Innovation Day for the fourth time this year

Once again, the innovation competition initiated by Trade magazine in 2021 was held, which this year was again accompanied by a full-day professional conference. The Innovation Day event and within it the Inno d’Or – Innovation of the Year 2024 award ceremony took place at Hungexpo on May 16th.

The event featured exciting professional presentations and discussions that showcased current innovations and novelties, followed by the awarding of the Inno d’Or – Innovation of the Year 2024 awards and special prizes.

Zsuzsanna Hermann, Managing Editor of Trade magazine

The event was opened by Zsuzsanna Hermann, Managing Editor of Trade magazine, who briefly summarized the current innovation landscape in the FMCG market, which was also reflected in this year’s competition. Unfortunately, the economic environment, uncertain market situation, and consumers’ tight budgets do not favor innovations. Fewer are willing to bear the costs of innovations, and consumers are also less likely to spend on trying out new products. However, the driving force of innovations always supports recovery, so efforts in this direction should never be abandoned. The participants in this year’s competition can certainly be proud of the novelties presented, as many products have set directions and examples for market players.

International innovation trends

Júlia Dalmadi, founder of Trans Food Mission and Secontaste

Firstly, Júlia Dalmadi, founder of TransFoodMission and Secontaste, presented how the food industry can respond to sustainability challenges. In her presentation, she highlighted three key areas – runaway raw material prices, resource utilization, food waste – and provided concrete examples to illustrate the situation.

Among the innovations in the increasingly expensive cocoa industry, an American company featured that uses molecular-level flavor profiling from alternative ingredients to create the chocolate experience. Additionally, a cell-based agricultural technology that rethinks chocolate production was introduced, while a British initiative uses St. John’s bread and barley to produce a cocoa-free, chocolate-flavored product. Regarding the sustainable use of resources, Júlia Dalmadi mentioned the cooperation between Starbucks and the Canadian Dairy Association, which supports dairy farmers transitioning to environmentally friendly farming practices.

She emphasized that upcycling as an innovative form not only has environmental benefits but also generates economic profit: it creates value from wasted raw materials. She also mentioned her own company, which uses by-products from beer production to make breakfast cereals and beer snacks.

An innovative beverage was discussed, based on caffeine but containing no coffee or tea: the caffeine is extracted from by-products that are secondary outputs for other companies. The process starts with flavor mapping, which helps determine which by-products are suitable for creating the desired flavor profile.

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