The pursuit of good health used to be a fairly straightforward proposition. There was likely a diet component and an exercise component, maybe supplemented by an annual trip to the doctor for a checkup.
Today, Americans’ attitudes are more complicated and nuanced. For starters, it’s no longer about “health” but also “wellness.” And the varieties of approaches and goals implicit in those two words are plentiful.
Consumers in the 2020s are considering choiceful eating and balance. The pandemic drove home how important it is for people to think about how to balance work and family, how best to spend their time and how to think about health and wellness holistically.
And “health” no longer means just physical health. The importance of mental health continues to grow, and more and more people are adding it to their personal definitions of health and wellness.
Functional food ingredients that support better sleep, reduced stress and improved focus are in demand and driving product innovation. Research from Lightspeed/Mintel found that nearly 70% of consumers currently use products that feature a functional benefit, and 40% use products with three or more functionalities.
According to The NPD Group, the concept of food as medicine went mainstream during COVID. Americans are trying foods that help them build immunity, prevent inflammation, aid their digestive health and relieve stress and anxiety.
Forty-three percent of U.S. adults say that staying healthy and living longer are top wellness goals they want to achieve through their food and beverage choices, according to NPD. Boosting immunity and reducing inflammation are top health concerns consumers look to achieve or treat with food and ingredients.
“With omnichannel consumption of information, the ways consumers are learning about callouts and benefits has to be different than they ways they have connected in the past.”
– Kathy Sargent, Global Market Director at Corbion
Tech leads the way
Technology’s ever-growing presence in our lives means there are countless apps to help guide us in our health and wellness journeys, giving us more options — and more responsibility — for choosing what’s best for us.
Consumers are taking deep digital dives into ingredients, the functional benefits of the foods they choose and foods that will benefit their immunity. They’re customizing what health and wellness means to them, looking for definitions that fit their particular lifestyles. For instance, Noom, WW and other apps are making it easier than ever to do just that.
When it comes to baked goods, the evolution of health and wellness has also taken many forms. For some, it means incorporating more whole grains or low-carb, keto, gluten-free or plant-based options into the breads and other items they choose.
“There is a way to be healthy with layers of consumption, providing a range from private label to premium with different labeling and positioned options, such as low-sodium and low-carb, allowing a variety of customers to enjoy products they perceive as healthy,” said Ricardo Moreira, Director of Product Management at Lenexa, Kan.-based Corbion.
With COVID (hopefully) receding, there is an added dimension to people’s health and wellness decisions. People want to make up for lost time, recreating past positive experiences — and food is playing a starring role. For bakery in particular, it’s all about re-experiencing the shareability of foods. Shareable breakfast items like muffins or donuts are sure to draw a crowd. Or crusty artisan bread with extra virgin olive oil for dipping serves as a dinner starter.
Post-COVID, consumers will be more choiceful in selecting products that will help them manage their holistic health. They’ll be more aware of product ingredients and cleaner labels and be more likely to choose products with ingredients that they can pronounce.
Getting the message across
To make sure bakers and manufacturers deliver what consumers are looking for in this more complex environment, communication is crucial. Many companies have had to change the way they connect with consumers and customers.
With many people working from home, they’re using online resources to look for information. As a result, companies need to build up their digital capabilities to communicate with them – to ensure that they get, and keep, their products in front of consumers. In the digital world, consumers often search more by product attribute, so manufacturers need to ensure they are building web content that highlights product attributes that will aid consumers in finding their products.
“With omnichannel consumption of information, the ways consumers are learning about callouts and benefits has to be different than they ways they have connected in the past,” said Kathy Sargent, Global Market Director at Corbion.
What is communicated and who communicates is crucial, as is transparency regarding information. Customers feel better if they know something specific about the product – where it was sourced from — or whether the company uses ethical practices, for example.
One surefire way for manufacturers to communicate effectively is to make ingredient labels more consumer friendly. Replacing “chemical-sounding” ingredients with more natural, “real” ingredients is a great place to start.