Fats and oils play an important role in delivering the sensory and quality attributes for snack and bakery products. Consumers’ interest in sustainability, health and wellbeing, and clean label are influencing the fats and oils category. Cargill conducts proprietary research to track consumers’ attitudes and trends regarding fats and oils (i.e. its Fatitudes study). Jamie Mavec, senior marketing manager, Global Edible Oils Solutions, Cargill shares key insights from the study.
“The study finds that more than half of consumers closely monitor fats and oils in packaged goods. Consumers tell us they’re paying attention to fats and oils because of health considerations like reducing their risk of heart disease or lowering their cholesterol. A majority of global consumers report the amount of fat (71 percent) and type of oil (69 percent) are important factors when determining which packaged foods to purchase. Olive oil had the strongest impact on purchase in every country included in our Fatitudes survey. Other higher scoring oils included avocado oil, fish oil, sunflower oils, and canola oil.”