Shifting demands: Where will the growth in healthy foods come from?

Will the trend for organic and minimally processed foods mean that the next generation of ‘health foods’ are simpler and take a back-to-basics approach that provides simple yet good nutrition?

Or will an ongoing demand for ‘optimal nutrition’ and more personalisation mean that more advanced foods that are ‘made to be healthy’ through fortification and the addition of new functional ingredients will be in the driving seat of healthy food growth?

We asked a range of industry experts at the recent Food Vision event where they saw the future growth of healthy foods coming from.

‘Healthification’ of foods

Mandy Saven, head of food, beverage & hospitality at Stylus, noted that there is a general trend for the ‘healthification’ of “all sorts of foods that are perceived as junk food.”​

Meanwhile, Thomas Schmidt of Beneo said that while consumers are ‘on the natural train’ at the moment, as people get older and begin to worry more about health they become more accepting of food solutions that help them to stay healthy.

Not ‘back to basics’ … but ‘back to science’

According to Jens Bleiel, CEO of Food for Health Ireland, the scientific validity of foods to improve health is the most important factor in determining where the growth in healthy foods will come from in the future.

“It can be back to basics, it can be a fortified ingredients, it can be a completely new product … but let’s understand, and let’s research it well,” ​he said.