Top Ten Trends 2021
11 Nov 2020 | Innova Market Insights
Innova Market Insights releases its Top Ten Trends for 2021, using its ongoing analyses of global developments in food and drink launch activity and the latest consumer insights to highlight the trends most likely to impact the food and drinks industry over the coming year and beyond.
This is the summary version of the Top Ten Trends for 2021 webinar. For the full version, please reach out to us at contact@innovami.com.
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Hi, everyone.
Luanne Williams here.
I'm really happy that you joined me for our top 10 trends for 2021.
It's one of the most interesting and fun things that we do.
We get tons of feedback and lots of interest in it.
So we'll just kick it off.
I'm gonna spend about 20 minutes going through the top trends, today, and I hope that everybody leaves with a lot of inspiration.
So, we always make our, our top 10 trend wheel that we call it.
You can see the top 10 trends there.
We also this year added a few tags to kind of added, just another layer of, of kind of what we see, related to this and how it fits into, to a bigger context.
So, I'm just gonna go ahead and kick right off and we're gonna start with trend number one, which is transparency triumphs.
So, I have a slide at the end where I'm gonna talk a little bit about how we see trends layering up and they, they overlap a lot.
And it's, you know, I say it I think every year, trends don't stop on December 31st and start over, on January 1st, but last year, we talked about, storytelling.
That was our number one trend.
And what we've seen over the past really, you can see the little 2008 there over the past 12 years since we've been talking about sustainability.
This is a trend that brings in sustainability, it brings in clean label.
It really did start with clean label.
In 2006, I think was the first year I heard people talking about kitchen cupboards.
Ingredients.
And what we've seen is that over that period of time, it's morphed and changed and it gets bigger and bigger and umbrellas up to this trend that we have now where we see that that brands really do have to up their game when it comes to transparency.
You can see there, we, we surveyed consumers in 10 countries, and we asked them, You know, is it really important to know, what do you want to know?
And they say, the product information is of major importance.
I want to know what the product contains, they want to know how it's made.
So it becomes, a part of trust, but it also becomes a part of engagement, that if you do have a, a meaningful story that you can connect with consumers in a very new and different way.
So this is a very, a very broad trend.
We put a few examples on here.
One is the Whopper, which now has the ingredients on the, on the top of the label, which is really unusual, in food service.
There's a product there from France.
I think it could not be more clear.
The, the zero nitrites, you also see, there's a, a map of France.
There's the, the NutrisScore labeling right there on the front, and the package is also clear.
So there's lots of messaging, nothing being hidden.
In that package.
Packaging technologies can also be part of this.
Pepsi is leading the, the charge when it comes to this new digital watermark technology to try to help recycling as.
So, these are just a few examples, but this is, it's a huge trend, and it comes to so many different things, and it's really easy for me to sit here and say, oh, you know, everybody has to do this, but you do have to find, a meaningful way to tell your stories that connect with consumers.
Just breaking that down a little bit more, I mentioned that this really started with, with clean label, no additives, no preservatives, and it, you know, we saw it change.
We made a, a nice graphic there on the left-hand side that just to show how it was an evolution over time.
And we went through, you know, short ingredients, simplicity, and now we really do see a lot more, you know, every year it breaks into 1000 small niches, but a lot more communication around, human or animal welfare, supply chain.
And again, as I mentioned, sustainability.
And you can see there that 3 in 5 global consumers tell us that learning more about where their food comes, and how it's made is really important and that they're interested in it.
In terms of meaningful storytelling, here's a nice example from Danon.
This is a yogurt that was launched with fruits from here.
And you can see the here all over the map there, really nice illustration of the, of the origin of the different, fruit products from all around France, but that's a fantastic way to connect with, in this case, with, with French consumers.
So, really interesting trend and it'll be fun to see what kinds of, things we see happening this year.
The next trend is about plant-based.
So, Plant Forward.
And again, we've been talking about plant-based for a few years in our top 10 trends.
You can see there in 2019, we talked about the Plant kingdom.
Last year, we described it as a revolution, and now we just really see it, it's marching forward.
It really encompasses again, many categories, many different types of products.
I think I've never seen anything move bigger so fast in my 25 years plus years of experience.
It is moving much more mainstream.
We're seeing it move also more indulgence, into a more indulgent, into more indulgent areas.
And I, I think, yeah, I think this is gonna be just such a super interesting year to watch and see what happens.
We also see what's happening with the cellular, technologies and where will those fit into the whole plant-based or will they maybe take the place of some of them or be bigger than some of the plant the plant options.
But again, in terms of the diversification of this trend, this year, we're seeing a lot of interesting and, developments in fish alternatives, but also in snacking, you can see Chobani also came out with a plant-based, beverage, lots and lots of different meat alternatives, egg alternatives.
So, yeah, just super interesting trend and we don't see it slowing down, anytime soon.
I think what is interesting this year is to also look and see what's happening in different regions around the world.
So there are definitely some differences, and we kind of made a joke here between Earth and space.
There was a proof of concept last year looking at, 3D printing of meat and also growing meat under, you know, either zero gravity or less gravity.
But, but back to Earth, We are seeing regional differences.
We see a huge number of, of meat alternatives, dairy alternatives, especially in Europe and in the US we see again, they're, you know, crossing more subcategories every year.
So there's a nice example of the Beyond Meat breakfast sausage.
The gut and brain is, is a plant-based beverages, a beverage for healthy aging.
We've seen , really interesting repositioning as margarine, as, as plant butter, basically.
But I think it's maybe some of the more interesting areas.
The, the fish alternative in Brazil, I think is very interesting.
If you ask me where we would see this, I don't know that I would say Brazil would be, if I would name it in the, in the top few countries, but that's also very interesting.
But I think, Asia and especially China, it's super interesting.
I think everybody's aware of what's been happening with pork prices over the past 18 months or so, and it's a huge opportunity for Omnior, for example.
So again, there's different regional drivers, there's different, consumer aspects to this, but Again, an absolutely, yeah, phenomenal trend that's going to, just go from strength to strength this year.
Trend number 3, tailored to fit.
I've, some of you who have listened to me speak over the years have heard me say, I'm sure many times that I think gluten-free was really the first , trend where consumers, got an idea, , the way I eat can really make me feel different to the way other people eat.
So now we see consumers want everything tailored, you know, our, our entertainment is tailored.
We can order, you know, clothes anywhere and, and food is just the same.
So, I think again, we've been talking about personalized nutrition, I think, for 15 years, and now we really see things really starting to take off.
So you can see there, 64% of consumers say, I've found more ways to tailor my life and the products I buy to my individual styles, beliefs, and needs.
So this can also go back to trend number one.
It can also be about Maybe if I care a lot about animal welfare, you know, I could have a whole diet around the different things that I care about or different brands that are meeting those kind of needs for me.
But it can also be very personal in, in terms of health.
Nestle has launched a product in China called Neskino that's a personalized solution.
It's a drink, a beverage, and a little machine.
You can see the picture there.
So that is, of course, a really interesting, example.
But also, just thinking about lifestyle in general, that there are now more lifestyle, nutrition services.
A nice one there, a nice example.
These, bars, contain, they're plant-based and contain adaptogens, and it's all related to stress.
You get a little tracker that you wear and it tests all your, your vital signs, related to stress.
So that's a super specific one.
But if you look back in And there on the left-hand side is the results of a consumer survey.
We ask consumers, how would you prefer to have your nutritional experience personalized?
So nutrition is number one, based on my lifestyle, I mentioned, you could be an ethical consumer and have a whole diet around there.
Also based on my body composition.
So, and I think if you think about something like, like keto, that's definitely, a, a diet that's, that's targeted, you know, more based on body composition.
We've also seen a massive growth from a small base, but huge growth in products that are targeted, for the keto consumer, and you can see also a lot of, still very strong growth in plant-based as.
So, again, very interesting trend to watch, and to see what else we see this year.
Trend number 4 is omni-channel, channel eating.
I haven't talked very much about COVID yet, but again, we could overlap.
We could do a whole, how does COVID impact the top 10 trends and have a whole discussion about that.
But I think this is one that I think we all can understand the very direct impact that the pandemic had on this trend, even though it was already happening.
We're seeing more and more overlap between food service and retail, but consumers really can't eat what they want, when they want, where they want it.
You can see there that 3 of, of consumers in those 10 countries that we surveyed said that they ordered more online from restaurants for home delivery over the past year.
I know that there's local restaurants where I live that will also make the food and you can take it home and cook it at home.
And of course, we've seen, you know, curbside delivery, all kinds of takeout.
But you can also, , even the Impossible Burger is a nice example.
Started out in food service, and now you can also cook with the, with the meat, at home.
So again, There's lots of ways to, to, to take advantage of this trend.
Also looking at what type of experience, through this trend.
So it addresses convenience, new experiences, but also accessible indulgence.
So, three nice examples here that, consumers said I did more home cooking using convenient or meal solutions in the past year.
There's a really nice example of a beef and vegetable meal kit from Korea.
Consumers also told us that when I'm trying new types of food and beverages, I like having a familiar element.
So this is a nice example of a very familiar flavor in a, in a potato chip.
And then, restaurants are now also making their food available also through retail channels.
So, the, Consumers told us that restaurant-branded products are also a convenient way to get the restaurant experience at home, and this is a beetroot tzazatziki, from a, a restaurant in the UK called Leon.
I've also seen examples of seasoning kits that restaurants are selling.
So there, again, there's lots of different ways to do this, but, I think this will, this will never go away.
Consumers are definitely going to expect more and more, access to, to the food they want anytime, anywhere.
OK.
Another one that again, we can say, there was probably a lot of interest around immunity and COVID really, you know, put an even bigger spotlight on this.
So again, you can see 60% of consumers said, I am increasingly looking for food and beverage products that support my immune health.
And some nice examples there.
Again, you also see it crossing categories.
It's not just, you know, I, I always think about beverages and dairy, but here's Here's a beverage, an example of, an oatmeal porridge and a dairy alternative, all with, you can see right on the front of the pack, there's absolutely no, confusion around that.
These are all targeting immunity.
And again, there's lots of ways to do this.
Also, thinking about how do we wind all these trends together.
So even in terms of plant-based, we've seen an increased interest in botanical ingredients, so they're very functional.
They give flavor, taste, color, also health benefits.
And 54% of consumers said that due to COVID, they have now spent time educating themselves on ingredients and, and procedures or things that can help boost their immunity.
They're doing things like getting more sleep, they're being more active physically, but also choosing foods that are naturally high in nutrients.
And that includes vitamins, minerals, antioxidants.
So this also goes back to, again, another trend that we've been talking about is, Inherent nutrition.
So, it's really, immunity will be a big focus of this.
And we picked out a couple of products there.
One has, elderberry as a, as a beneficial botanical ingredient, and the other one has ginger.
So again, lots of opportunities in this space.
