It's About The Consumer
'Health through diet' -- two thirds of consumers
are looking to functional foods and beverages for extra health benefits.
Consumers are searching for
new delivery systems and product formats and are transferring their interest
and buying habits from condition-specific supplements to functional foods and
beverages. This follows the ancient belief; .'food as medicine'.
According to Steve French
(2007) two out of five consumers now believe that functional foods and
beverages can be used in place of medicines, this is a 54% increase over 2003.
Additionally while 49% of consumers use condition specific supplements, 65%
report using functional foods and beverages, which is a 40% increase over 1999,
and the market just continues to grow. growing.
Healthy eating and drinking is having a big impact in the hospitality industry as well. 71% of
diners report trying to eat healthier. and 31% say that they always look for
healthy items on the menu. (National
Restaurant Association 2007)
As
consumers increasingly take a more holistic view of their health, they are
looking to foods and beverages for prevention, as well as to complement medical
treatment. Effective innovation must
center on health. This is what consumers
expect and they will accept nothing less.
Opportunities now exist for industry to target the consumers more specific medicinal needs and
wants. This attitude presents a golden
opportunity for functional food and drinks producers.
The Bottled Water Industry
In March 2006, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published guidelines for beverage
consumption after reviewing years of research on beverages and health. The review panel stressed that a healthy diet
must include adequate intake of water for
metabolism and normal physiological functions. In fact, they stated, water is
the only fluid that the body truly needs.
Wall Street and investment managers are predicting the bottled water market (or, as one
enthusiast called it, the "blue gold" market) will keep growing.
Water, some financial investment managers say, is the next-best thing to oil or
diamonds.
2006 wholesale bottled water
sales hit the $50 billion global market. The new
research, completed by drinks consultancy Zenith
International, predicts that global consumption per person of bottled water
is relentlessly moving to overtake carbonated soft drinks as the world's
Number 1 beverage.
For the first time
in US history, bottled water outsold milk according to Beverage Digest,
which recently published US beverage sales results for 2006, a May 4 story in
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Fortified Water Beverage Industry
"The Nike of the enhanced water world could be waiting in the wings"
- Allen Gibson, BeverageStocks.com
In 2005 Mintel projected that the sale of wellness/functional
beverages would grow from a $10 Billion in 2004, to a $12.8 billion industry by
2009.
The
fortified water category is leading the industry. Functional waters are the latest 'must-have'
lifestyle products. In fact they are fast making inroads into the beverage's
category and reclaiming premium price points. The market for enhanced waters increased more than twenty-fold between
2000 and 2004, and according to one reporter they have doubled their pace since
then. John Sicher said these products
are "at the tip of the intersection of two key trends. One is consumers'
continuing love affair with bottled water. The other is consumers' growing interest in beverages that do more than
refresh and taste good.they offer a functional benefit"
Enhanced
water may be still considered a niche market now, but that's what experts
called plain water 10 years ago. Sales are forecast to double to $5.6 billion
by 2010, says Nutrition Business Journal.
It is already the fastest-growing market segment according to research by
Beverage Marketing Corp. (BMC) in New York.
The Fiber Industry
On The "Oprah" Winfrey show and in their respective books, both diet guru Bob
Greene, and world renowned Heart Surgeon Memhet Oz M.D., stress the importance of fiber in one's diet daily
Tanya Zuckerbrot M.S. R.D. Author of the F-Factor Diet who has contributed to
"Shape," "Glamour", "Red Book", and serves on the board of Men's Fitness, not
to mention appearing on "Today" and on Fox News, asks the question "If you saw
a food label that said "May reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer,
could lower your cholesterol and control your appetite," you would think that
it was a scam. Yet that is exactly what fiber does. Adding fiber to your foods is one of the best
things you can do to increase the chance of living a long and healthy life. Fiber is for everyone! In fact the prestigious Mayo Clinic
firmly states that " dietary
fiber is an essential part of a healthy diet. The Harvard School of Public Health
recommends that children over age two should consume an amount equal to or
greater than their age plus five (5) grams per day.
Consumers
realize that their diets are not giving them the nutrition that they need. Most important is the fact that the general
population is becoming ever more aware of their need for fiber.
According
to the National Marketing Institute (NMI) Health and Wellness Trends Database
in 2002, 30.9% of the population was aware of their need for fiber in their
daily diet, where as only 24.9% were aware of their need for daily Vitamin C.
29% of people surveyed
ranked high fiber as a characteristic of healthy food. This is the fourth highest behind fresh food
(40%) whole grains (36%) and low fat (30%) Food
for Life Monitor, Yankelovich
In
a survey of U.S. adults, 65% agreed that they were trying to include plenty of
fiber in their diet, according to data gathered by Simmons Market Research
Bureau in a study conducted in 2006. A further survey of attitudes towards
functional foods found that the foods most likely to be eaten for a specific
health concern included; 63% indicating fiber for heart disease and 59% for
reducing cancer.
The
United States Government established The National Fiber Council in 2004, whose
Mission statement is "to serve as a primary resource for credible information
about the benefits of dietary fiber for consumers and health care
professionals." The Council's job is to educate the population on the importance of
fiber in relation to reducing the threat of such illnesses as; many forms of
cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, weight loss and management,
and digestive diseases to maintain a healthy digestive tract so as to fight
infection and reduce inflammation.
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