Consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of health and wellbeing, and how food and good nutrition play an important role in everyday life. The health and wellness trend reveals promising opportunities for new product innovations and business for food and beverage manufacturers.
As consumers are keen to boost their wellbeing, they want products that offer concrete benefits that they can understand and genuine nutritional values. Rising trends and better-for-you options, such as digestive wellness, sugar reduction, gut health, free-from diets, healthy aging, or good nutrition, are speeding up the growth of new product launches.
Protein powers on
Protein maintains its positive association as a valuable nutrient that answers the needs of various health interests. People want to obtain protein from recognizable sources while preserving an appealing taste and texture. Milk protein is a proficient source of high-quality protein in its natural and intrinsic form. Dairy can be considered a complete protein that is not only rich in other nutrients but also provides high nutrient density with excellent taste properties.
There is demand in the market for new food and beverage products that promote competitive advantages such as increased protein and reduced sugar with straightforward, natural ingredients. Are you looking for ideas to expand your product range? Milk powders are a natural source of quality protein, making Valio Eila® milk powders an excellent ingredient in tasty, natural, and healthy high-protein products.

Valio, Protein chocolate pudding
Digestive wellness diversifies, and lactose-free products are an appealing option for many consumers.
People all over the world have digestive issues. It’s no wonder that digestive wellness is gaining interest in the market. Digestive wellness encompasses a large portion of dietary needs for people looking to enjoy natural foods without discomfort. This presents an opportunity for food manufacturers to provide solutions to diverse nutrition interests, including probiotics, prebiotics, and free-from options such as gluten-free or lactose-free.
A considerable proportion of the global population has problems tolerating and absorbing lactose, which may cause them digestive issues. In general, consumers are aware that milk—and the lactose in milk, in particular—is the possible cause behind their gut issues. For this reason, milk-containing products that promote lactose-free attributes appeal to a broad swathe of the global market.
Lactose-free products are a growing sector in the latest food and beverage product launches nowadays, and in the dairy sector, products promoting lactose-free claims have been among the fastest-growing. While many lactose-free launches are in white milks, other categories, such as ice cream, chocolate milks, snacking products, yogurts, and puddings, are also growing.
Read more about Valio’s lactose-free milk technology, making entering the lactose-free market quick and easy, boosting your value-added business.

Valio, lactose-free milk
Finnish food company Valio focuses on dairy ingredients and solutions for health-conscious consumers.
Valio’s dairy ingredients and solutions give food and beverage producers the tools to tweak their offerings to better respond to the market’s demands. In addition to offering tasty, healthy, and nutritionally balanced food with customized functionalities, companies can develop their products to suit many consumer trends. Health-conscious people want to avoid E-codes or ingredients they don’t recognize. Products made from familiar, understandable ingredients and with minimal processing meet consumer expectations for healthy and clean-label products. More information about Valio.

Valio, Milk powders