Global megatrends and their impact
on the food industry
Every year numerous food trend analyses are being conducted and published by
industry experts and market intelligence agencies. Insight has identified a number
of trends or themes that most analysts agree will heavily influence the future of the
food industry.
One recurring theme is the call for a transparent food
industry that promotes products with sustainable, ethical
and even moral qualities. Today’s consumers, particularly
the large and powerful millennial generation, are making
informed choices in this regard and often scrutinize the
credentials of companies.
Products that support a healthy and active lifestyle is
another frequent theme as consumers seeking health benefits
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are in search for a more holistic approach to health and
wellness. The rise of fat as a key nutrient and the focus on
sugar as a new enemy, are important health themes that are
thought to make major differences within the food industry
going forward.
A growing number of consumers, particularly the younger
generation, make personalized dietary decisions based on
recommendations found online, as traditional dietary norms
have shown to be flawed. With people making their own
rules and experimenting to support their diets, this “personalization
trend” is expected to highly influence the future of the
food industry.
Although all these trends, in and of themselves, are
important and interesting there are, for a company like
AAK, three that are of particular interest: plant-based dairy
products, the concept of snackification, and premiumization.
Plant-based
Plant-based foods have for the last couple of years seen
significant growth, both in consumer popularity and in
strategic importance. Starting off as a niche, the trend is
now slowly moving into the mass market where the growth
potential is enormous. The trend is supported by a number
of different drivers, including efforts to lower sugar intake and
to eat the “right kind” of carbs. Plant-based foods present
major opportunities not only for the dairy industry with its fast
emerging non-dairy drinks, but also within snacking, pre-
prepared vegetables, and as meat substitutes.
Many food industry experts assert that this trend, despite
its name and direction, is not about a rise in vegetarianism or
veganism. Mainstream consumers, their argument goes, are
still happy with animal-based foods – alongside, not instead
of, plant-based foods.
Snackification
Most categories are trying to get a piece of the snacking
market as consumers not only snack between meals but
sometimes instead of them. The snackification trend opens
up great opportunities for product developers as consumer
preferences are many and varied and as people tend to be
willing to pay for new and innovative healthy snacks.