Food ingredients, flavors and seasonings are no longer a “supporting act” in the value chain, they’re a major growth engine for the global food and beverage industry. As consumers demand bolder flavors, greater variety and cleaner labels, ingredient producers are being pushed to scale production without sacrificing consistency, hygiene, or flexibility.

This matters because ingredients and seasonings are predominantly powders and particulates and the real-world performance of these materials (dusting, bridging, segregation, smearing, lumping) can directly impact plant productivity and product quality.

So what’s happening in the market?

Food ingredients – big market, long runway

Multiple independent market analysts project continued expansion in food ingredients, with 2024 market valuations in the $350bn range and multi-year growth driven by processed foods, functional ingredients and product innovation.

What this means for manufacturers:

• More SKUs and shorter runs
• Higher expectations for traceability and food safety
• Increasing need for modular systems that scale without re-engineering the whole plant

Seasonings & spices – faster growth, high product variety

Seasonings and spices are growing faster than many core ingredient categories. Grand View Research estimates the global seasoning & spices market at c.$21.7bn (2023), projecting it to reach c.$34.3bn by 2030 (CAGR c.6.8%).

Key demand drivers cited by analysts include:

• Rising interest in global cuisines and “authentic” flavor profiles
• Health/wellness positioning (e.g. functional spices, perceived “natural” benefits)

Operational implications: producers are managing a wider range of textures, particle sizes, oil contents, and aroma-sensitive materials, which increases the need for gentle conveying, effective dust control, and consistent screening/classification.

Flavors – stable growth plus strong innovation pressure

Grand View Research estimates the global flavors market to be c.$20.25bn (2024), projecting growth to c.$28.54bn by 2030.  Separately, Mordor Intelligence projects the broader flavor & fragrance category to grow from a c.$41.83bn market in 2026 to c.$52.91bn by 2031.

Operational implications: flavor manufacturing often involves fine powders and sensitive compounds, which raise the bar for containment, hygienic design, and repeatable mixing performance.

The powder challenge in ingredient manufacturing

Ingredients and seasonings manufacturing is powder-heavy and powders introduce three unavoidable realities:

1. Dust control is a hygiene and safety priority
   US guidance emphasizes sealing leakage points and maintaining cleanliness to prevent dust escape/accumulation in powder handling environments.
2. Screening and de-lumping protect uptime and quality
   Powders compact in storage and transit; lumps cause downstream flow problems and batch inconsistency.
3. Segregation risk increases as SKU counts rise
   More recipes and more changeovers = greater risk of cross-contamination and inconsistent blend uniformity.

This is why many ingredient producers are investing in enclosed conveying, controlled intake, effective screening, and high-performance mixing as a complete system.

From intake to finished blend – what should the processing flow look like?

1. Ingredient Intake & Discharge
2. Controlled Feeding & Conveying
3. Screening & Classification
4. Blending & Mixing
5. Transfer to packaging/downstream processing

Akona Process Solutions supports each stage through complementary technologies from Spiroflow, Cablevey, Kason and Marion.

From intake to finished blend – what should the processing flow look like?

1. Ingredient Intake & Discharge
2. Controlled Feeding & Conveying
3. Screening & Classification
4. Blending & Mixing
5. Transfer to packaging/downstream processing

Akona Process Solutions supports each stage through complementary technologies from Spiroflow, Cablevey, Kason and Marion.

Let’s take a deeper look at each stage and supporting equipment

1. Ingredient intake – consistency starts at the first touchpoint

Spiroflow Bulk Bag Dischargers

Bulk bags are common for salts, sugars, starches, carriers, and high-volume powders. A properly engineered bulk bag discharge system helps deliver:

• Controlled, steady discharge into the process
• Reduced manual handling and dust exposure
• Repeatable feed conditions for downstream equipment

Akona Sack Dump Stations (with multiple variations)

Manual addition remains essential for minor ingredients and recipe tweaks, but it must be clean, safe and controllable. Sack dump stations can be configured with:

• Integrated screen (foreign body/oversize protection)
• Integrated dust extraction (cleaner, safer work area)
• Glove box arrangement (containment for allergens or sensitive powders)
• Mobile units (flexible plant layouts/multi-line use)

2. Conveying – gentle, enclosed transfer to protect product and plant

Spiroflow Flexible Screw Conveyors

Flexible screw conveying is widely used for powder transfer because it’s compact and adaptable to routing constraints. In ingredient plants it supports:

• Hygienic enclosed transfer
• Reliable movement of powders and blends
• Practical integration between intake, screening and mixing

Cablevey Tubular Drag Conveyors (Cablevey)

For fragile particulates, herbs, and blends where dust containment and gentle handling are critical, tubular drag conveying provides:

• Fully enclosed, dust-minimizing transfer
• Gentle product handling to reduce degradation/segregation
• Flexible routing for complex plant layouts

3. Screening & classification – built-in quality assurance

Kason Vibroscreen – vibratory screening supports:

• Foreign body removal
• Oversize/undersize control
• More consistent downstream performance (especially mixing and packaging)

Kason Multi-Deck Vibroscreen

Where a tighter particle size distribution is required (premium seasonings, spice grading, visual consistency), multi-deck classification can separate multiple fractions in one pass.

Kason Centri-Sifter

Centrifugal screening is often used for continuous or higher-throughput applications where gentle separation is valuable.

Kason Lump Breaker

A practical step to restore flow and prevent blockages – especially after storage, shipping, or humidity exposure.

4. Mixing – repeatability is the product

Marion Horizontal Mixer (including Clean-in-Place (CIP) variation)

As flavor and seasoning portfolios expand, mixers must deliver:

• Rapid blend uniformity
• Gentle handling of inclusions
• High batch-to-batch repeatability

For operations with frequent changeovers or allergen-control requirements, CIP-capable variants reduce downtime and strengthen hygiene validation.

Integrated systems – the Akona advantage

As ingredient and seasoning portfolios expand, manufacturers are under increasing pressure to maintain consistency, hygiene and flexibility while handling a wider range of powders and particulates. Systems that integrate intake, conveying, screening and mixing are becoming essential for maintaining product quality and operational efficiency.

With complementary technologies from Spiroflow, Cablevey, Kason and Marion, Akona Process Solutions helps producers build cohesive processing systems that support reliable, repeatable ingredient manufacturing.