Alternative protein from industrial emissions, canned fizzy drinks to boost your social skills, collagen-based beauty snacks. Feel like being on a Sci-Fi movie set yet?

If all that got you curious to know more, welcome to Forward Fooding’s Foods & Drinks of the Future Series, where we will explore a list of 3 ingredients to watch in 2020.

What’s on the plate?

Are you one of those FoodTechies who never miss a beat on the Food & Beverage sector’s latest trends? Do you love to stay on top of what’s hot when it comes to startups shaping the future of food? At Forward Fooding, we sure are. Stay tuned and keep reading, as this list of ingredients to watch in 2020 will literally fry your brain!

Collagen

When collagen comes into the picture, you will probably think of Cosmetic Products and the Beauty Industry, am I right? As a matter of fact, due to its incredible effects on skin hydration, elasticity, and wrinkle reduction, collagen has up to now been injected or consumed as a beauty hack and a health supplement.

Rumor has it this healthcare superstar ingredient is now being eaten and drunk as a snack, too. Newly created, the Ingestible Beauty or Nutricosmetics category is expected to value $7956.63M in 2024, with a forecasted period’s CAGR of 8.63% (PR Newswire).

Food technology thus seems to have enabled us to ingest our beauty elixirs as snacks and beverages of the future, bringing collagen to the ingredient list of a bunch of Next-Generation Foods & Drinks.

Let’s have a look at some start-ups who already are riding the wave of snackable collagen, featuring our skin-friendly companion among their FMCGs.

First in line is Vital Proteins, a company operating in the Food Supplement sector that has been counting many a happy customer, offering the U.S. public its collagen-based lattes, creamers, water, and even protein bars.

Born in Chicago in 2014, Vital Proteins has to this date raised $25.5M in VC funding and is looking at an even brighter future (Crunchbase).

Another U.S. native from 2014, Bulletproof, is using collagen as a base ingredient for its FMCGs. Operating in the Dietary Supplement category, Bulletproof has raised funds for a total of $68M, with a Series C latest funding round in late July 2018 (Crunchbase).

On Bulletproof’s product list are some collagen bars with chocolate chip cookie dough and fudge brownie. Yum!

Last but not least is Dirtylemon Beverages, a New York company founded in 2015 and specializing in Functional Beverages and Food Supplement (fun fact: they are the only consumer company to sell their products exclusively via text message!).

Dirtylemon has launched to the market a collagen-based beverage, with each serving containing 4 grams of hydrolyzed marine collagen, a true blessing for your skin!

So, whether you’re struggling to fight off the first signs of aging or you just love taking care of your skin, it’s worth keeping an eye out for edible collagen: the future of food is going to bring you incredible skin elasticity and glow.

See you in the next edition of Foods & Drinks of the Future Series, where you’ll learn about Air-Based Food and Adaptogens & Nootropics!

We really hope you appreciated the insights we shared about the 3 ingredients to watch in 2020. At Forward Fooding, we’re lucky enough to be able to see (and to some extent foresee) some of these trends thanks to our data intelligence platform from the global AgriFoodTech ecosystem, The FoodTech Data Navigator. If you wish to know more about it or are interested in giving this amazing tool a go and take advantage of our 7-day free trial, you’re welcome to book a free demo: just leave your details here.

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This article was written by Lorena Mastromatteo, Marketing Associate at Forward Fooding.