Aligning your business with what consumers really want is the strongest basis for success. But what consumers want is evolving. Our annual report – now in its 25th year – charts the shifting sands of consumer needs, motivation and fashion.

After 50 years of being promoted as one of the healthiest choices consumers can make, vegetable oils – the name used to describe the seed oils sunflower, canola and soy – are in trouble. A small but fast-growing percentage of consumers in the US and Europe are trying to avoid them. It’s an emergent free-from, but these free-froms have a habit of growing and becoming important in strategy. This Strategy Briefing explains the consumer and scientific concerns, sets out five steps companies can take, and shows what companies are doing to connect to this emergent consumer need.

Now in its 10th year, our unique five-country consumer survey is a guide to the long-term changes in consumer beliefs about food, nutrition and health. We have developed over the years a reliable way to explore with people what they’re eating, what they are avoiding and why – and this enables us to track long-term changes to discover what is emergent, what is changing, and what has stalled.