Nutrition Trends for 2013 from NutriTalk, Our corporate nutrition communications group is sharing the main nutrition-related trends for 2013 that we believe will be the most significant for our nutrition communications clients. Clients rely on us as nutrition thought leaders to provide them with our prediction of the future nutrition market in 2013. In addition, we predict which strong trends will continue. If you are interested in becoming a nutrition communications client, please contact us.
Nutrition Trends for 2013 Hybrid Meals
Latin American Flavor Sensation
Boomer Nutrition
Regional Sensations
Breakfast Revival
Global Nutrition
Vegetables take over the plate
Meatless is Mainstream
Value Meals
Snacking Sensation
South American Cuisine
Small Nutrition Indulgences
Plugged In Nutrition
1.
Hybrid Meals Cost-conscious Americans report they are cooking more at home instead of eating out. We believe ˜hybrid meals' will become more popular in the next year as Americans assemble meals from various packaged foods. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans spend 22.9% of their supermarket budget on processed food and sweets. This is almost double what was spend in 1982 on processed foods, such as frozen dinners, snacks, and canned soups. A ˜hybrid meal' use supermarket rotisserie chicken from the deli, a bagged green salad mix from the produce department, and fresh bread from the bakery to have a balanced meal in minutes. This is a dramatic change from your grandmother's childhood which traditionally had her mom making meals from scratch.
Last year in our annual trends report NutriTalk, listed that ˜Back to Basics Family Meals' was a continuing trends from 2011 as families try to reduce their family budgets with shopping savvy.
2.
Latin American Flavor Sensation We predict that the flavors of Latin America and Mexico will spark a rise in Hispanic heritage style cuisine in restaurants. These flavors will appeal to all Americans.
NutriTalk, has noticed a cultural agility among Hispanics that allows them to fluidly maneuver between the mainstream American lifestyle and Hispanic cultures. Another current running in this community is a growing group of younger Hispanics who were born and raised in the U.S. who want to awaken their Latino roots. Anyone who markets to this growing demographic knows Hispanics are a high-growth segment of the population. This group is overall younger and more likely to have children than the rest of their generation.
3.
Boomer Nutrition Move over millennials, food marketers are micro-targeting older Americans. There are estimated tobe 76 million baby boomers that are between the age of 48 and 65 years old. By the year 2015, those over 50 years of age will represent 45% of the U.S. population. This group is estimated to ring up over half of the sales at the supermarket.
Boomers are reshaping the nation by looking for products that are tailored to their needs and desires for health and wellness, convenience, and new taste pleasures. This generation leads an active lifestyle focused on health and longevity. We noted in 2011 that boomer nutrition was a continuing nutrition trend. Health and vitality continue to be important to aging baby boomers who want food companies to offer nutritious foods filled with fiber and nutrients.
4.
Regional Sensations Regional American fare, will grow as food palates become more selective. No longer can a consumer be satisfied with a classic, such as Chili con carne. We believe there will be regional versions of recipes. A recipe such as chili, for example, that is traditionally a spicy stew made of chili peppers, meat, and tomatoes, will be regionalized to become 'Kansas City' chili and 'Tex-Mex' chili. This mixture will have local modifications that could involve different types of meats, spices, and beans as well as a mixture of other ingredients, especially beans. Now cuisine will be regionalized in restaurants and then personalized for taste preferences.
5.
Breakfast Revival Rise, eat, and shine for better health. Studies continue to show those who eat a morning meal tend to weigh less than those who skip breakfast. When you analyze the data you can easily determine that those who opt not to eat in the morning meal manage to eat more calories throughout the day.
6.
Global Nutrition Americans continue to embrace global food and have grown from the commonplace pizza, burritos, and Asian stir-fires to include more Mediterranean flavors. The growth of global foods in the health and wellness category is growing to include spicy and fragrant flavors of Thailand, Korea, and Vietnam. Now global culinary travels can begin with a meal at home.
Families today can take a gastronomic "travel around the world" by eating and drinking inexpensive culturally mixed foods. For budget-conscious consumers, a benefit of global cuisine is that it is inexpensive. It is often cost-effective for families to sample ethnic foods such as Mexican foods filled with beans and whole grain tortillas, Asian cuisine filled with lots of vegetables, soy protein and leans meats and Mediterranean cuisine filled with seafood and vegetables.
7.
Vegetables Take Over the Plate Veggies take over the plate are not just a side dish. Eating is becoming more colorful as vegetables take over more of the dinner plate. Consumers are slowly adopting the guidelines of MyPlate as they add more vegetables to their meals. This is helping to add more dietary fiber increases and nutrients to meals. We expect this gradual increase in dietary fiber to help to improve the digestive health and weight of the population.
8.
Special Requests Are Mainstream Diners now have options when it comes to meals specially-designed for their taste and allergy preferences. Those who request, or require, special desires, such as meat-free, wheat-free, or egg-free meals, now will find that restaurants will cater to their needs. We predict that this next year diners will begin to have dining equality and cater to all eaters tastes.
As the Boomer population ages, they will demand more health promoting cuisine when and how they want it prepared and served. Overall Boomers are looking for more fiber in their foods and less fat, particularly avoiding high saturated fat foods. Hypertension is common in this age group so heart healthy living becomes a way of living a healthy lifestyle to promote a quality life int he later years.
8.
Snacking Sensation Due to the fast-paced American lives that often do not always allow for a meal to consumed, we believe that more people will begin to snack instead of eating a meal. Research has shown that about 20% of eating occasions are snacks. Interestingly, several studies are showing that there will be an increase in popcorn-based snack.
Multilingual people are influencing global nutrition as the middle class, and its spending power, grows in the œBRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) we think that snacking will expand to include light meals as snacks that can satisfy in the meal gap between lunch and dinner or between breakfast and lunch. These small treats may contain of a piece of fruit, cookies, yogurt, and other snacks paired with juice, chocolate, coffee, and other beverages.
9.
Value Meals Consumers are still searching for looking for foods that offer nutrition, value, and portion control. Those trusted food products and restaurants that are familiar can easily win more market share for those cost-conscious consumers trying to reach their nutritional goals with inexpensive health promoting foods.
10.
South American Cuisine Foodies can think globally, but travel locally to get great tasting Latin American foods. As North Americans expand their culinary palate beyond Mexican foods, like burritos, they are searching for new taste sensations, like corn-based dishes, such as tamales and pupusas with various salsas, pico de gallo, mole, and chimichurri.
Each country in Latin America tends to use a different spice or they use the same spice in different quantities. Global cuisine is usually cost-effective for families to sample ethnic foods such as Mexican foods filled with beans and whole grain tortillas, Asian cuisine filled with lots of vegetables, soy protein and leans meats and Mediterranean cuisine filled with seafood and vegetables.
11.
Small Nutrition Indulgences We observe that as the economy seems to improve many consumers are indulging in small indulgences that unfortunately are often calorie-rich and nutrient-poor, like coffee drinks. We believe that food corporations will continue to encourage consumers to enjoy little pleasures without concern for nutritional value. There is a growing split between those consumers who are concerned with nutritional value and those shoppers who want to enjoy all of life's simple culinary pleasures without a concern for the influence on their health.
As the nation continues to be concerned with their waistline, we believe that quality calories will be a focus of many consumers as they age, and become more health“conscious and raise their families. We believe companies and communities will have a bigger focus on health.
12.
Plugged In Nutrition Supermarket shoppers can now have healthful foods targeted at them at a fair price by leveraging the changing social marketing landscape. Technology is expected to change related shopping trips and help to drive and shape retail trends. As more shoppers select foods based on primarily on nutrition and price as a secondary concern, grocery marketers can help to build a successful brand of their foods by using social media to sharing the nutritional benefits and price advantages with value-shoppers in a direct-to-consumer model.
