burcon blog

With the new year rounding the corner, it’s time to talk about the food and beverage trends to look forward to for 2012. Some trends stuck around from 2011 while some are newcomers on the top ten list. As you can imagine, the demand for health and wellness products is still going strong and is predicted to remain the biggest market pull of 2012. Food and beverage makers are looking for ways to either 1) improve the nutritional profile of their existing products; and/or 2) launch healthier, better-for-you products.

A new survey conducted by Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Prevention magazine says that the majority of consumers consider added health ingredients to be more of a purchase driver than the absence of undesirable ingredients such as saturated fat, sodium and sugar.

With the health and wellness trend going so strong, you would expect consumers to gobble down any food and beverage that promotes added health benefits. It seems that is not the case at all. In a new consumer survey, taste and price were found to be the most influential factors for the purchase of functional foods.

Obesity is growing into epidemic proportions worldwide, particularly in the North Americas. The prevalence of obesity increased significantly in both the United States and Canada, nearly doubling the estimates since 1980. A recent study revealed that obesity is significantly higher in U.S. adults than among their Canadian counterparts.

Over the past few months, there has been a surge in functional food and beverage products on the market and we are starting to see which ones are catching onto consumers. It seems as though products promoting health and beauty are gaining ground.