New Nutrition Business forecasts trends for 2014

Whilst the protein trend has gone beyond the tipping point, many other growth opportunities are powering the food and health market, according to 12 Key Trends 2014, the annual industry forecast authored by Julian Mellentin and published by New Nutrition Business. “Dairy as a naturally functional whole food, slow energy, weight wellness, healthy snacking and ‘permission to indulge’ all present a wealth of possibilities for food and beverage companies,” says Mr Mellentin.

Weight wellness (Key Trend 5): Weight management is no longer a special category of foods. Consumers now think about weight as part of their everyday food choices and as a way of maintaining wellness. “This is creating winners and losers. Unilever’s and Nestlé’s weight management strategies lie in ruins, because they are based on an understanding of the market that was out of date five years ago,” he says. Slim-Fast sales are down 80 per cent and Nestlé is selling off most of its Jenny Craig business. Entrepreneurs who connect to consumers’ desire for an individualised approach based on normal foods, and who also connect to the most important trends, are the ones who are being most successful. An example is thinkThin, which offers products that are gluten-free (Key Trend 10), use minimal sugar (Key Trend 8), deliver 10 grams of protein (Key Trend 3) and use natural ingredients such as dark chocolate (Key Trend 1) to give people “Permission to indulge” (Key Trend 9).

Slow energy (Key Trend 7): Worldwide, interest in products delivering “slow release” or “sustained” energy has increased sharply, driven by the global success of Belvita breakfast biscuits. Although many companies are thinking about slow energy and blood glucose control in relation to diabetes, in fact the biggest opportunity for the food and beverage industry lies in providing sustained energy to the mass market. As yet, this is an early-stage trend, the claims are complex and the consumer messaging is difficult to get right. Product developers are turning to slowly digestible carbohydrates such as oats, barley, sorghum and millet.

New science is also underscoring dairy protein’s role (Key Trends 2 and 3) in delivering slow energy. Overlaying all of these trends is key trend 1, Naturally functional. However, cautions Mr Mellentin, “If you want to be successful, don’t use the word natural on your product. You run the risk of getting bogged down in a regulatory minefield – and there are plenty of other ways of communicating the naturalness of your product without ever using the word ‘natural’.”

The evidence is that in convenient product formats, “naturally healthy” ingredients will help give your product a health halo – and increase sales, sometimes significantly. Examples include:

Coconut water. Sales of coconut water – the liquid found inside green coconuts aged less than nine months – in the US have surged from zero inAdidas