One of the main reasons that protein is so popular with consumers, said Circana’s Ananda Roy recently, is that they know a lot about it. The benefits of protein, in other words, are common knowledge.
The upsides to other nutrients, meanwhile – such as antioxidants, amino acids and collagen – are not quite as well known.
Nevertheless, as the functional health trend blossoms and increasingly dominates the industry, consumers are looking to other nutrients, other benefits, and other functionalities than protein alone can give them.
Which nutrients do consumers desire?
Despite the prominence of protein, it isn’t the only thing that consumers are seeking to make their products healthier.
A survey by Circana revealed that 29% of people said fibre made a snack healthier, while 27% said vitamins and minerals.
Fibre, predicts Euromonitor’s Karine Dussimon, will take centre stage in the future, due in part to its presence in foods such as chickpeas and faba beans. So, she suggests, will biotics.
Meanwhile, consumers taking GLP-1 medications are looking for meals that can help them make up for nutrients lost due to the projected change in consumption patterns. Nestlé’s Vital Pursuit, a nutrient-dense food range specifically aimed at GLP-1 users, is an early example of this.
It doesn’t always work this way around, however. On many occasions, it is the health benefits that consumers are after, and the nutrients are but a means to an end.
What health benefits do consumers desire?
Of course, the reason for the popularity of functional health in the first place is not the nutrients themselves, but the health benefits they provide.
In 2024, according to Euromonitor, 30% of consumers were happy to pay more money for foods with health and nutritional properties. According to the survey, this aspect was “on track” to surpass affordability as the number one consideration among consumers.
“Shoppers increasingly see food products as the sum of their ingredients and their properties, rather than a final processed product – an investment in a healthier, longer life," said the survey.
One of the main benefits consumers are seeking is, perhaps unsurprisingly, gut health, and particularly the gut-brain axis, according to Euromonitor’s Dussimon.
Furthermore, weight management, while it has always been a concern for consumers, has moved from a focus on aesthetics to that of health itself, Dussimon explains.
Among health benefit claims projected to be common between 2024 and 2028, according to Euromonitor, are immune support, digestive health, bone and joint health, and brain and memory health.
However, according to a survey last month by Nielsen IQ, consumers still value avoiding ingredients they perceive as negative for health than consuming those that they perceive as positive.
For example, 44% of respondents wanted to cut down on processed foods, 44% said they’d like to cut down on sugar, and 35% expressed a desire to reduce fat.
In contrast, 26% wanted to increase fibre, 20% wanted to increase protein, 25% wanted products that prioritised gut health, and 17% wanted products with other key benefits such as omega, vitamins and probiotics.
