Seriously Healthy

With 109 million Americans over age 50, unprecedented interest in health among Millennials, and a new baby boom—which traditionally accelerates interest in living a healthier lifestyle, the time for a wider variety of more highly fortified and condition-specific functional foods and drinks is now. According to the Hartman Group’s Health & Wellness 2015 report, the average consumer is managing 9.6 conditions— treating 3.4 and preventing 6.2; among those aged 70-plus, it is 10.3 conditions.

Nutritional/supplement drinks, bars, and meal replacements were among the top 10 fastest-growing food/beverage categories in 2016, up 9.8% for the year ended Oct. 1, 2016, per Nielsen. Dietary supplement sales topped $41 billion last year, up a whopping $2.6 billion over 2015, according to Nutrition Business Journal. Nearly half of Millennials (48%) used dietary supplements in 2016, up 9% over 2015, per the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s 2016 Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements.

One-third of Millennials recently made significant changes to their diet to manage a health condition, equal to the percentage of Baby Boomers who have done so, according to the Hartman Group’s 2016 Foodways of the Younger Generations. The number of households with kids that are buying more nutritious/fortified foods and beverages jumped 19% over the past two years, according to the Natural Marketing Institute.

According to Nielsen’s 2016 Ailment Survey, 48 million American households have someone with a health condition that they are trying to manage with diet, representing $268 billion in annual grocery sales. According to data from the American Heart Assoc., 95 million adults have blood cholesterol levels over 200 mg/dL; 29 million have levels over 240 mg/dL. Seventy-one million have high LDL cholesterol levels, 44 million have low HDL cholesterol, and 86 million have high blood pressure.

The American Heart Assoc. reports that 23.4 million people have diagnosed diabetes, 7.7 million have undiagnosed diabetes, and 82 million have prediabetes. More than 165 million U.S. adults are overweight; 86 million are obese. Nielsen reports that 43% of households have a member who suffers from an allergy, 34% include someone with acid reflux/heartburn/digestive issues, and 20% have a member who suffers from depression/anxiety. One in five Americans over age 18 have doctor-diagnosed arthritis, per the National Arthritis Foundation.

Among those treating a medical issue, cholesterol-lowering was the most desired functional food claim, followed by high blood pressure, diabetes/impaired glucose metabolism, weight management/weight loss, digestive health, bone/joint health, immunity, energy/vitality, and hunger control, according to Packaged Facts’ 2016 Food Formulation Trends report.

More than half of consumers (52%) are interested in buying foods/beverages that help maintain good eyesight; 49% look for products that boost metabolism and/or remove toxins; and 46% want products that promote healthier skin, hair, and nails, according to HealthFocus research.

Savvy food marketers are eyeing nutritional supplements for growth, and with Millennials continuing to reject supplements in pill form, that’s a big idea. Three-quarters of adults took a multivitamin in 2016; 37% took vitamin D; 34%, vitamin C; 29%, calcium; 24%, a B vitamin; 20%, omega-3; 16%, vitamin E; 15%, magnesium/protein; and 13%, probiotics, according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition.

Probiotic supplements are projected by Nutrition Business Journal to grow from $1.9 billion to $3.1 billion in sales by 2020. Turmeric, grasses, and flax seed/oil were the top-selling herbal supplements in the natural channel last year, per the American Botanical Assoc. In mass channels, the best sellers were horehound, cranberry, echinacea, garcinia cambogia, and green tea. Whole food supplement sales are projected to top $2.6 billion by this year, per Nutrition Business Journal.

Energy-boosting, contains probiotics/prebiotics, vitamin/mineral fortified, and high protein are among the top 10 hot beverage consumer need/interest states for 2017, according to a survey conducted by Beverage Industry magazine.

Six in 10 consumers want snacks that deliver an energy boost, and 52% seek snacks that have health benefits beyond basic nutrition, according to IRI’s 2016 State of the Snack Food Industry report.

A new generation of fit consumers who embrace regular exercise will continue to drive the $37 billion sports nutrition market mainstream. More than half of adults exercise three or more days a week for more than 30 minutes, according to Nutrition Business Journal.

Cultures, vitamins/minerals, botanicals/bioactives, and polysaccharides/oligosaccharides are projected by Euromonitor to be the fastest-growing global specialty food and beverage ingredients.

A. Elizabeth Sloan, PhD, Contributing Editor
President, Sloan Trends Inc., Escondido, Calif.
[email protected]