March 20, 2019
By: Carrie Schaefer
At Linkage Research, we keep our finger on the pulse of consumer and marketplace trends in the natural, free from, and better-for-you space. At the start of 2019 we released 6 growing trends in the food and beverage industry in 2019 (READ HERE). To see what companies are doing to innovate around these trends, we attended Natural Products Expo West this month. After visiting hundreds of exhibitors, we can say that the industry will delight consumers with its new innovations again this year!
TREND 1: MORE PLANT-BASED
Based on our latest consumer read from the Free From Market Monitor, 43% of households have purchased a plant-based product in the last year. Consumers seeking plant-based products will have even more options to choose from at retail this year. Two notable trends in plant-based include:
Oat milk: Plant-based milks have been gaining popularity for years and this year oat milk was the shining star with its full-bodied, naturally sweet, and nut-allergen free benefits. Brands like Califia, Planet Oat, RISE, Elmhurst, Mooala, and Quaker all showcased their oat beverages including vanilla, chocolate, banana, extra creamy and no sugar added variations. Oat milk innovation in adjacent categories was also a highlight as manufacturers sampled new options like Coffee Mate’s Oat Milk Creamer (Nestle), Chameleon Brew’s shelf stable Oat Milk Latte, and Nancy’s Probiotic Oatmilk Yogurt.
CBD: Cannabidiol, also known as hemp extract, was a big trend at Expo indicating the potential this ingredient has across the food and beverage industry. New CBD-infused beverages included options such as PLNT Blend teas which offer hemp-infused hydration and Navitas Organics that delivers CBD infused wellness shots. For those who prefer to snack there were plenty of options such as Weller Coconut Bites and Good Bites CBD Brownie Bites. In many cases the benefits of CBD were implied and not explicit to the consumer – but one thing is clear, CBD is a trend that manufacturers are getting onboard with to see where it goes.
TREND 2: MORE TAILORED TO DIET PHILOSOPHIES
Our latest Free From tracker reports 52% of Americans are following a specific eating philosophy (Linkage Research), and at Expo we saw that manufacturers are creating new products to capitalize on this trend. Keto was the hottest diet trend at Expo, demonstrating the mainstream appeal of the low-carb, high-fat diet. Keto-friendly offerings were introduced across a range of categories including Base Culture’s Keto Bread, Totally Egg’s natural egg white protein powder, and BonaFide’s Keto Broth which includes grass fed butter, coconut oil, and turmeric.
Given the bad rap sugar has received in recent years, it was no surprise to see offerings that cater to the 20% of consumers who report they are looking to reduce sugar in their diet. As consumers look for alternatives to sugar, several brands introduced offerings with real food sweeteners like birch sap, monk fruit, and dates. Sap! Maple Soda is one example: Sourced from birch water, this soda is naturally sweetened and low in calories. For snacking, Munk Pack vegan protein cookies offer an energized dessert sweetened by zero-calorie monk fruit extract, and Joolie’s California Superfruit debuted their syrup, made from nutrient-dense dates.
TREND 3: MORE ACCESSIBLE NATURAL & ORGANIC OPTIONS
When it comes to making natural and organic options more accessible, quick cooking and snacking was a key theme at Expo West this year. New and established brands continue to mix form, flavor and better-for-you options to meet the demand of consumers seeking all-natural (38%), organic (31%), and non-GMO (33%) in their food choices (Linkage Research). Below are a few of the categories and brands making natural more accessible.
Frozen foods: A new generation of clean label, healthy, convenient choices is making the frozen section a destination for those seeking better-for-you. Wildscape is an example of innovation in this section, combing a clean label, real foods, and unique flavors to the section with meals like Chimichurri Chicken, Roasted Peppers, and Farro. For those who prefer more traditional frozen flare, Tofurky launched a vegan, non-GMO pepperoni pizza pocket.
Snacking: Better-for-you snacking spanned just about every snacking category possible – from chips, to jerky, to cheese – companies are innovating to meet consumers desire for naturally healthy. A few new and notable offerings include Avolov Avocado Chips for Non-GMO grain- and gluten-free snacking, Caveman Chicken Jerky, which is all natural and contains no nitrates or hormones, and Good Culture’s clean and organic cottage cheese that delivers 19 grams of protein.
TREND 4: MORE NATURALLY SOURCED PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS
Our data indicates that 30% of consumers report buying more natural personal care products than a year ago and based on the large number of natural personal care players at Expo, the industry is responding. Some of the key themes we saw in natural personal care included:
Plant-based: As consumers recognize the benefits of plants in their food, they are responding with similar demand in skincare. Pacific and Moon Valley Organics are just two brands that offer a full line of plant-based lotions personal care.
Clean label: Similar to food, consumers are seeking personal care options with a limited list of ingredients and are looking to avoid synthetic chemicals. InstaNatural is an example of a brand offering this promise through their full line of skincare products sourced from natural and botanical ingredients.
TREND 5: MORE VERIFICATION OF WHAT’S INCLUDED (AND NOT) IN PRODUCTS
As consumers are more aware and have more interest in what’s in the food they buy, certification bodies are expanding transparency and manufacturers are recognizing the value of this to their consumer. Some of the key certifications we saw at Expo West include Regenerative Organic, a movement in organic food production that not only benefits food production, but also the environment by sequestering carbon in the soil. Applegate Farms (Hormel) launched THE NEW FOOD COLLECTIVE which is a premium brand that sources its meat from regenerative farms. Another example is Patagonia Provisions which showcased new additions to its line of trail-ready foods sources from farmers employing regenerative agriculture practices. Epic Provisions’ new meat snacks are also sourced from animals used in soil-building regenerative grazing practices advocated by the Savory Institute.
Glyphosate Residue-Free certification is getting off the ground. Speaking at Tuesday’s Climate Day events at Expo West, Galit Laibow, Co-Founder & CEO of Foodstirs, which manufacturers of organic baking mixes, explained that getting Glyphosate Reside-Free Certification from The Detox Project was a natural extension of their commitment to deep transparency. At the Heavenly Organics booth, the Glyphosate Residue-Free certification seal was proudly displayed on their organic honey, candy and sugar products.
TREND 6: MORE SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES
Sustainability was a big theme at Expo this year – both in how to reduce the waste for 80,000 people coming together – to the brands demonstrating how they can infuse sustainable practices in their product lines. With 1 in 5 households reporting they feel it’s important to buy brands with sustainable practices, companies were showcasing their efforts to deliver on sustainability and attract the increasingly environmentally aware consumer. Below of some the sustainable practices that were highlighted at Expo West:
- Upcycling: brands are looking for more ways to upcycle ingredients and reduce waste. Repurpose is an example of a brand that offers a line of sustainable tableware made exclusively from plants and on a mission to reduce the amount of plastics in the environment with renewable alternatives. Regrained is a brand that uses leftover brewer’s grain, and compostable, plant-based packaging. Regrained launched a new product at Expo West, a savory puffed snack, featuring the brand’s hero ingredient, SuperGrain+, a nutrient dense, sustainable flour upcycled from rescued brewers’ grain.
- Permaculture: Crops from perennial plants have the advantage over annual crops in that they help rebuild depleted soils, reduce tillage and lower the need to purchase external inputs such as fertilizers, seed and pesticides. Sawmill Hollow Farm is America’s first aronia berry farm. The aronia berry is native to North America, and a valuable superfood. Sawmill Hollow Farm is leading Iowa agriculture away from dependency on low-margin, commodity-based farming by building a high-margin, sustainable business that has vertically integrated, transforming their crop into organic frozen whole berries, freeze-dried powder, capsules, concentrate, extract and functional foods.
We’re looking forward to watching how to the industry responds to these trends while we continue to track shifts in consumer preferences. For more insights on the free from, natural, and better for you consumer, visit https://linkageresearch.com/thinking
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