The topic of healthy eating has been relevant to consumers over the last few years when choosing food products across all product categories.
According to a Mintel study, 72% of European consumers try to eat healthily all or most of the time.¹ This also applies to the classic ‘indulgence’ categories within confectionery and baked goods.
The moment of pleasure remains an important part of consumers’ diets. Despite the health aspect, there are still moments of pleasure that consumers are looking for. These are also the moments when topics such as ‘healthier foods’ and reduced-sugar products take a back seat for consumers. According to a survey by FMCG Gurus, 53% of global consumers state that they like to enjoy snacking occasions where they are motivated purely by indulgence and pay little-to-no attention to nutritional intake.²
In these moments, consumers ‘just‘ want to enjoy – reward themselves or share a moment of pleasure with family or friends.
In order to indulge in these moments of pleasure, people tend to eat more healthily at other meals so that they can incorporate them into their everyday lives, as moments of pleasure are not only important on special occasions, but also in everyday life. According to FMCG Gurus, 72% of global consumers believe it is okay to enjoy the occasional indulgent treat as part of a balanced diet.⁴
When selecting such sweet treats, enjoyment and taste are naturally the main priorities. However, appearance and texture also play a major role, especially when it comes to baked goods and chocolates. These products should be eye-catching.
This is even more important for young consumers than for older generations. One reason for this is that food content is becoming increasingly relevant on social media. According to Mintel, 33% of Germans consume food content on social media, with the figure rising to 57% among the younger generation (16 to 34-year-olds).⁵
Fondant products for creating the perfect moment of pleasure
Fondant is the perfect solution for manufacturers of sweet treats to meet customer demands for a perfect moment of pleasure. This is due to several reasons:
- Enhancing the taste with sweetness
- Can be used as an eye-catching topping on baked goods such as doughnuts, muffins, or biscuits
- Provides sensory qualities to the final product including: transparent to opaque-white or colored glazing with excellent gloss; smooth to slightly firmer mouthfeel; the perfect bite without splintering a glazed muffin, doughnut, filled chocolate, or praline.
‘Team Up For Tasting Tomorrow’ – Südzucker’s fondant portfolio
As mentioned above, taste is the key criterion for consumers when it comes to moments of pleasure. In today’s rapidly evolving market, trusted partnership and collaboration are becoming increasingly relevant, especially in product development, and can lead to competitive advantages.
Südzucker’s ‘Team Up for Tasting Tomorrow’ approach is not just about the pure taste that plays a role, but the entire sensory experience, e.g. mouthfeel and appearance of the final product that producers of baked goods and other snacks can elevate with the help of Südzucker in joint efforts. Fondant is one of the key products for developing sweetening solutions that offer excellent taste, while covering the whole range of evolving consumer preferences.
As fondant can be used in a wide variety of confectionery and bakery applications, there is a broad range of fondant available on the market.
Each individual application – from fillings for chocolates and pralines to fillings for macarons, sandwich biscuits and petits fours, to glazes for baked goods and cake decorations – has its own specific requirements. In addition, there are technical, declaratory, and customer requirements, such as:
- Freeze and thaw stability
- Packaging requirements, such as no sticking to the packaging
- Clean label
- Colored and/or flavored
This is also why Südzucker, as one of Europe’s leading fondant manufacturers, offers its customers a wide range of fondant:
This enables Südzucker to ensure that it offers its customers the best possible solution, depending on customer needs. But what are the main differences between the various types of fondant?
Differences between the types of fondant
Classic fondant An all-rounder that can ultimately be used in all applications. As described above, classic fondant consists of sugar, water, and glucose and comes in block form. This is also the fondant that is easiest for customers to customize themselves with colors and flavors, if desired.
Powdered fondant Comparable to the classic fondant from Südzucker, but in powder form. This gives it a longer shelf life and makes it easier to transport over longer distances. Powdered fondant is also used, for example by customers who generally use more powdered raw materials such as powdered flavors or colors and can therefore integrate powdered fondant better into their production processes.
Ready-to-use fondant As its name suggests, this is ready to use. It can therefore be used directly in the production without further production steps, such as tempering, mixing, or similar. It covers all areas from artisanal to industrial and can also be used on machines.
Glazes These are at home in baked goods. Südzucker offers glazes with high opacity and others that cover the baked goods with a transparent to milky finish, depending on the preference of the customers. The glazes can also be applied directly and are ideal for industrial use in spraying and glazing machines.
Close-wrap icing Ideal for packaged baked goods. It hardens quickly after application and does not stick to the packaging. Nevertheless, it retains a pleasantly soft mouthfeel.
Fudge icing Also contains fat, coloring, and flavoring, in addition to the classic ingredients of fondant. It is the ideal solution for fillings in the chocolate and praline segment, but also for sandwich biscuits and as a topping on doughnuts, muffins, or cakes.
Roll-out icing A ready-to-use soft paste that can be rolled out manually or on fondant rolling machines. It is ideal for covering cakes and is also very suitable for modelling fondant figures or creating decorative garnishes.
Südzucker also offers a range of sugar-reduced fondant with 30% less sugar than classic fondant which are almost identical in terms of processing and taste profile.
Most of Südzucker’s fondant products described above are freeze- and thaw-stable. This makes them ideal for products that need to be refrigerated or frozen for transport or storage, for example.
Despite the broad portfolio, it may not always be possible to find the right fondant. In such cases, Südzucker offers customized solutions that are created in collaboration with its customers and experts from Südzucker Group’s central development and services department. In this regard, the products can be customized in:
- Texture
- Freezing, cooling, and wrapping stability
- Setting time
- Product flow characteristics
- Labelling criteria, such as vegan, kosher, or halal
- Ready-to-use (RTU) solutions
Further complex co-creations that are tailored to the customer’s individual needs are possible as well, as is support within the application and production process, if required. The closer the cooperation, the easier and faster it is to find the best solution through the partnership.
So, Team Up for Tasting Tomorrow, and collaborate with Südzucker, not just to develop solutions that deliver great taste, but enhance the entire sensory experience, including the mouthfeel and appearance of your final product. Create sweet treats and delicious moments of pleasure for your customers together with Südzucker.
References
- Mintel, February 2024: Which of the following best describes your attitudes towards eating/drinking healthily? I try to eat/drink healthily all of the time / most of the time. Base: internet users aged 16+ (France, Italy, Poland, Spain each 1,000 and Germany 2,000).
- FMCG Gurus – SNA092 (2025) – Q: To what extent do you agree with the following statement “I like to enjoy snacking occasions where I am motivated purely by indulgence and pay little-to-no attention to nutritional intake” – Filter: “Strongly Agree” and “Agree”.
- Kantar Profiles/Mintel – Chocolate confectionery – Europe 2023 - Filter: Top 3 answers - Base: France = 362, Germany = 773, Italy = 560, Poland = 441, Spain = 384 internet users aged 16+ who have eaten packs of individually wrapped chocolates/gifting trays AND bought chocolate in the last 3 months
- FMCG Gurus. Report Top Ten Trends 2025.
- Mintel. Food & drink Influences – Germany, 2025.
