“Aronia berry is an interesting ingredient to watch,” Mattucci said. “What I think is really interesting about it is it's extremely high antioxidant content. We see that this berry is being used right now in North America primarily for a source of natural color. It's also being used for natural color in Europe. But it's used more when you look at product launches in Europe, you see that aronia is more of a hero ingredient in products.”
While Ingredientscape AI revealed strong growth momentum for aronia, supply chain challenges such as wholesaling and distribution are limiting the ability of aronia berry farmers in the U.S. to scale up quickly. These challenges will make developing a North American supply of aronia a long process, but Mattucci said it has strong growth potential in the coming years as a sustainable and native superfruit.
With antioxidant content and immune benefits, she said aronia berry could very well be the next elderberry—if done right.
"Unlike elderberry in North America, we don't really see it [aronia] being promoted for its immune health benefits or for those antioxidants it has, where we see elderberry has really made a name for itself, it's really come out strong with immune health benefits,” Mattucci said. “So we really need time to…build that connection for consumers to understand the benefits that that type of berry could have.”
To hear about the challenges aronia berry faces, how Ingredientscape AI works and other tools that Mintel is leveraging to stay ahead of the curve, listen to the NutraCast.
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