Dairy has long been one of the most creative categories in the supermarket, creating new types of products and bringing new benefits to the consumer. But there is an increasingly wide gap between the performance of companies who understand the key consumer trends and make them part of their strategy – and those who do not.

“Key to success in dairy nutrition is that alongside your volume business you should incubate new products that are trend-connected – lower volume but usually higher margin,” said food industry consultant Julian Mellentin, author of a new report, 8 Key Trends in Dairy Nutrition. “These are the seeds from which future great trees can grow.”

Investors and consultants alike are full of excitement about the success potential of start-ups. Phrases like “there’s never been a better time to launch a start-up” pop up frequently. “But the reality is that although start-ups are doing better than established companies, they are only doing a little bit better,” says food industry analyst Julian Mellentin, director of New Nutrition Business.

Consumers are confused about what foods are good for digestive health, a new survey by consultancy New Nutrition Business reveals. The number of people who believe bread, meat and milk are good for digestion is almost equal to the number of people who believe they are bad.

The survey asked 3,000 people from the UK, Australia, Spain, Brazil and the US to rank some common foods as good or bad for their gut health.

Provenance, authenticity and artisanal processes are going mainstream and transforming food and beverage categories. The idea of foods and beverages having “provenance” – with a back-story anchored in heritage and trust and perhaps made in a traditional, artisanal way – is now entering the strategies of largest companies, according to 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition and Health 2019, the annual trend report from consultancy firm New Nutrition Business.

“The success of the craft beer and sourdough bread markets, which are fuelled by provenance, gives a taste of what the future will look like for many categories,” says Julian Mellentin, director of New Nutrition Business.

Social media activity around avocado, almonds and quinoa far outstrips that of activated charcoal, collagen or pea protein – suggesting that consumers are more interested in foods that are easy to understand and naturally healthy, a social media analysis by New Nutrition Business reveals.

New Nutrition Business analysed social media mentions of 20 selected health food ingredients on Instagram – the most popular social media platform for food-related subjects – between 2017 and 2018. The ingredients were ranked according to popularity, from those well-established and well-known to consumers to growing and emerging ingredients.

Faced with the challenges of a tiny domestic market and a geographically-isolated country, New Zealand food brands have become world leaders in successfully taking products with a Provenance and Wellness message to the Chinese market, according to a new report from international consultancy New Nutrition Business.

Powered by lactose-free innovation, dairy is challenging the dominance of plant milks, with US sales of lactose-free milk set to catch up with – and perhaps even overtake – almond milk.

Snacking is central to the strategy of ambitious and creative companies, with explosive growth in the number of new snacks launched between 2010 and 2017: 125% in Europe and 47% in North America.

But this huge growth means that healthy snacking is now an intensely competitive and crowded space, according to a new report from New Nutrition Business, Strategies in Healthy Snacking. “Companies have to work even harder to create a product that brings a real point of difference for the consumer,” says Julian Mellentin, author of the report.

UK consumers think that information about diet and health is confusing, and they would rather believe the internet than a dietitian.

In a survey of 2,000 consumers in the UK, US, Spain and Australia, conducted by New Nutrition Business, 79% said they find messages surrounding health, food and nutrition confusing.

Consumers’ quest for better carbohydrates and fewer carbohydrates is creating a wealth of large and growing opportunities, even in the mass market, according to 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition and Health 2018, the annual trends report from New Nutrition Business (available at www.new-nutrition.com).

Once shunned for its high saturated-fat content, coconut has been reborn as a star ingredient of better-for-you foods and beverages. Today Millennials largely perceive coconut as a naturally healthy food, and say it’s one of the main reasons they purchase coconut-based food products, new research by New Nutrition Business shows.

When PepsiCo, the world’s second-biggest food and beverage company, bought small fermented drinks maker KeVita in late 2016, it sent a clear sign that fermented foods have reached a tipping point.

When a giant food company invests $32 million in a startup focusing on personalized nutrition – as Campbell’s recently has – then you know that “personalization” has reached its tipping point. Personalized nutrition is a key growth opportunity for food and beverage companies as consumers increasingly turn to individually-tailored diets.

The massive fragmentation of consumers’ beliefs about health is contributing to the break-­up of traditional food and beverage markets and opening the doors of opportunity for start-­ups and small brands, says Julian Mellentin, director of New Nutrition Business and author of 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition and Health 2016. “Big food companies are being forced to rethink their business models,” he says.

Seaweed is a rare example of an opportunity to get in at Day One of a new growth market for snacks, predicts New Nutrition Business, with sales of seaweed snacks in the US already overtaking those of kale.

A fragmentação maciça das crenças dos consumidores sobre a saúde está a contribuir para a quebra dos mercados de alimentos e bebidas tradicionais e a abrir portas para novas oportunidades para start-­ups e pequenas empresas, diz Julian Mellentin, diretor da New Nutrition Business e autor do relatório das 10 Tendências Chave em Alimentação, Nutrição e Saúde 2016 (10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition and Health 2016). "Grandes empresas alimentares estão a ser forçadas a repensar as suas estratégias de negócios", diz ele.