Author: Tamara Senf- van Kralingen
Fibre-Mixing, Not Fibre-Maxxing
Today “fibre maxxing” is everywhere! But we believe there is even more power in Fiber-mixing.
Fibre is currently highly visible on social media and in industry reports, which is completely justified. In Europe, the average daily fibre intake is only 15–18g, which falls significantly short of the recommended 25–30g.
While this is a gap that we want and need to close, relying on extreme “high-fibre” claims or simply maxxing out a single ingredient is not the best approach. At Food by Design, we believe the future is not about fibre maxxing, but about fibre mixing. The true potential for food innovation lies in blending different fibre sources into appealing, everyday products.
The Science of the “Mix”: Nourishment and Movement
Not all fibres perform the same function in the body. Fibres are categorized into soluble and insoluble types, and optimal health requires a balanced mix of both.
- Soluble fibres: Found in ingredients like oats, fruits, and linseeds, these provide nourishment to the body. They help regulate blood sugar levels, reduce cholesterol, prolong the feeling of fullness, and feed the gut microbiome.
- Insoluble fibres: Sourced from wheat, nuts, and legumes, these fibres provide movement. They keep digestion moving and stimulate healthy gut activity.
Feeding our microbiome a diverse range of plants and fibres creates a more resilient digestive system, which is why the true power of fibre lies in the mix rather than the max.
Moving Away from “Maxxing”
When brands focus solely on maximizing fibre content with a single, highly concentrated source, it can sometimes turn everyday foods into something resembling functional medicine. Heavily fortifying a product just to make a bold front-of-pack claim can compromise the eating experience, often leading to undesirable, gummy textures or digestive discomfort for the consumer. Closing the fibre gap should be an enjoyable and sustainable experience, not an extreme one.
Culinary Translation: where fibre-mixing becomes tangible
The beauty of the trend is that it is highly translatable across categories.
Breakfast: the most intuitive territory – Breakfast is an obvious and fertile starting point. Oats, fruit, seeds, whole grains and chicory-based fibres already live naturally in this world. But there is still plenty of room to evolve beyond the standard “high fibre cereal” logic.
Think of overnight oats with apple, flaxseed and oat bran. Granolas with rye flakes, dried fruit and mixed seeds. Spoonable breakfasts where texture and digestive support come together more elegantly. Here the mix can feel both nutritional and comforting.
Bakery: texture, substance and indulgence – Bakery is perhaps even more exciting. Fibre-mixing can become part of the product architecture itself: wholemeal flour blended with chickpea flour, seeded crackers with bran and legumes, breakfast muffins with oats and carrot, or flatbreads that combine cereals and pulses.
This is where fibre becomes tangible in the bite. More chew, more body, more visual ingredient richness. And that matters, because consumers often judge health through sensorial cues as much as through on-pack claims.
Savoury convenience: taking fibre beyond breakfast – One of the strongest opportunities is to free fibre from its breakfast-and-digestion niche. In savoury products, fibre-mixing can feel more modern, more culinary and more integrated into daily eating.
Imagine grain bowls with beans, roasted vegetables and seed toppings. Wholegrain wraps with hummus and crunchy vegetables. Soups that combine legumes, grains and vegetables in a more satisfying way. Dips and spreads in which pulses, nuts and vegetables create both flavour and function.
This is where fibre starts to feel less like a correction and more like an upgrade.
Drinks: a more nuanced functional future – Drinks are another promising territory, though they require care. The opportunity is not simply to inject fibre into beverages and call it innovation. It is to create drinks where fibre support is part of a broader sensory and wellness proposition.
Smoothies with oats, fruit and seeds. Fermented or cultured drinks with prebiotic support. Juice or refresher concepts in which fruit, vegetables and fibre-rich ingredients work together more credibly. When done well, this could connect gut support, satiety and enjoyment in a way that feels contemporary rather than clinical.
Brand Inspiration: Who is Getting the “Mix” Right?
Several pioneering brands are already demonstrating how to successfully translate fibre-mixing into compelling, modern products:
- Bio&Me (Cereals & Yogurts): This brand builds its identity around plant diversity rather than just a high fibre number. Their granolas actively incorporate multiple plant fibres, such as oats, nuts, seeds, and chicory, to offer broad-spectrum gut support through a delicious, multi-textural crunch.
- Olipop (Functional Beverages): Instead of using one harsh fibre, Olipop utilizes a smart blend of soluble fibres including cassava root, chicory root, and Jerusalem artichoke. This mixing approach delivers digestive benefits without ruining the beverage’s light, refreshing mouthfeel.
- Modern Bakery Innovations: Think of innovative concepts like laminated artisan crackers that blend ancient grains (insoluble) with subtle fruit or vegetable purees (soluble). This creates a light, crispy texture that supports gut health without the dense, dry mouthfeel of a traditional bran cracker.
Let’s Design the Future of Food in the Mix
To be clear, this is not an argument against fibre-rich innovation. Quite the opposite. Fibre deserves the attention it is getting. The intake gap is real, and the public health relevance is significant. But if the food industry wants to make fibre truly relevant, it should resist the temptation to treat it as a one-dimensional race to the top.
The next generation of successful products will not simply contain more fibre. They will be better designed around it; more balanced. more layered. more enjoyable. more rooted in real eating.
So perhaps the more interesting is not: how high can we go?
But rather: how intelligently can we mix?
Because in food, as so often, the strongest ideas are not built on excess. They are built on composition.
Curious how fibre-mixing could translate into sharper concepts for your brand, category or innovation pipeline? Get in touch, we would love to explore the possibilities together.