In Favor of Functional Foods

When Food Product Design first started a focus on functional foods a decade or so ago, I recall one of my colleagues predicting it would be a short-lived fad. Today, it’s a $24 billion market, according to data from Leatherhead Food Research. The sector has grown nearly 150% since 2003, much faster than the regular food and beverage growth rate. In fact, the number of new product introductions making functional claims has grown by approximately 28% per year, according to Leatherhead’s 2011 report, “Future Directions for the Global Functional Foods Market.”

What is fueling consumer interest in these products? Concern for personal health and well-​being are driving consumers to make changes in diet and lifestyle. Their increased awareness of links between diet and health as each new nutrition study is publicized serves as a frequent reminder. The United Soybean Board found that 87% of those they polled for its 2011 “Consumer Attitudes about Nutrition” survey said they are concerned about the nutritional content of the food they eat.

And companies are meeting the market demand by producing ingredients that not only address health-and-wellness issues, but are easier to incorporate into the foods and beverages that people actually enjoy. Just look at the list of this month’s SupplySide West exhibitors that offer ingredients suitable for foods and beverages (or even suitable for what I like to call “food-like objects,” edible and drinkable products that are legally dietary supplements, per FDA rules).

To a certain extent, functional foods are recession-proof—as long as they meet consumers’ value proposition. Adding nutritional ingredients typically increases product cost, but if the consumer understands and embraces the health benefit, they’ll likely consider it money well spent. The United Soybean Board found that 56% of respondents were willing to pay more for healthier versions of food. In some cases, where the cost of the added nutritional ingredient is minimal, the manufacturer might even consider absorbing the cost and driving increased market share against less-healthful competitive products. As more shoppers carefully consider how they spend their food dollar, this could provide the impetus to choose one product over another—preferably yours.

That’s not to say product designers can, or even should, go about randomly stuffing as many nutraceutical ingredients into as many products as possible. That’s just asking for trouble on a number of fronts in addition to cost: finished-product quality, efficacy and safety concerns, as well as, with increasing frequency, regulatory issues.

Those issues give VIRGO and Food Product Design plenty of information-oriented fodder to feed your brain—everything from an up-close and personal survey of cutting-edge ingredients at SupplySide West, in-depth articles in the print version of the magazine, breaking news and expert analysis online at foodproductdesign.com and in your inbox via newsletters, and downloadable material that focuses on specific aspects of designing healthier products.

A number of factors tell us the functional/wellness foods trend isn’t going to be slowing any time soon and will remain a formulation focus area for food and beverage companies. So if there are any topics in this area you’d like to see more in-depth, please let us know.

   -Lynn A. Kuntz