Bell-issimo! Unpacking the rainbow potential of bell peppers as food and beverage ingredients

For something so bright and colourful, bell peppers are shrouded in a surprising amount of mystery. Are they sweet, savoury or spicy? (They can be all three.) Which of the main colours are ‘the best’? (It depends on your end goal, but our red variety is definitely the most in-demand!)

As leading experts in the field of fruit and vegetable ingredients, SVZ is here to help clear things up. Read on as we reveal just some of the benefits bell pepper ingredients can bring to a wide range of food and beverage applications, and how to pick the perfect pepper type every time.

Taste (and see) the rainbow

With their vibrant hues and sweet or spicy flavour, the most obvious advantage bell peppers offer is a great taste and strong visual appeal. This colourful connotation is especially powerful right now given consumers’ pursuit of simple, natural ingredients. Fuelled by a growing consciousness of what goes into their food and drink choices, 67% of global shoppers state they avoid artificial colours and flavours.[i]

From deep red and green to bright yellow, peppers provide almost a full spectrum of natural colour options to help liven up soups, sauces and snacks for that crowd-pleasing pop of joy. On the taste front too, bell peppers – especially the popular red variety – can act as both a hero ingredient and supporting player, helping enhance sweet notes in a pastry filling or add a hint of almost smoky depth to a barbeque marinade.

Nice and nutritious

Health and sustainability are intrinsically linked to the idea of naturalness in the mind of the modern consumer as they gravitate towards products with a sense of authenticity and wholesomeness, that they can feel good about purchasing. In fact, 54% of those recently surveyed by FMCG Gurus stated they check for the presence of artificial inclusions on labels to avoid ‘bad’ ingredients, or substances they see as detrimental to their health and that of the planet.¹

Low in calories but packed with natural goodness including vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants, bell pepper ingredients fit the health side of the brief perfectly.[ii]  As is often the case, the sustainability point is a little more complex. It all comes down to the type of bell pepper ingredient, from where it is sourced and how it is processed. At SVZ, we see it as our essential responsibility to offer only the highest quality, sustainably produced fruit and vegetable ingredients, and our bell pepper range is no exception.

Beyond our tireless support of responsible agronomy, community outreach and resource-reduction initiatives, we help our customers harness every drop of goodness a harvest has to offer by upcycling so-called ‘ugly’ produce into value-added, delicious and nutritious ingredients. In this way, even an unloved, bumpy bell pepper can escape the waste pile and gain the appreciation it deserves as a natural, sustainable health food.

Add a little interest

We’d all agree, bell peppers are a fairly standard ingredient in a soup or a savoury pastry filling – but what about in a smoothie or biscuit? Surveying a range of 2024 trends round-ups, ‘new nostalgia’ emerges as one of the themes on the menu this year, characterised by a drive towards comforting flavours – with an exciting twist.

Here, bell peppers are the pick of the pack. By adding a swirl of red bell pepper to an artisanal ice cream or tortilla, brands can offer consumers a new experience that’s both familiar and unexpected. Bell pepper ingredients, from juices to purees, can also add a sweet-yet-tangy pop to spice mixes and meat flavourings – as well as a colourful, tasty addition to crackers and other moreish savoury snacks. Thanks to their inherent sweet/savoury, fruit/vegetable appeal, the possible applications for bell peppers are virtually endless. Now we’d call that bell-issimo!

Feeling inspired? Discover our full range of bell pepper ingredients and the rest of our premium purees, concentrates, NFC juices and IQFs here: https://www.svz.com/products/

[i] https://fmcggurus.com/wp-content/themes/fmcg/static/img/FMCG-Gurus-Top-Ten-Trends-for-2024-Trend-Digest.pdf

[ii] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/bell-peppers