Food Nutrients and Ingredients: Attitudinal and Behavioral Trends in Europe
Datamonitor
December 9, 2009 SKU: DFMN2524971
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Countries covered: Europe
Introduction
European consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious, and are therefore paying closer attention to the nutritional profile of foodsincluding ingredient composition. This puts additional pressure on regional food and beverage manufacturers to respond by reducing or cutting out fat, salt and sugar as well as preservatives, additives and colorings
Scope- A snapshot of the importance that European consumers attach to diet and nutrition and its impact on food buying habits such as label usage
- Analysis of the major food components such as fats, and European consumers' efforts to exclude, moderate or enhance such elements in their diets
- Covers other pertinent food issues impacting the propensity to consume such as consumer trust, product origin, and food allergens/intolerances
- Covers food and non-alcoholic beverages. Analysis focuses on French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish, Russian and UK consumers
Highlights
Maintaining or improving health has become more important to over two-thirds of European consumers in recent years. Accordingly, consumers are trying to make more informed choices by paying greater attention to specific ingredients. This partly explains why nutritional labelling has emerged as such an important topic in food and beverage marketing
In France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, more than 40% of respondents told Datamonitor in April/May 2009 that 'low/no' (added) sugar claims had a 'high' or 'very high' amount of influence on their general food and beverage product choice. This was higher than the equivalent response towards salt claims
Food allergies and intolerance to certain food types is driving an increasing market segment to focus on products which omit certain ingredients in formulation. While gluten-free claims have yet to exert significant influence over a large segment of consumers, allergen-free products are being recognized by a wider audience
Reasons to Purchase- Understand consumer attitudes and bevaviors regarding the most pertinent macronutrients to help inform product formulation and communication tactics
- Gain deep insight into the changing dietary behaviors of consumers in this highly important regional market
- Access data from two waves of primary research to increase the likelihood of being 'on-trend' with NPD and marketing plans in Europe
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- Overview
- Catalyst
- Summary
- Table of Contents
- Table of figures
- THE FUTURE DECODED
- INTRODUCTION: The nutritional specifics are becoming more important to Europeans as they become more attentive to their wider health through dietary intake
- TREND: Europeans are highly conscious of dietary issues and this translates into a growing attentiveness towards, and concern about, specific ingredients
- Health and nutrition is a top-of-mind consideration for Europeans which partially explains the high levels of satisfaction expressed about their general health and diet
- There appears to be considerable room for the healthy food and beverage in Europe market to grow
- A growing appetite for health information has emerged as consumers take interest in the formulation specifics
- Key takeouts and implications: the deepening link between diet and wellness in the mind of European consumers is important for the ongoing popularization of 'better-for-you' food and beverages
- INSIGHT: Portion and calorie control are often at the forefront of European consumers' efforts to be disciplined in their dietary choices
- Portion control is more commonly embraced by most Europeans than following a specific diet plan
- Calories have become an important measurement against which consumers make food and drink decisions
- Key takeouts and implications: it still only a minority of Europeans who are scrutinizing their caloric intake, but this behavior is expected to become more prominent as consumers shun strict diet plans
- INSIGHT: Reducing fat intake is the most important and frequently practiced dietary approach by Europeans
- Europeans attach high importance to cutting fat intake and this is somewhat reflected by their attentiveness to this dietary issue
- Low or reduced fat claims exert a significant degree of influence over Europeans' food and beverage choices, but the proportion of products making such claims is on the decline
- Key takeouts and implications: reduced fat foods are generally considered to improve the healthiness of the diet, help control weight and benefit physical wellbeing generally
- INSIGHT: Europeans are becoming wary about over-consumption of salt, albeit with variations by country
- French, Italian, Spanish and UK consumers all attach above average importance to reducing salt intake
- UK consumers are most likely to be influenced by low or reduced salt claims while NPD data shows considerable room for growth in low/no salt/sodium claims
- Key takeouts and implications: European consumers are becoming wary about over-consumption of salt, but not to the extent that many health professionals and pressure groups would like
- INSIGHT: Desires to reduce or modify sugar intake are intensifying in Europe
- Sugar intake has an elevated level of importance among Swedes, French and Italian consumers
- Low or reduced sugar claims exert a significant degree of influence over Europeans' food and beverage choice and represent a relatively significant innovation theme in non-alcoholic beverages
- Key takeouts and implications: the influence of sugar based claims will prove to be a spur for formulation innovation, particularly with low-calorie sweeteners gaining traction
- INSIGHT: Carbohydrate concerns are generally lower on European consumers' agenda
- Europeans attach comparably less importance to reducing their carbohydrate intake and are therefore less attentive to monitoring carbs
- Key takeouts and implications: European consumers' focus will increasingly be about consuming the 'right carbs' rather that reducing carbohydrate intake
- INSIGHT: Food additives and processed food are of high concern for the vast majority of Europeans who are increasingly conscious and influenced by fresh claims
- Europeans perceive they are more influenced by 'no additive' claims than they are attentive to additives
- Consistent with stated concerns about food additives, Europeans are making significant attempts to consume fresh food and some attempt to limit processed food consumption
- Key takeouts and implications: the presence of additives in food, an issue increasingly highlighted by the media, is an issue of concern to consumers and exacerbates rising interest in natural and fresh alternatives
- INSIGHT: Sensory-driven consumers intensify the need for advancements in formulation technologies that facilitate the development of healthier indulgences
- Research continually demonstrates that more Europeans choose food and beverages on the basis of sensory appeal than health considerations
- Consumer skepticism about health and nutritional claims is another important issue for food and beverage producers
- Key takeouts and implications: despite European consumers making active attempts to eat healthier, they will generally not compromise sensory benefits for nutrition benefits
- INSIGHT: Concerns surrounding food and ingredient integrity have intensified European consumers' focus on food sourcing while 'free-from' foods also remain a growth niche
- Consumer concerns about the integrity of 'foreign' ingredients has intensified 'locavorism'
- Allergen and intolerance concerns have fuelled the growth of 'free-from' food an beverages
- Key takeouts and implications: allergen and intolerance concerns and product locality also influence the moderation and avoidance behaviors of consumers
- INSIGHT: Today's health-conscious consumers want to derive the maximum nutritional value from the food and drinks they already enjoy
- Consumers are becoming more interested in hearing positive messages about food choices and food ingredients
- Key takeouts and implications: contemporary dietary patterns are guided by three important themes: exclusion, moderation and enhancement
- ACTION POINTS
- ACTION: Adopt a proactive stance towards health-driven product reformulation to satisfy both consumer and pressure group scrutiny
- Adopt a three-tiered approach to food and drink innovation which is focused on health
- Focus on formulation simplification both in ingredients and product communication
- Use Datamonitor's Product Launch Analytics (PLA) database to stay abreast of the most prominent product formulation trends both in and outside of your category
- Listen to customer conversation to help with product formulation decision making
- ACTION: Actively communicate a commitment to 'better' product formulation
- Responsibly utilize wider public health campaigns to promote products and act as a catalyst for innovation
- Set tangible goals to demonstrate your commitment to public health through better nutrition
- Adopt a more holistic approach thereby ensuring that 'free-from' foods stand up to scrutiny in other aspects of formulation
- Use leading/flagship brands to add additional weight behind reformulation efforts
- Retailers should actively use private label ranges to demonstrate their commitment meeting consumers' nutritional concerns with healthier products
- Develop 'better-for-you' products that facilitate a more compelling positive health or sensory message
- Stay abreast of the new information tools empowering consumers to make informed judgments about the nutritional profile of products
- ACTION: Develop a broad range of enhanced food and beverage products offering antidotes to the myriad health problems facing consumers
- APPENDIX
- Methodology
- Further reading and references
- Ask the analyst
- Datamonitor consulting
- Disclaimer
- List of Figures
- Figure 1: Europeans consider diet and nutrition to be highly important to their wellbeing
- Figure 2: To capitalize on the growing interest in health and wellbeing, industry players must consider a wide array of lifestyle issues to truly be 'in-touch' with consumers
- Figure 3: Improving health has become more important to Europeans in recent years and this is generally reflected by the conscious attempts made to eat healthily
- Figure 4: Most consumers shift between periods of healthy and indulgent consumption in a 'debits-credits' approach to eating and drinking
- Figure 5: Orthorexia Nervosa is a condition that reflects the 'food stress' that results from the intense interest in healthy eating
- Figure 6: In what can be termed as an 'optimistic bias', Europeans are generally satisfied with both their general health and the nutritional quality of their diet
- Figure 7: While the overwhelming majority of Europeans express interest in food and beverages that improve their health, far fewer are actively buying such products
- Figure 8: While Europeans are generally interested in reading or hearing about the relationship between food and health, many also feel that food and health information is confusing and conflicting
- Figure 9: Europeans' stated interest in food label information is higher than the frequency with which they use such information
- Figure 10: With the exception of Italy and Spain, portion control is more commonly embraced by Europeans than following a specific diet plan
- Figure 11: Italians are particularly attentive to the portion size of meals and snacks they consume
- Figure 12: Calorie intake in Western Europe and the US is higher than elsewhere in the world
- Figure 13: More than half of Europeans from the major Western markets consider controlling calorie intake to be an important dietary approach
- Figure 14: Low or reduced calorie claims have the highest perceived influence on the food and beverage choices of Italian and Spanish consumers
- Figure 15: Low/no calorie food launches have accounted for less than 3% of all food products launched in Europe over the last five years
- Figure 16: Although low/no calorie non-alcoholic beverages have become more prominent in recent years, they still account for no more than 5% of all product launches
- Figure 17: More than half of Europeans from the major Western markets perceive reducing saturated fat intake to be an important dietary approach, led by Spanish and UK consumers
- Figure 18: In what represents an evolution in nutritional awareness, there is not a marked difference in Europeans' stated attentiveness to the amount fat consumed and the types consumed
- Figure 19: With the exception of Swedes, one-third of Europeans perceive that 'low' or 'reduced' fat claims highly influence their food and beverage choices
- Figure 20: The proportion of new food products in Europe making low fat claims is declining
- Figure 21: Low/no fat product claims in newly introduced non-alcoholic beverages in Europe are rare
- Figure 22: More than half of Europeans from the major Western markets perceive reducing salt intake to be an important dietary approach, led by UK consumers
- Figure 23: French, Italian and UK consumers are the most attentive to the amount of salt/sodium they consume
- Figure 24: UK consumers are most likely to be influenced by 'low' or 'reduced' salt claims which perhaps reflects the higher consumption of processed foods and recent public health messages there
- Figure 25: Low/no salt/sodium claims account for just 1% of all food products launched in Europe
- Figure 26: Low/no salt/sodium claims are practically non-existent in European non-alcoholic beverages
- Figure 27: Europeans typically get 10% or more of their energy from sugar & sweetener consumption
- Figure 28: Attitudinally, majorities of Europeans consider sugar intake to be an important dietary approach
- Figure 29: French, Italian and Swedish consumers are the most attentive to sugar consumption
- Figure 30: More than one-in-five Europeans in all markets covered reported choosing foods to reduce their overall sugar intake more often in 2008
- Figure 31: A peak in European low/no sugar food product launches occurred in 2007
- Figure 32: Around 10% of newly introduced non-alcoholic beverages in Europe makes a low/no sugar claim
- Figure 33: Sugarfree gum in Europe is outgrowing regular gum buy a significant margin and this is expected to continue going forward
- Figure 34: In the eight European markets this report focus on, the direction of growth for diet and standard carbonates is largely similar
- Figure 35: Only in Italy and Spain do more than one-in-five consumers consider reducing carbohydrate intake to be an important dietary approach
- Figure 36: Italians are the most pre-occupied with carbohydrate consumption
- Figure 37: The glycemic index is utilized by French and Italians more so than elsewhere in Europe
- Figure 38: Germans are the most influenced by low carbohydrate claims
- Figure 39: Low/no carbohydrate food products in Europe only really gained any kind of momentum during the Atkins fad in 2004-05 and even then it was very limited
- Figure 40: Low/no carbohydrate non-alcoholic beverages have been nearly non-existent in the last five years
- Figure 41: Stated concern about food additives is highest in Italy where consumers tend to be more sensitive to food risk issues
- Figure 42: Food additives is a particularly sensitive issue for Russians and Italians
- Figure 43: Consistent with their stated attentiveness to food additives, Russians made more concerted efforts to choose additive free food and beverages in 2008 than other European consumers
- Figure 44: The healthy halo of freshness (and desire to increase fruit and vegetable intake) is reflected by the stated desire of Europeans to consume as much fresh food as possible
- Figure 45: The healthy halo of freshness is also reflected by the very high perceived influence fresh claims have on Europeans' food and beverage choices
- Figure 46: More and more new food products introduced in Europe are making no additive claims
- Figure 47: 2008 was a record year for additive free non-alcoholic beverage product claims in Europe
- Figure 48: Europeans are more likely to think about food from an enjoyment point of view
- Figure 49: Sensory benefits are more important in directing Europeans' dietary choices than health
- Figure 50: In what is a major ongoing challenge for manufacturers, polarized opinion exists among Europeans about whether healthy food and beverages are actually tasty and enjoyable
- Figure 51: Considerable skepticism is apparent among Europeans about the stated health and nutrition benefits of food and beverage products
- Figure 52: There is ambivalence and distrust among many Europeans about whether enough efforts are made to ensure safe provision of food and beverage products at the grocery store
- Figure 53: Trust in foreign products and ingredients is low among Europeans, particularly in Germany
- Figure 54: Russians make the most concerted effort to buy local, but the stated importance of this issue has increased for more than half of Europeans in many countries
- Figure 55: Origin and production methods influence Italians and Russians more than other Europeans
- Figure 56: Food and beverage allergy or intolerance concerns are apparent for around 40% of Europeans
- Figure 57: Marked differences characterize food allergens and intolerances although a large segment of consumers do not recognize this
- Figure 58: Dutch consumers express little concern for food intolerances, especially compared to Russians and Italians
- Figure 59: Allergen free claims are deemed particularly influential in what Russians eat and drink
- Figure 60: Food and beverage formulations need to cater for the more positive nutritional messages consumers are tying to embrace, particularly via growing functional food consumption
- Figure 61: A continuum of healthy eating has emerged based on principles of dietary exclusion, moderation and enhancement
- Figure 62: Consumers shift between periods of healthy and indulgent consumption needs to be catered for with a three-tiered approach to food and drink innovation
- Figure 63: The new Haagen-Dazs 'five' brand reflects a focus on formulation simplification both in ingredients and communication
- Figure 64: The top 10 claims/tags of newly introduced products food and non-alcoholic beverages in Europe highlights the differing formulations required to satisfy consumers' broad dietary habits
- Figure 65: These consumer needs offer opportunities for targeted food and beverage solutions
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