For the first time in many years, consumer food and drink trends are making a notable shift, driven by the likes of emerging weight loss medications like Ozempic and a desire to be “perfectly imperfect”. As a result, consumer demands are leading manufacturers into new territories.
But also, as climate change continues to grip the food and drink landscape, consumers are becoming more forgiving of makers’ challenges. Although, manufacturers will have to encourage consumers to “accept and trust [the] new origins” of ingredients and flavours emerging both locally and globally. While the benefits of the fast-merging of agriculture and technology will also need to be demonstrated by growers and manufacturers to consumers, according to Mintel’s latest Global Food and Drinks Trends report.
The evolution of consumer nutrition
Nutrition has evolved in the past decade from the restrictive diets of the 1990s and early 2000s to flexible ones. This has subsequently led to a recognition of how diet impacts inside and outside health – as documented by Mintel between 2015 and 2016.
In the current decade, consumers weighed up health and value before u-turning and scrutinising and demonising foods they considered to be ultra-processed.
Now they’re straddling the divide between health and indulgence, with nutrients core to their needs, says the report.
To help, manufacturers should focus on providing easy-to-understand information that focuses on key needs:
- 83% of Brazilian consumers want to be fuller for longer
- 67% of Indonesian consumers will try nutritionally-personalised food
- 64% of Chinese adults use social media to build their healthcare knowledge
- 52% of Indian consumers track diet and exercise to keep motivated
- 51% of Australians believe the way you age is dependent on maintaining fitness and nutrition
- 48% of US women want better education on women’s health
- 33% of Thai consumers will spend more on healthier foods
- 23% of Argentinian consumers won’t buy foods with unfamiliar ingredients
- 21% of German adults are trying to lose or maintain weight through glucose monitoring
Data will also become more important to the nutritious food demand and drive purchase intent in 2025. “Food and drink brands will have opportunities in the coming years to complement fibre and protein claims with stats on former diet villains, but also key macronutrients: fat and carbohydrates”, the report says.
Indulgent foods straddle health
While health is a common and steady theme for the sector, indulgence has evolved to mean multiple things to different consumers. For some it means convenience; others having a delicious treat daily; or banishing the guilt associated with unhealthy food and drink; and for those in the US, accepting that it’s ok to be average.
But what hasn’t changed is that new product development remains key to consumer engagement around indulgent food. Near two-thirds of Chinese consumers (63%) look for new foods and flavours to try and 58% of UK sweet consumers want to see brands collaborate on NPD.
“In the next few years, food and drink brands will apply a rule-breaking mentality to address consumer issues through less conventional solutions,” says the report.
“Brands exploring the less conventional inspirations to reach the routine or the newly discovered desires of ‘imperfect’ consumers will need to make their core or ‘rule-breaking’ benefits clear on pack.”
The importance of where food comes from
Equally, food provenance trends have significantly shifted since 2016, when consumers sought true stories, or in 2018 when total transparency was needed, or in 2021 when it was important to connect with a food or drink through shared ideals.
Now, as geopolitics, global warming and other factors impact supply chains, consumers are having to make peace with brands sometimes putting their own needs before theirs.
Most consumers, however, understand or align with the need for change, such as 77% of US voters saying foreign affairs are important and personal to them; 65% of Japanese consumers understanding they are powerless in the face of lifechanging world events; and 74% of French consumers who understand the impacts of climate change will affect what’s on supermarket shelves in the future.
“Looking ahead, the global food supply chain will continue to face disruptions caused by climate change, geopolitics and technology challenges,” the report says. “More importantly, consumers will feel the consequences of these challenges personally and brands must be ready with solutions.”
How ag-tech will impact consumer foods
Linked with unknown and uncontrollable global events is the rise of new food technologies. Consumers have lived through the lifechanging impacts of climate change from droughts. They have seen the emergence of engineered food in response, and the subsequent increasing role of science in food. But also, more consumers now face the real impacts of climate change and are experiencing more extreme weather events.
As a result, they expect tech to play an increasingly important role in feeding society, with 69% of Mexican consumers, for example, agreeing AI will make life easier; 53% of Indian consumers believing science will provide solutions to the climate crisis; and 47% of Brazilians saying tech will help people live more sustainably.
Further to that, more consumers are willing to consume food touched by tech:
- 52% in the US would eat engineered vegetables
- 40% of UK consumers want to know more about how their food is produced
- 23% of Italians would choose a genetically modified food or drink product if it was labelled as such
“Once companies have established themselves as trustworthy agricultural innovators and educators, food and drink brands will be more in a position to begin to integrate new technology into their products” the report says.
“Brands must prioritise how these advancements benefit the consumer first through better taste, greater nutrition or consistent supply – and the environment second.”