry yoghurt test
