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In a world where health consciousness prevails, ordinary table salt faces scepticism. Enter gourmet salts, the hero of discerning tastes and clean label advocates alike. Gourmet salt, sourced from pristine locales and devoid of additives, emerges as the solution to health concerns while driving premiumisation. FoodBev's Siân Yates looks beyond the shaker.

Salt plays a key role in elevating the flavour of nearly every dish. Both consumers and manufacturers understand the importance of using high-quality ingredients, and gourmet salts can enhance dishes, impart a premium feel and offer added health benefits.

“Speciality salts are used by food manufacturers to help deliver enhanced flavours, provide a sense of place and create a visual experience,” Iulian Ungureanu, EMEA business director of Cargill’s salt business, told FoodBev. “By leveraging salts that are designed with a unique purpose, such as a specialised particle size and shape, consumers can experience an enhanced salty taste and increased visual appeal – such as with indulgent products like a sea salt topping on chocolate-covered caramels.”

He continued: “Consumers observe what is happening in the culinary space when they visit their favourite restaurants, and leading food manufacturers can help recreate these experiences by using speciality salts. A cracker made with sea salt from a place they aspire to visit, or a chocolate confection topped with pink salt from the Himalayan area, stands out in the marketplace and can command a more premium price.”

Premium F&B items often include luxury and unique ingredients, including rare spices, exotic chocolates and gourmet cheese, “and the inclusion of speciality salts complements these ingredients, further boosting the taste experience,” noted Nandini Roy Choudhury, client partner for food and beverages at Future Market Insights. “In confectionery, for instance, there’s a focus on salts such as fleur de sel in premium chocolates. They aim to balance saltiness and sweetness to appeal to those looking for sophisticated items.”

What’s your flavour?

Speciality salts meet the need for flavour improvement, as Roy Choudhury explained. “Gourmet salts, including truffle salt, smoked salt and Himalayan pink salt, tend to provide unique flavours that cater to those looking to improve the taste of their food,” she said.

“Speciality salts can enhance and elevate any application, from a humble poached egg to a high-end Michelin star restaurant dish,” said Robert La Francesca, commercial director at UK-based premium salt brand Maldon Salt. “Seasoning well is crucial for bringing out fantastic flavour and is truly what distinguishes restaurants in the premium and ultra-premium F&B space from their competitors.”

Maldon has been hand-crafting salt since 1882, using the same techniques and ensuring the same pyramid-shaped flakes are produced today as a century ago. “With the launch of our new flavoured range of salts, chefs can now simply and consistently add flavour to their creations,” La Francesca added. “Premium ingredients have been carefully blended with Maldon Sea Salt to create our new Garlic Sea Salt and Chilli Sea Salt.”

Elsewhere, La Francesca noted that Kalahari Desert salt is also gaining popularity as a speciality ingredient: “An array of quality food brands now include and name this salt in their products. It is a naturally coarse, sun-dried salt that has been harvested from the vast desert plains of the Kalahari. It is perfect for use in a grinder, adding to breads or for seasoning meat before a barbecue.”

Seeing pink

Another area of consumer adoption and excitement is pink Himalayan salt. La Francesca told FoodBev: “This coarse rock salt from the foothills of the Himalayas has been prized for centuries. It can be used whole by adding to curries and sauces or put in a grinder for everyday use. Due to its pink hue, the ground salt is also a fantastic garnish for cocktails.”

Cargill’s Pink Himalayan salt line offers a diverse range of crystal sizes, including Pink Himalayan Salt Flour for fine blending in soups, cereals and snacks. Additionally, the line features Pink Himalayan Salt Extra Coarse Topping, perfect for enhancing confectionery products with larger crystals.

“Millennials have recently started replacing their usual cooking tops with bricks, plates, blocks and slabs made of pure Himalayan salt with no additives or chemicals,” added Roy Choudhury. “Renowned restaurants are also following this trend by serving fresh fruits, cheese, appetisers, cold desserts, meats and sushi by chilling the salt blocks.”

Sensory value

As consumers become increasingly health conscious, they are looking for new alternatives to conventional table salt, which often contains high sodium levels and additives such as anti-caking agents. “Gourmet salts, on the other hand, are viewed as healthy, natural alternatives as they are rich in minerals,” explained Roy Choudhury.

Cargill’s Alberger brand salt flakes are made from small, multi-faceted crystals formed from a process that begins with a hollow pyramid shape. Their unique structure, featuring a larger surface area and lower bulk density, ensures better adherence, blendability and solubility compared to standard cube-shaped granulated salt.

“Our salt is recognised by leading snack manufacturers around the globe as an effective tool that can reduce sodium content without compromising taste,” said Ungureanu. “Alberger is one great example of where we are delivering on all of these areas, offering great taste while providing 50% lower sodium by volume compared to granulated salt.”

“In the sodium reduction space, we have also developed Potassium Pro Ultra Fine, which delivers a lower sodium inclusion rate when compared to other flavour solutions or standard granulated potassium chloride in a variety of applications.”

Meanwhile, Life Kitchen – in collaboration with UK health store Holland & Barratt – has released a unique food range for consumers whose taste or smell has changed due to illnesses like cancer or long Covid. Developed with specialists and featuring six taste-boosting products, this range aims to enhance mealtime flavours and bring pleasure back to eating. Formulated to improve sweet, sour, salt, bitter and umami tastes, each product targets specific taste receptors for an optimal flavour experience.

Included in the range is Sensation Salt, a blend of sea salt, white pepper, citric acid, monosodium glutamate and umami, crafted to deliver a complete sensory journey. Perfect for elevating everyday dishes, it can be sprinkled on chips or popcorn, added to soups, broths and casseroles, or sprinkled on top of eggs.

The gourmet salt industry is poised for significant growth in the next decade, driven by technological advancements and evolving consumer tastes. Future Market Insights projects the market to reach $502.6 million by 2033, fuelled by demand for clean label ingredients. Manufacturers are expected to heavily invest in R&D to develop new gourmet salt variants with added health benefits, including antioxidants, minerals and vitamins.

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