New Nutrition Business

10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health 2017

Which are the real GROWTH trends in food and health?

The ones that will still matter 5 years from now?

Our annual trend survey, now in its 20th year, gives you the answers.

Recent Case Studies Big food’s swift shift to real food

No CEO has summarised the strategic opportunity – and challenge – faced by larger food and beverage companies better than Denise Morrison, CEO of Campbell’s (America’s 24th biggest food company).

read more Protein snacking drives Hormel strategy makeover

Hormel Natural Choice snack packs bring together meat, cheese, nuts and fruits – a format that is growing rapidly in popularity with consumers – with a promise of no artificial ingredients or preservatives.

read more Why getting close to the consumer is good for the bottom line

Every food and beverage executive knows that to create winning products, you need to get close to the consumer – and you need to do so in a way that enables you to really learn and sparks creativity in NPD.

read more The princes of “permission to indulge”

Positioning a product so that people can give themselves the go-ahead to enjoy it and at the same time feel virtuous about their choice has consistently proven to be one of the smartest strategies any company can adopt.

read more The long slow death of low fat

It would have been unimaginable 10 years ago: Unilever wants to get out of the polyunsaturated spreads business and sell off brands worth $3 billion (€2.8 billion) in retail sales. The reason?

read more IRI sales stars shrinking – and no sign of plant-based trend

The mainstream consumer prefers animal-origin foods over plant-based foods; “natural and simple ingredients” isn’t as persuasive a marketing message as taste and pleasure; brands are getting smaller. These are three of the findings that leap out from IRI’s annual analysis of the most successful product launches in the US market.

read more Success of low-sugar brand reshaping ice-cream market?

The ice cream market is strewn with “healthy” ice-creams and ice-cream analogs that American consumers have rejected over the last 20 years. But it’s possible that an ex-lawyer whose low-sugar, low-calorie, protein-packed ice cream has become an unexpected success has finally figured out healthier ice cream.

read more Natural plant-based launches ‘stir up’ coffee creamer market

Coffee creamers have become the next traditional dairy category in which a market leader has succumbed to the temptation to field plant-based products. Nestle’s Coffee-mate recently announced a line made from almond milk and coconut milk, pursuing the hottest niche in a $3-billion business in which Coffee-mate holds a 68% share.

read more Water kefir targets dairy-free gut health

Gut health is in the limelight as fermented foods and drinks move probiotics out of the dairy aisle. Panacea Drinks’ sparkling water kefir range aims to tap into the growing interest in dairy-free, low-sugar drinks – with an added health boost.

read more “Here to please” with plants and convenience

A range of plant-based, home-delivered meals is out to convince people that frozen meals aren’t bad – and it’s grabbing attention with ingredients include black lentils, kamut, and spaghetti made from adzuki beans.

read more The rise of plant-based-protein bars

If ever there were a textbook case of how new companies have been changing the industry, Daniel Katz and his company is not that story. The D’S Naturals story is way more remarkable than that, a unique tale of what even the most unlikely entrepreneurs can still accomplish in this industry with insight, determination and hard work.

Meat still beats the plant-based trend

Screamin Sicilian pizza was the 6^th most-successful new product in America in 2016, earning $73.2 million in first-year sales.

The secret of its success? Meat. And lots of it. It has made a big hit thanks to meat-laden recipes with names like Boss Hog, Three Little Piggies and Mother of Meat.

There is no vegetarian or vegan option in the product range. The plant-based foods trend has yet to reach the Screamin Sicilian customer.

In fact two of the 10 most-successful new products launched in America in 2016 were meat brands. Their success is particularly striking given the claims by researchers and journalists that Americans – and millenials in particular – are lowering their meat consumption. In fact, there were no plant-based foods among the most-successful new launches of 2016.

And not all millenials are avoiding wheat, gluten and dairy. Screamin Sicilian make no concession to fashionable fears about gluten or any of the other ‘free-froms’.

Nor is everyone driven by clean label fever. Screamin Sicilian pizzas have on average over 40 ingredients, including many that we are told that people reject, such as:

Partially hydrogenated oils
Sugar
Wheat gluten
butylated hydroxyanisole
butylated hydroxytoluene

Yet their presence on the label has been no barrier to Screamin Sicilian’s success. It’s a reminder that people are willing to compromise – or overlook – a lot of things for a product that tastes great, is convenient and sold at a good price.

Read more on the blog

Julian Mellentin