The consumer industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by convenience, environmental sustainability, aesthetics, and the growing importance of food safety and transparency, personalised nutrition, and digital food management technologies. In the last three years alone, there have been over 450,000 patents filed and granted in the consumer industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in Consumer: Encapsulated protein additives. Buy the report here.

However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.

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Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.

40+ innovations will shape the consumer industry

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the consumer industry using innovation intensity models built on over 110,000 patents, there are 40+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Within the emerging innovation stage, hydrogel dressings, dextrin-based compositions, and safety injection needles are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Edible protein hydrolysis, muscle regeneration supplements, and ligament strengthening feed are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are glycine max variants and anabolic muscle supplements, which are now well established in the industry.

Innovation S-curve for the consumer industry

Encapsulated protein additives is a key innovation area in consumer

An emulsion is formed by mixing two liquid phases (water and oil) mixed through a strong mechanical action that disperses one liquid phase in the other. Food emulsions are classified into water-in-oil (W/O) types such as butter, margarine, or low-calorie spreads, and oil-in-water (O/W) types such as milk and cream.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 10+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established consumer companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of encapsulated protein additives.

Key players in encapsulated protein additives– a disruptive innovation in the consumer industry

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.

Patent volumes related to encapsulated protein additives

Company Total patents (2021 - 2023) Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies
Royal DSM 44 Unlock Company Profile
Anabio Technologies 35 Unlock Company Profile
PepsiCo 23 Unlock Company Profile
Ocean Nutrition Canada 19 Unlock Company Profile
Spanish National Research Council 14 Unlock Company Profile
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation 13 Unlock Company Profile
Advanced BioNutrition 12 Unlock Company Profile
Washington H Soul Pattinson and 10 Unlock Company Profile
Mondelez International 9 Unlock Company Profile
Colarome 7 Unlock Company Profile
CKD Bio 6 Unlock Company Profile
Progel 6 Unlock Company Profile
KB Biomed 5 Unlock Company Profile

Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics

Royal DSM is one of the leading patent filers in encapsulated protein additives. Some other key patent filers in the space include Anabio Technologies, PepsiCo, and Ocean Nutrition Canada.

In terms of application diversity, Progel leads the pack, with Colarome and PepsiCo in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, PepsiCo holds the top position, followed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and Ocean Nutrition Canada.

Encapsulated protein additives will become more common in the food industry as many industry players will seek to maximise the intended benefits of additives in foods and bioactive components delivered through foods.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the consumer industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Consumer.

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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.