Tate & Lyle Identifies the Top 7 Food and Beverage Trends in the U.S.

Decatur, Ill. - Dubbed the “Year of Change,” 2009 is ushering in increased consumer attraction to foods and beverages with multiple health benefits. With economic uncertainty influencing consumer purchasing decisions and interest in healthy eating on the rise, food and beverage manufacturers can feed consumer demand for products that provide more bang for the buck. Tate & Lyle spoke with several food and beverage manufacturers and spotted seven food trends that U.S. consumers are eating up this year.

Trend 1: Reduced Calories: The Mayo Clinic advises consumers to reduce calories through portion control and eating lower calorie foods. As such, food and beverages that reduce sugar and calorie content without compromising taste have an excellent chance of getting into consumers’ homes. This can be achieved by creating custom blends with sweeteners such as KRYSTAR® Crystalline Fructose or SPLENDA® Sucralose, a zero calorie sweetener.

Trend 2: Health & Wellness: Consumers want food and beverage products that support their healthy lifestyles. Tate & Lyle’s 2008 U.S. market research found that consumers prefer products with functional health benefits including digestive health, immunity defense and weight management. Hot health and wellness ingredients in 2009: Dietary fiber, vitamins and protein.

Trend 3: Budget Management. With the economy in a downturn, it’s no surprise U.S. consumers are tightening their belts. Food and beverage manufacturers can help them save cash by partnering with suppliers on sweetener or texturant optimization processes that could lead to significant production savings, which can be passed on to consumers, while delivering a final product with an improved health profile.

Trend 4: Functional Ingredients: Food isn’t just what’s on the plate. The added value of the ingredients used in products has gained a starring role. In January 2009, The Chicago Tribune reported that consumers are seeking foods that deliver benefits against multiple conditions, such as added-fiber products promoting digestive health and appetite-curbing benefits.

Trend 5: Comfort Foods. Many foodies are saying farewell to nightly dining at restaurants in favor of preparing meals at home. In December 2008, The Houston Chronicle reported that consumers are going back to foods that are reminiscent of their childhood.

Trend 6: Simple Ingredients, Clean Labels. The International Food Information Council (IFIC) reported in its 2008 Health and Wellness survey that 51 percent of consumers look at ingredients on the label when determining what to purchase and eat. The report also indicated that 52 percent of consumers are looking for fiber and 40 percent are seeking protein. Foods with functional, recognizable ingredients, such as dietary fiber, on the label are in. Ingredients requiring an advanced degree in biochemistry to understand are out.

Trend 7: Healthy Indulgence. Consumers want to have their “indulgent cake and eat it too.” Several reports indicate decadent foods with a healthy twist are sparking food interests. Consumers are seeking their favorite desserts, like ice cream and cookies, fortified with dietary fiber, vitamins and other nutrients to enjoy without the residual guilt.

About PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber

With the heightened consumer interest in eating healthy, fiber-rich foods, Tate & Lyle’s PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber can be easily incorporated into a large range of food and beverage applications without compromising the great taste and texture. The PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber range includes PROMITOR™ Soluble Corn Fiber and PROMITOR™ Resistant Starch, and can be used to manufacture healthy products for the entire family. For more information about PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber, visit www.promitorfiber.com

About SPLENDA® Sucralose

Tate & Lyle’s SPLENDA® Sucralose starts from sugar, tastes like sugar, but it’s not sugar. SPLENDA® Sucralose comprehensively outperforms all the high-intensity sweeteners on the market through its unique combination of taste and stability – making it the best choice to help food and beverage manufacturers seize the market opportunity for tastier, healthier, lower-calorie foods and beverages. For more information about SPLENDA® Sucralose, visit www.sucralose.com

About KRYSTAR® Crystalline Fructose

Tate & Lyle’s KRYSTAR® Crystalline Fructose is a nutritive sweetener that’s made from corn. It’s a sweetener that also serves as a functional ingredient in food systems. With a relative sweetness of 117 when compared to sugar at 100, formulators can take advantage of its relative high level of sweetness, synergy with nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners and interaction with a wide variety of food ingredients.

About Tate & Lyle

Tate & Lyle is a world-leading renewable food and industrial ingredients company, serving a global market from over 50 production facilities throughout the Americas, Europe and South East Asia. Our efficient, large-scale manufacturing plants turn agricultural products, corn and cane sugar into valuable ingredients for our customers. These ingredients add taste, texture, nutrition and increased functionality to products that millions of people around the world use or consume every day.

Tate & Lyle’s range of leading branded food ingredients include SPLENDA® Sucralose, PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber, STA-LITE®, Polydextrose, Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Sugar and Lyle’s Golden Syrup. Tate & Lyle also produces branded industrial ingredients including Bio-PDO™, Ethylex® and STA-Lock® paper starches; and staple ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, sugar, ethanol, citric acid and basic starches. In addition to providing a wide range of ingredients, our expert sales and product applications teams support customers by providing technical advice and proprietary consumer insight studies.

Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol TATE.L. American Depositary Receipts trade under TATYY. In the year to 31 March 2008, Tate & Lyle employed 6,488 people in its subsidiaries and joint ventures, and sales totaled $6.882 million (£3.4 billion UK) http://www.tateandlyle.com.

SPLENDA® is a trademark of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC