What is in this article?:
- 2012 predictions for the European nutrition industry
- 2012 is the year of stevia
- Time to reduce red tape
- Green, pure and local
Four leading experts share their thoughts, prediction and hopes for the European functional food, beverage and supplement industry in 2012. Look to these marketing trends and buzzwords ("ingredientization," anyone?) for guidance this year on what European consumers expect of their natural products.
Julian Mellentin, director of New Nutrition Business, says functional ingredients offering "naturalness" will dominate in 2012:
In 2012, 'naturalness' will be the number one marketing trend in Europe—and selecting ingredients that are naturally functional, or which have a health halo, will make good business sense.The key to success in 2012 will be selecting ingredients that the consumer media writes about in a positive way. Take the leading German brand of coconut water, Dr Martens. Its sales grew by 100 percent last year, even though the company does no marketing and the product carries no claims. It does well because, thanks to the German media, consumers know all about coconut water's 'naturally functional' benefits.
The biggest beneficiary of the trend towards naturalness will be fruits and vegetables. Usage of fruit as an ingredient in products in Europe has already risen 100 percent in the past three years. Fruit ingredients have a powerful image in consumers' minds as naturally healthy—and they're often willing to pay more for this.
In France, for example, the Nature Addicts 100 percent fruit snacks brand sells at a massive price premium—equivalent to around $67 (€50) per kilo of product. Yet it was Europe's most successful snack launch of the last three years, rocketing from zero to $40 million (€30m) in retail sales in France—equivalent to a $200 million (€150m) brand in the United States!