‘From Consumer to Nutritional Claim’

Piet Lazeroms is Account manager at Sensus, a member of the Royal Cosun group based in Roosendaal. During the Young IFFI event, he will host a breakout session titled: “From nutritional claim to consumer.” In his introduction, he will give insight into his role as account manager.

Sensus B.V. is a Dutch food ingredients company that produces Frutafit® inulin and Frutalose® oligofructose. “Our ingredients are prebiotic and contribute to gut health.” Derived from chicory roots, inulin and oligofructose are used in a variety of food applications for sugar reduction, fat replacement, or (prebiotic) fiber enrichment. This makes the ingredient a perfect fit for the fiber-maxxing trend.

“We are seeing an increasing market interest toward healthier and fiber-enriched products, a trend already reflected in several successful product launches. When reformulating, however, it remains critical to balance nutritional enhancement with the sensory requirements of taste and texture.” Lazeroms has a background in biotechnology and enjoys working together with customers or product developers to explore what is possible without compromising taste or mouthfeel. “It’s rewarding to surprise customers with the possibilities.”

He can also advise on the claims producers can make as a result of adding prebiotic ingredients. “Making health claims is not straightforward, you have to be very precise. Recently, a producer got it wrong. They had added too little fiber to their product to support a certain health claim, which resulted in a substantial fine. As account manager, you need to be well informed about market developments and knowledgeable about laws and regulations. We also have regulatory and scientific advisors who can support us.”

During the breakout session, Lazeroms aims to engage the audience in thinking about how we can turn a potential nutritional claim into a promising product concept, and explore together what can really work for both consumers and producers.

Young IFFI Event, Break-out session ‘From Consumer to Nutritional Claim’, 14:45 – 15:45 hrs

Piet Lazeroms
Account manager at Sensus