With the breaking news that the use of nuts and seeds in food and beverage product launches has increased globally by over 7%, Pecan Deluxe Candy is planning to help meet ongoing demand with the development of brand new flavours for both praline nuts and seeds.
Bakery and snacks were the top categories identified as using nuts and seeds in new product launches, with confectionery close behind, whilst almonds – one of Pecan Deluxe’s best-selling pralines – featured as the leading growth ingredient. The innovative food tailor has been busy reinventing its extensive and popular praline range, working with new ingredients such as coconut and pumpkin seeds and adding natural flavours such as honey or maple.
To preserve the premium quality for which it’s renowned, Pecan Deluxe still manufactures its pralines the traditional way – combining real butter and sugar in copper pans to produce premium quality praline inclusions for confectionery, cereals, beverages, ice cream and other desserts and snacks. Liz Jones, Commercial and Development Director, explained:
“We never rest! Here at Pecan Deluxe we are constantly looking for the next new trend, the best way to help our customers to develop a new line or product such as snack mixes, premium granola or luxury muffins. Here, we’ve gone back to pralines, an old favourite and one of our earliest pioneering products, and we’ve been able to ‘spice up’ the range with the very latest consumer flavours.
“A significant NPD effort is under way to evaluate a variety of foodstuffs that could be enhanced by our Pecan Deluxe praline treatment, for example praline chickpeas and banana chips are strong contenders and the results are very tasty!
“Pralines are perfect as part of a plant based diet and both honey and coconut are really popular with the buying public at the moment, and offer many health benefits as well as delicious taste and texture experiences in ice cream, bakery and desserts. In fact, pralines were one of the top five ice cream flavours in our recent survey so it makes perfect sense to combine proven products and refreshing new flavours to give shoppers what they want – and keep raising the bar when it comes to innovative, tailored inclusions.”
Pecan Deluxe’s extended praline range is available ambient or frozen, from 2-6mm up to 16mm in cases up to 20kg, as well as reduced salt format. A huge range of applications includes ice cream, granola inclusions, cereal bars, chilled dessert toppings, yogurts and bakery products such as cookies, muffins and brownies. Pralines are also ideal for mixing in with products such as cookie pieces or fudge, or combining with brownie or cookie dough for ice cream mix-ins. Pecan Deluxe manufactures its pralines in a dedicated segregated nut facility, working with food producers to develop bespoke flavoured options and other retail solutions.
All Pecan Deluxe products, including traditionally made fudge, moulded chocolate shapes, brownie pieces, cookie dough and praline nuts, are made using natural colours and flavourings in strict allergen controlled, BRC A grade facilities. The company is constantly innovating to develop new flavours and textures and can create bespoke products tailor-made to customers’ requirements.
