Consumer health and wellbeing targets reach new heights
The global consumer trend research, published this week (October 2nd), shows consumers are increasingly curious about products that can improve their microbiome health and allow them to push themselves further in their fitness pursuits.
“From gut-friendly fermented foods to probiotic skincare, consumers will demand products that balance and boost the natural bacteria found in and on the body,” said Simon Moriarty, director of trends at Mintel EMEA.
Moriarty says products focusing on microbiome health have come to the market and pushed awareness of this aspect of wellbeing so there’s been an increased demand for products tailored to certain health needs.
He told Nutraingredients: “In terms of gut health, we know more people are interested in things like growing bacteria cultures at home (and in some cases gifting them) and adding them to things like Kombucha tea.”
Personalisation
The Mintel research shows consumers are increasingly seeking personalisation with as many as 42% of Brits interested in a personalised diet based on their genes/DNA.
“Developments in health monitoring, such as skin sensors or ingestible capsules, will satisfy consumers’ demand for this personalised approach, while also building on scientific research in these emerging fields.”
Moriarty adds this interest in the microbiome could be considered the next step on from ‘mindfulness’, which was all the rage last year and saw people putting more importance on doing and buying things that would improve their mental wellbeing.
“Over the last few years we have seen people being more aware of different areas of their life to target to improve their overall mental and physical wellbeing. Partly this is due to increased pressures and stresses - financial uncertainty, global unrest, an uncertain job market - and people are looking for ways to help themselves.
“Because of the wealth of information online, consumers can quickly and easily research into what they can eat, drink, apply to their skin, that will help them de-stress, lose weight, feel less tired and more.”
Looking to the future, Moriarty believes consumers will use more technology to improve their health and wellbeing, with the growth in tech products allowing people to monitor and track their bodies.
Pushing the boundaries
Mintel has also uncovered a ‘challenge accepted’ consumer trend which is seeing people push themselves further and expand their comfort zones wider as their aspirations are emphasised by social media.
Moriarty points out that this, along with the technology that allows people to measure themselves against others, has created many new communities of likeminded people. All this added competition is bound to increase people’s health and wellbeing targets.
“Our ‘challenge accepted' trend highlights people not just looking to push themselves in terms of trying a new diet or a new hobby but using social media to measure themselves against others and also to inspire people to follow their lead - creating communities of people that are interested in new challenges such as improved gut health.”
