“Healthy eating costs less right now and despite the economy, consumers are actively taking steps to improve their diets,” said Nielsen director of industry insights, Tom Pirovano.
“Consumers in the US might be trimming the fat from their budgets and diets, but contrary to predictions, they continue to demonstrate a healthy appetite for foods featuring health and wellness claims.”
Other foods to benefit from the healthy eating trend included those containing antioxidants (+16%); fiber (+12%); and gluten-free/probiotic/calcium (all +13%).
High fructose corn syrup-free foods (+29%) and low glycemic/no salt or sodium added foods (+10%) also performed well.
Nielsen observed it was older, more established claims that were holding their popularity against “upstart health and wellness claims”.
Natural claims and better-for-you claims such as reduced sodium continued to perform well, generating respective sales of $22.8bn and $14.9bn. Reduced calorie foods notched increased sales of six percent to reach $11.7bn.
Nielsen noted that products making natural claims outsold organic foods by about 4:1 in food, drug and mass merchandise retailers excluding Walmart.
But “Lowers cholesterol” claim-bearing products lost five percent to come in at $10.6bn.
“The uptick in effective statin drugs used to lower cholesterol may be a primary contributor to the decline in popularity—a trend to watch. If an equally effective weight-loss drug is ever developed, it may have a similar impact on ‘low-fat’, low calorie and sugar-free products,” he said.
Soy claims fell six percent in mainstream outlets and and 4.1 percent in natural food channels according to SPINS. Flax/hemp sales fell eight percent to be worth $137m, but showed improvement in the health store channel.
“Savvy marketers understand that being part of a healthy lifestyle solution reflects positively on almost any brand—or retailer,” Pirovano concluded.
“Retailers can further leverage and deepen their relationship with shoppers through programs ranging from Wii Fit exhibitions on-site to light cooking demonstrations and product tastings. With no shortage of news stories on child obesity, families will continue to seek out brands and retailers offering healthy alternatives.”