Nielsen Says Consumers Are Now Ingredient Inspectors

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With the advent of healthy living and clean eating, more people all over the world now practice due diligence when it comes to their food. In the recent Nielsen’s Global Health and Ingredient-Sentiment Survey, 70% of the respondents said that they make dietary choices to avoid health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. Nielsen has nicknamed these consumers the “ingredient inspectors.”

 

People Are Willing to Pay More for Healthy Foods

Around 68% of the respondents surveyed agreed that they are willing to pay more for healthy food and beverages. This was supported by U.S. retail sales data which indicated that the sales of health and wellness products are outpacing other types of fast-moving consumer goods.

According to Director Andrew Mandzy from Neilsen’s Strategic Health and Wellness Insights group, most consumers want to eat healthily. But they need the commitment from food manufacturers to create products that are made from simple and clean ingredients. Consumers depend on food companies to develop “better-for-you” products that are still convenient for their busy lifestyles.

 

Reasons for The Rise in Ingredient Inspectors

So why is there a rising trend in the food and wellness industry? Perhaps one of the reasons is food sensitivity or intolerance. The same survey conducted by Neilsen indicated that 36% of the respondents revealed that they opted for healthy foods because they are suffering from allergies or live with someone who does. The rise of lactose intolerance and seafood allergies was cited by 12% of the respondents.

Aside from food allergies, many consumers are actively excluding several ingredients from their diets. This motivation to eliminate certain foods can be brought about by religious influences or just small lifestyle decisions. Regardless, 64% of the respondents follow diets that prohibit certain foods or ingredients. For instance, 84% of the African and Middle Eastern respondents reveal that they follow a special diet as cited by their religion.  Respondents from Asia-Pacific scored 72% on the survey indicating that they support it for lifestyle and religious purposes. Most of them adhered to a vegetarian diet as reflective of their beliefs. Only 44%  of people living in North America and Europe cited motivation from religion to exclude ingredients in their food.

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In the global survey, it was indicated that sugar is the most common ingredient that is eliminated by 31% of the respondents. Others limit their intake of carbohydrates and sodium for health reasons. Many of the interviewees are well aware of the effects caused by the foods they eat. In fact, 75% of people are anxious about the long-term impacts of incorporating synthetic ingredients into their food. Most of the respondents avoid foods that contain preservatives, coloring, and artificial flavors.

Consumers are demanding better food, and it’s up to food companies to supply this growing demand. It’s up to food companies to capitalize on the new opportunity and win customers with new healthy options.

Inspired by nielsen.com

Developer Creates More Visual Food Data With Interactive App

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More consumers are reading food labels than ever before. Customers expect packaged foods to contain the appropriate and promised ingredients. A developer has reinvented food data by launching a new web app, Sage Project. Co-founded by Sam Slover and backed by the FDA, the Sage Project is an online platform that gives food data and labels a new visual understanding of what we are eating.

 

The Sage Project

The project deconstructs thousands of food products–both fresh and packaged–into a personalized, interactive platform that contains necessary information you would find in conventional food labels. The information accessed with this app includes nutrients, calories, allergens, vitamins, and ingredients. But aside from providing food data, the developer wanted to communicate the nutritional content and what it means in the context of the health of an individual. The app also contains information on how it affects the fitness goals and activity levels of a person.

The app itemizes all the ingredients regarding weight in a list. While it is straightforward enough, the developer also ensured that the ingredients and nutrients also change depending on the serving size. This gives consumers a clear idea of how much of a particular ingredient or nutrient they are getting from the food in a specific amount.


Why People Are Not Reading Food Labels

There is a big reason why most consumers do not read food labels. While it takes some time getting used to reading food labels, conventional food labels are downright boring to look at. In a study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota, they revealed that one of the biggest reasons why people are not looking at labels is because they do not have strong visuals.

To solve this problem, the Sage Project deconstructed the traditional food label into an infographic. A list of the five most abundant nutrients of the food product is located at the top of the page, while an analysis of the nutritional content is found beneath it.

The app also features the types of exercises needed to burn off a particular food item when eaten; while an annotated list of ingredients including allergens is found in the lower part of the screen. Since most of the consumers are not familiar with some of the ingredients used in making a product, there are information icons beside each ingredient that you can scroll through to understand that particular ingredient better.

 

The Drawbacks to The Sage Project Food Data

The Sage Project provides a lot of information, which is one of its drawbacks. Some people just want their food labels to be straightforward. With so much information, some people may find the entire app overwhelming. However, the visual appeal of the data makes it easy to comprehend for the more data savvy generation, millennials.

 

According to Angela Lemond from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, consumers might experience information overload when using this app. But nevertheless, this app can be customized to fit any customers’ dietary restrictions as well as health goals. What matters is that this app can help a lot of people make the right health decisions when it comes to their food.

Inspired by wired.com

New Research: Food Shopping Habits of Millennials

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The food landscape is ever changing, and so does the behavior of people. Watershed Communications, a national brand strategy agency, conducted a study regarding the food shopping habits of Millennials. The participants, aged 18 to 35 years old, were asked to describe a food brand that they found authentic. They also had to answer questions related to their food shopping habits.

Millennials are considered the most highly engaged shoppers in all demographics. They are also the ones who have more shopping demands and higher capacities. With this study, companies will be able to understand the food shopping habits of Millennials so that they can apply the information in developing new products to meet their desires.

Food Shopping Habits Among Millennials Shows Branding Wins

Studies have found out that 84% of millennials can describe a particular brand or product that they have just discovered. They learn about brands by reading magazines, but they are keen on finding new brands through the internet. Once they have heard of a particular brand, 61% of millennials will share the information with their friends, family, and acquaintances while 63% plan to buy the product.

Millennials are consistent with the brands and products that they use. According to US food analyst Alexia Howard from the Stanford C. Bernstein, most millennials opt for products that are authentic, simple and consistent.

Millennials habits food shopping

The Need for Authenticity

Millennials have a constant need for authenticity in their products. Authenticity of a brand can be difficult to define, but five characteristics determine the authenticity of a particular product as follows:

  • The use of clean ingredients: Clean ingredients refer to ingredients that are real, natural, organic, and fresh. Clean ingredients are expected and demanded by millennials to ensure that safety and quality of the product that they are buying.
  • High-quality products: Quality products use top-of-the-line ingredients. Quality food products should also have great flavor.
  • True to its mission:  Authentic brands should stay true to its mission. They should stick to their claims.
  • Culturally accurate: A lot of millennials are exposed to global brands, but many of them feel that brands that honor their cultural heritage are more authentic than those that try to appeal to a market audience that are thousands of miles away from them.
  • Transparent: Transparency is imperative in defining the authenticity of products. Transparency divulges the origin of the product and the processes that it has to go through before landing on your table.

Millennials make decisions instantaneously. They are also the most influential. For instance, a 35-year-old mother can make decisions for her children to purchase a particularly healthy snack or she can encourage her parents to buy a product that she has already tried and tested.  It is, therefore, necessary for companies to use this information to create products and a marketing strategy to attract them.

Inspired by businesswire.com

 

Baby Boomers Want More Clean Label Products

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Clean label is a new term used in the food manufacturing industry to depict food as only using simple and natural ingredients. The trend was expected to appeal to the younger consumers, but clean label products surprisingly appeal to the baby boomers too.

Baby boomers or those who belong in their fifties are the ones who readily patronize baby boomers. According to Dr. Elizabeth Sloan, president of the Sloan Trends, Inc., this particular demographic has both the time and money to buy clean label products.

Why Does It Appeal to The Boomers?

baby boomer clean label products real ingredientsConsumers have different reasons for why they opt for products with such labels. Younger people look for products that are all-natural, gluten-free, and organic. Baby boomers have an even simpler reason, and that is to avoid artificial additives in their products. There is an increasing interest for products with clean labels among baby boomers as this age group is starting to experience many health setbacks. The need for clean and natural food is essential to maintain good health for all ages.

In the research conducted by Sloan Trends, they investigated different products with clean labels and the age groups that patronize them. A whopping 76% of the correspondents who are 65 and above opt for products with clean labels for health reasons while contributors who are 50 to 64 gave a higher value for health at 75%.

The Domino Effect of Clean Label Products

There is a domino effect on this buying trend among older consumers. The report from the Organic Trade Association showed that the food sales of organic products in the United States rose to 11% in 2014 which is equated to $35.9 billion. Moreover, one-third of the consumers opts for organic products because they know that the products are all-natural and do not contain GMOs. Many consumers are confused when differentiating organic, non-GMO and naturally-flavored. For instance, a strawberry shortcake may not contain real strawberries but are just naturally flavored with strawberries.

The thing is, while clean labeling a buzzword among many consumers, it remains a very complicated topic that needs to be defined by the experts. The Food and Drug Administration coupled with the U.S. Department of Agriculture should work hand in hand to make it easier for consumers to understand the new labeling as well as the food that they are buying.

After all, clean labeling boils down to one thing: avoidance of artificial additives. Whether you are a boomer or millennial, people want real food made with real ingredients.

Inspired by foodbusinessnews.net

Flexitarians: A Food Manufacturer’s New Best Friend

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American consumers are now opting to eat less meat in favor for plant-based protein sources like nuts, beans, and jackfruit.  Dubbed as “flexitarians” or the flexitarian diet, this has sparked a new trend in the market for products that feature meaty texture and flavors minus the meat. Around 38% of Americans claim that they have at least one meatless day in a week. So why are they gaining traction? While vegans and vegetarians are becoming increasingly popular, there are more flexitarians and they have a high demand for plant-based protein snacks and meals.

The Rise of the Flexitarians                                                       

There is an increasing number of people whose diets lean towards plant-based foods. In the United States alone, more than 120 million people claim that they follow the flexitarian diet.  This is a tremendous market opportunity that is twice as large as the domestic vegan and vegetarian markets. Also called as part-time vegetarians, flexitarians have influenced many food manufacturing companies to develop new products that will appeal not only for the flexitarians but also to vegetarians and vegans.

The Effect of the Flexitarian Diet

The rise of consumers who follow the flexitarian diet has also increased the demand for food manufacturers to create alternative plant-based proteins. According to Lu Ann Williams from Innova, these alternative products are becoming more sophisticated over time. Gone are the days when people can only opt for soy and tofu as alternative protein sources. NutriFusion in particularl offers a variety of plant-based protein options for food manufacturers including potato, pea, cranberry, and hemp.

made good products grandfusion vegetables vitaminsAside from creating alternative protein sources, many food manufacturers are also joining the bandwagon of free-from foods. Free-from foods are those that do not contain a particular detrimental ingredient. These include gluten-free, dairy-free and allergen-free foods. Many food manufacturers produce these specialty food products for flexitarian consumers who suffer from certain conditions that can be triggered by the presence of “detrimental” foods.

The rise of the flexitarian diet has led many food manufacturing companies to launch new products. The number of launches that feature vegetarian claims has increased by more than 60% from 2011 to 2015. Products with vegan claims also rose to 4.3% from 2.8% from 2012 to 2014.

Consumer Food Market Trends Colliding 

beyond meat nutrifusion natural vitamins fruit vegetablesIt seems the rise of the flexitarian is due to the collision of the health, nutrition, and wellness trends in the market. The “clean label” and “simple ingredients” trends fall in line with the demand from flexitarians. Many flexitarian consumers are now opting for products that are made from natural ingredients using natural processing methods.

For instance, the use of natural processing methods such as the cold-pressing of juices has also increased by 64% between 2011 and 2015. The same growth has been observed in products like chilled soups. Using natural processing methods has led many food companies to invest in new machinery and equipment to meet the demands of the consumers.

Plant-based protein and ingredients are booming, and it doesn’t look like they are slowing down anytime soon. Food companies should launch more new products that appeal to this 120 million consumer market over the next five years.

Inspired by prnewswire.com

Simple Ingredients are Attracting Consumers to Natural Products

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Many consumers are not only more health conscious but are also becoming more careful shoppers. While many consumers still don’t look at the label, a growing group is focused on natural food and beverage products with simple ingredients.

The Clean Label Trend

There is an increasing number of people opting for clean labels. A clean label is simplifying the list of ingredients in a particular food and beverage product. It is a guiding purchasing behavior for future consumers, but it is a challenging call for food manufacturers.

This particular trend follows the five-ingredient rule which means that products should contain fewer and more recognizable ingredients to become attractive to many consumers. As this trend has evolved over time, efforts have also been made by many food and beverage manufacturers to use simple ingredients, and ensure that the ingredients used are as natural as possible.

Natural Ingredients are Simple Ingredients in Consumer Minds

With a lot of food products marketed as containing natural ingredients, many consumers find it difficult to define what “natural ingredients” means. Unfortunately, many food products claiming to be natural either have legitimate claims or just use buzzwords. The agency responsible for the ingredients’ definitions is the Food and Drug Agency (FDA).

So what are natural ingredients? Food writer Michael Pollan defines such ingredients as those that consumers can easily pronounce and recognize. These ingredients should be as close to their natural form and should not be overly processed nor should they contain additives like dyes or artificial preservatives.

The Demand for Natural Food Products

Clean labels are very popular throughout the industry and the demand for simple ingredients is influencing the sales of many food and beverage products. Many believe this trend is the leading reason for the organic & natural foods industry projected growth to experience a 14% rise in its total sales by 2020.

Unfortunately, this trend has also produced a lot of confusion among the consumers. According to global consumer research firm Mintel, more than 37% of the consumers remains confused about the information indicated in food labels, while 38% are skeptical of the information provided by these companies.

The solution to this confusion is to uphold transparency within the food industry so that this trend will resonate with all consumers. But how do food companies maintain transparency? Aside from making food labels comprehensible by using simple language, companies must reformulate their products using natural ingredients. Instead of using artificial sweeteners, natural alternatives may be employed. Food manufacturing companies can also look into their packaging and opt for a more sustainable look, instead of using plastic or foil packs.

This trend provides a tremendous opportunity for brands to increase revenue but also to connect with consumers. The cherry on top is brands will be seen as more trustworthy if they adopt simple ingredients and create clean labels for their products.

Inspired by fooddive.com

Small Rivals Assaulting Big CPG Brands for Market Dominance

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Gone are the days when owners of traditional consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands can sleep well at night. With small brands gaining traction today, brands like Nestle, Procter & Gamble, General Mills and Unilever are experiencing problems they didn’t see coming. The rise and dominance of small brands between 2011 and 2015 caused large conglomerate food companies to lose nearly 3% of their market share in the United States.  In the study conducted by data provider IRI and Boston Consulting Group, emerging local competitors are now being considered as threats to big multinational companies.

The Rise of Smaller Competitors

Why are large CPG companies suffering from decline? Marketing experts believe that size has something to do with it. One of the challenges of giant companies is their centralized decision-making processes and their consolidation of manufacturing processes. With the popularity of the brands themselves, companies have to spend millions of dollars in advertising and shelf placements at retailers.

On the other hand, advertising is also changing through time. TV advertising is no longer effective according to Nik Modi from RBC Capital Markets. With the rise and relevance of social media, it has provided an avenue for small brands to market their products to many people. In fact, hundreds of small brands have benefited from the rise of e-commerce as online sales have increased over the past five years.

Fast-Changing Market for CPG Brands

Many multinational giants find it hard to keep up with the fast-changing market trends. For instance, many people tend to patronize local companies producing essential products.  Ali Dibadj of Sanford C. Bernstein research firm pointed out that in many developing countries, middle-income consumers assume that Western products are superior therefore expensive; instead, they opt for local products that are cheaper but are just as effective.

In China, for instance, the sale of a local toothpaste manufacturer Yunnan Baiyao Group rose from 10% to 45% which indicated that the small local brands are being patronized instead of the branded consumer packaged goods (CPG).

Another interesting thing about small brands is that most consumers trust small brands more than the established ones. In the survey conducted by consultancy firm Deloitte, 10% of the respondents said that they are willing to pay more for the “craft” or “artisan” version of products than the mass-produced ones from large enterprises. This is one of the reasons why there is a rise of small companies that market the idea of “artisan,” “craft,” and “organic.”

Small Brands Remain Competitive

The market situation has provided an excellent opportunity for smaller brands.  These brands have contributed to the introduction of new products in the market. In America, for instance, more than 4,000 craft brewers have emerged over the last ten years as well as thousands of small brands using real, organic, and non-GMO ingredients.

What are big companies doing to address the problem? Aside from merging with other big companies to create better versions of their products, many are also backing smaller rivals. For instance, companies like Campbell Soup and Hain Celestial have helped small consumer packaged goods companies to manufacture organic baby foods.

The market remains strong for giant CPG companies, but they will have to pay closer attention to their nimbler, smaller counterparts. We will see more and more companies acquire small brands to fill their voids in market trends.

Inspired by economist.com

2016 American Consumer Snacking Trends

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Snacking is very popular among Americans. Most believe that snacks give them the energy to sustain their daily activities. Americans take snacks seriously and 75% of consumers place more importance on the health value of snacks than the taste.  In fact, the preference to healthy indulgence was reflected in the snack trends presented by the National Confectioners Association’s Sweet & Snacks Expo of 2016.

Hybrid Snacks

Hybrid snacks refer to those that are made from a combination of many ingredients like chips or meat snacks. During the expo, there was a rise in protein packed trail mixes that are made from meats and carbohydrates. Brands like Farmer’s Pantry, Tanka and Oberto have introduced hybrid snacks, and the general public has embraced. This type of snack trend has also led to the creation of unusual combinations like chocolate-covered meat jerky and pizza crust chips.

Fruit and Vegetables 

snacking on fruit and vegetables good health veggie straws nutrifusion grandfusion natural vitaminsSnacks that are based on fresh fruit and vegetables are very popular. These include the sweet dried or chocolate dipped fruits to the tasty veggie chips. Many consumers opt for fresh fruit and vegetable snacks because they are not only satisfying but also healthier than traditional snacks. Using an ingredient like GrandFusion nutrient blends gives brands the opportunity to add natural vitamins from fruit and/or vegetables without impacting the taste or texture of the snacks.

Emoji-Shaped Foods

Emoji-shaped snacks are preferred not because they are healthy but because they look attractive. The trend of snacking on emoji-shaped foods allows people to communicate their emotions without using words–just snacks. From Pez dispensers to emoji gummies, consumers will be able to express themselves with food.

Original Snacks

Eating old snacks like Hershey’s Kisses is nostalgic. One of the snack trends that seasoned food companies have adapted is to innovate their existing products. For instance, Cadbury created a new line of Crème Egg Cookies while Reese’s  and then collaborated with Hershey’s to create an ice cream topping. There is a need for popular brands to innovate to stay afloat in a competitive snack industry.

Global Flavors

Conventional snacks are made more interesting by infusing global flavors into them. Many food manufacturing companies incorporate new and exotic flavors to make their snacks interesting. For instance, Pop Art’s flavored popcorn features different flavors such as tandoori yogurt, nori sesame, and Thai coconut curry.

superfood snacking simple ingredients real ingredientsSnacking on Simple and Real Ingredients

With the high demand for snacks with clean labels, many food brands now feature simple ingredient lists that lack artificial colors and flavors. Most food companies also feature super food ingredients such as mulberries, goji berries, acai berries, and chia seeds. This particular snack trend caters to consumers who prefer to buy products made from natural ingredients. Although the price of healthy snacks is higher than conventional snacks, people consider it more bang for the buck.

Americans are snacking more than ever compared to the past few decades. The demand for new snacks from the consumers is driving many food companies to innovate and launch new products regularly. What will your next break-through snack be?

Inspired by mintel.com