Valio webinar preview: Turning wellness trends into profitable nutrition innovation

Consumers globally are demanding more from their food, as wellness becomes a central lifestyle priority. GLP-1 medications, gut health, and high-protein consumer demands are transforming the food industry, but how can F&B brands capitalize on these fast-growing market opportunities? 

Finnish dairy and food leader Valio is set to explain how manufacturers can achieve nutrient-dense, multifunctional products that offer tangible benefits in compact formats in an upcoming webinar: “More per Bite: Turn wellness into market success.” You can register for free for the webinar here, which will broadcast on April 21, 2026, at 09:00 CEST/07:00 UTC and 15:00 CEST/13:00 UTC.

In this webinar, Sara Helminen, consumer insight manager at Valio, will examine the forces behind the “More per Bite” phenomenon and their impact on product development. She will explore why food is evolving beyond basic sustenance, how smaller portions must provide greater value, and why the protein boom is shifting from quantity to quality. She will also discuss how gut health is going mainstream and the opportunities this creates for FMCG brands.

Meanwhile, Dennis van der Veer, head of customer development at Valio, will help us understand how to turn these insights into commercial applications. He will answer questions like, “What do these shifts mean for food manufacturers?” “How will they be reflected on the shelf?” And “How can multifunctional dairy ingredients help brands develop high-value concepts across categories?”

Rethinking “value” in food

Food manufacturers are looking to balance consumer demand for nutrient-dense, multifunctional products, but face challenges in creating smaller, more convenient portions. F&B brands can balance these demands by rethinking what “value” in food really means, Helminen tells Food Ingredients First.

“The growing awareness of GLP‑1 medications, and the conversations around them, may influence not only those using the drugs, but also broader consumer expectations around nutrition. As portion sizes become smaller, driven by lifestyle changes and appetite-suppressing solutions, consumers increasingly expect food to deliver more nutritional value in every bite.”Sara Helminen explores the “more per bite” trend and its impact on food innovation, from protein quality to gut health.

“At Valio, we see this as a shift from quantity to quality. The solution isn’t simply making products smaller, but making them more nutrient-dense and purposeful. This means formulating compact products that combine high-quality protein with additional functional benefits, such as fiber, while still delivering great taste and convenience. In this new context, every serving needs to earn its place.”

Dairy protein: From quantity to quality 

The protein boom has shaped the food industry for years across snacks, drinks, dairy, and ready meals, but, according to Helminen, it is now entering a new phase.

“As portions get smaller and satiety becomes more important, consumers don’t just want more protein. Increasingly, they pay attention to protein quality, origin, and how it performs in everyday products, especially in terms of taste, texture, and overall eating experience,” she says.

Naturally protein-rich food like dairy proteins are particularly well-positioned in this shift. The demand for dairy protein remains strong, supported by what Helminen calls dairy’s naturally healthy halo, nutrient density, taste, and versatility.

“Importantly, dairy proteins are already familiar and trusted by consumers as high‑quality protein sources. As quality becomes associated not only with physical benefits but also with enjoyment and satisfaction, well‑understood ingredients tend to perform especially well. With a complete amino acid profile and excellent functionality, dairy protein delivers high quality in compact formats, which is exactly what today’s consumers are looking for.”

Moreover, dairy proteins are associated with familiarity and trust, and are often perceived as naturally healthy, everyday “real food” choices.

Gut health goes mainstream

Gut health has become a mainstream consumer priority, creating new opportunities for F&B brands in product development and consumer engagement. As Helminen explains, what was once a niche topic is now part of everyday wellness thinking, closely linked to immunity, mood, and overall well-being.

“For FMCG brands, this creates clear opportunities as gut‑friendly claims have firmly entered the mainstream, increasingly acting as a gateway to broader benefits that support both body and mind. Many consumers now associate a well‑functioning gut not only with digestive comfort, but also with mental well-being, including mood and mental clarity.”Dennis van der Veer discusses turning consumer insights into commercial success, focusing on multifunctional dairy ingredients.

In the upcoming webinar, Helminen will explore how the key opportunity for brands lies in making gut health tangible and easy to integrate into daily life.

“Consumers are drawn to familiar, everyday foods that deliver a sense of balance and comfort, rather than solutions that feel overly complex or medicalized. At Valio, we support this shift with science‑backed dairy ingredient solutions, including lactose‑free options, helping brands meet expectations around digestive comfort, while maintaining nutrient density, functionality, familiarity, and great taste.”

Innova Market Insights found that more than half (51%) of consumers globally find taste to be “very important” when choosing dairy products.

Winning with multifunctional ingredients

Multifunctional dairy ingredients can help brands stay ahead in the competitive F&B market and create scalable solutions across different food categories. They can do this by delivering more value with less complexity.

Valio supports food manufacturers with multifunctional dairy ingredient solutions that combine high nutritional value, excellent sensory quality and taste, and strong performance across applications. By delivering multiple benefits in a single ingredient, brands can accelerate innovation and scale more easily across categories, such as dairy, snacks, beverages, and special nutrition.

“Our science‑backed solutions help brands to develop versatile, scalable products while delivering more value in every bite,” says Helminen.

“At the same time, multifunctionality works best when the benefits feel natural together and relevant to the product itself. Consumers increasingly value products that combine more than one benefit, as long as those benefits make intuitive sense, such as protein paired with fiber or gut‑health support.”

“When too many claims are added, products risk coming across as wellness washing, which can undermine trust rather than build it. That’s why benefits need to be communicated simply and sparingly, always with a clear link to real‑life needs and routines.”

Helminen and van der Veer will explore in more detail how multifunctional dairy ingredients become a powerful and scalable way for brands to stand out across food categories when products are purposeful and easy to understand in Valio’s webinar on April 21.