Following up on my posting earlier this week on functional foods consumer awareness and the teachable moment: A recent report from Pricewaterhouse Coopers includes several findings of interest to nutrition professionals.
· The market for functional foods is expected to dramatically outpace the food industry as a whole - with as much as five times the growth.
· The most popular products address a common ailment and offer a specific health benefit.
· Products with an immediate, obvious effect - for example, energy boosters - are more successful (in the short run) than products with no immediate gratification.
· The most popular products - and the up and comers - address energy, heart health, bone health, cognitive health, weight management and skin enhancement.
Read between the lines here and I think you see a blueprint for bridging that vexing gap between what people know about nutrition and how they behave: Be in the "now." Be specific. Be relevant. As nutrition professionals, we may view consumer interest in the specific health benefits of certain foods as missing the big picture; instead, let's look at it as opening the door to the potential for a much broader conversation. Do you have any thoughts on this subject? Please share your ideas here!
Leave a comment