Moderation and Avoidance Trends in Food and Drinks: Implications For 'Better-For-You' Offerings

Messages regarding the potential benefits and risks of certain foods and nutrients are resonating with consumers. This has created a strong trend towards "moderation and avoidance" in food and drink, which is often associated with dieting and the consumption of "better-for-you" food and drinks.



Report Highlights
Well over half of consumers in Europe and America report that they are taking proactive steps to follow a healthy diet. In doing so they are increasingly recognizing that moderating calories, sugar, salt, carbohydrates and saturated fat intake can benefit long-term health. When Datamonitor asked consumers about the relative importance of cutting back on saturated fats, sugars, salt, processed food, carbohydrates and calorie intake, it was fats that consumers generally placed most importance on reducing. The only exceptions were in Germany and Sweden where cutting back on fat intake was still deemed important. 58% of US respondents stated that they had used nutritional information on product packaging to help make food and drink choices with greater regularity in the previous twelve months in a Datamonitor survey conducted in July 2006. More than a third of respondents in every European country surveyed stated that they had done the same.


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CHAPTER 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
Hot topic 3
The future decoded 3
With rising obesity levels, shoppers are becoming more conscious about their food intake 3
An increasingly strong appetite for nutritional information is emerging among European and US consumers 4
Eliminating or reducing fat is the most important and frequently practiced dietary approach 5
Calories are treated as an important proxy of nutrient quality 5
The desire to reduce sugar consumption is intensifying 6
Carbohydrate concerns are generally lower on consumers' agenda 7
Consumers are becoming wary about over-consumption of salt 7
Action points 8
CHAPTER 2 THE FUTURE DECODED 12
Introduction: this report analyzes two important health trends 12
Today's consumer focuses on both the incorporation of 'good' nutrients' and moderation of 'bad' nutrients 13
TREND: With rising obesity levels, shoppers are becoming more conscious about their food intake 14
The prevalence of obesity in European and US adults and children continues to increase 15
Consumers are monitoring and adjusting what they eat and drink with greater regularity and intensity 16
Awareness of health-related problems associated with obesity means that consumers are taking more self-responsibility 16
Consumers are making conscious attempts to eat and drink more healthily 18
Consumers are trying to avoid or moderate the consumption of many so called 'bad' nutrients/ food groups 20
However, research shows far fewer consumers are actually aware of their daily nutrient and calorie consumption 22
Key takeouts and implications 22
TREND: An increasingly strong appetite for nutritional information is emerging among European and US consumers 23
There is a widespread interest in and usage of nutritional information on food packages 23
Consumers are spending more time checking labels for nutritional advice 24
Situational factors influence propensity to examine nutritional content 27
Consumers have some difficulty interpreting nutritional labels 28
US consumers have been shown to find it difficult to distinguish between portion size and serving size 30
Consumers like the idea of simplified front-of-pack information 30
But shoppers are also critical of overly simplistic information 30
Key takeouts and implications 32
INSIGHT: Eliminating or reducing fat is the most important and frequently practiced dietary approach 32
Fat intake in Europe and the US has been increasing over the last few decades 33
Consumers place most importance on fat moderation 33
Fat content is what global consumers are most likely to check labels for 37
When checking labels, fat is typically the top-of-mind nutrient consideration 37
Females and older consumers are typically more preoccupied with reducing fat consumption 39
Understanding of fats is mixed but is becoming more detailed and sophisticated 40
Consumer awareness of differing fats is relatively high 40
But actual knowledge about the types of fat that should be eliminated from one's diet is patchy 42
Key takeouts and implications 44
INSIGHT: Calories are treated as an important proxy of nutrient quality 45
Calorie intake is increasing globally 45
Consumer concerns regarding calories are on a par - if not greater - than that shown towards actual nutrients 47
There are notable gender differences in controlling calorie intake 49
Knowledge and awareness of calories is inconsistent 50
Inaccurate self perception of diet is likely to be a contributing factor behind the patchy awareness about personal calorie intake 51
Key takeouts and implications 52
INSIGHT: The desire to reduce sugar consumption is intensifying 52
Sugar and sweeteners typically account for more than 10% of total energy consumption 53
European and US consumers are trying to cut down sugar intake 53
Low calorie sweeteners are proving increasingly popular 56
Females are more likely to focus on sugar reduction than males 57
Awareness of sugars is higher than actual understanding 58
The level of awareness of sugars and low-calorie sweeteners is relatively high in the US 58
Awareness is not reflected by a deep understanding 59
A lack of understanding may be creating a 'trust void' with consumers 61
Key takeouts and implications 61
INSIGHT: Carbohydrate concerns are generally lower on consumers' agenda 62
Carbohydrate consumption concerns are generally lower especially when compared to the Atkins fad and other nutrients 62
Female and older consumers monitor carb intake more intensively 64
The carbohydrate focus has shifted towards 'positive nutrition' as reflected by expressions like 'good carbs' and 'smart carbs' 65
Key takeouts and implications 67
INSIGHT: Consumers are becoming wary about over-consumption of salt 68
US and UK consumers are most concerned with salt/ sodium reduction 68
Females and older consumers place most importance on salt reduction 70
The growing desire to reduce processed food consumption is linked with concerns over salt intake 72
Conclusions 75
CHAPTER 3 ACTION POINTS 76
Introduction 76
ACTION: Adopt a proactive stance towards health-driven product reformulation 76
There is considerable evidence to suggest better-for-you innovations are meeting consumer needs 77
Adopt a three-tiered approach to food and drink innovation which is focused on health 77
Where possible make gradual reformulation changes to allow consumer palates to adjust 78
Ensure low-fat reformulation is the primary fixture in better-for-you innovation 79
The reduction of trans fat is especially important in the US 79
Consumers are also looking to restrict saturated fat intake and this needs to be addressed through better-for-you innovation 80
Make efforts to cut salt from processed foods 81
Cut sugar content especially in morning goods and children's product lines 82
Use sweetening ingredients that are better for consumers and widely recognized as being so 83
Ensure transparency exists regarding calorie content 83
Give better-for-you innovation an added edge by including genuinely healthy content 86
ACTION: Target older consumers, females and children with reformulated products 88
Create messages based on women's more complex and intimate approach to communication 88
Base humor-orientated messages on shared experiences 89
Support the empowerment of women with societal marketing 89
Target female-friendly media 90
Create word of-mouth marketing campaigns targeting female connectivity 90
Target Seniors' core values with your marketing concept 92
Proactively reformulate kids' targeted products to make them healthier 93
Hold yourselves to rigorous nutritional standards when developing kid-friendly products 93
ACTION: Resolve the food and beverage labeling conundrum 95
Provide information for two types of consumer usage scenarios 96
Ensure that labeling is not the only area where you offer engaging nutrition information 97
CHAPTER 4 APPENDIX 100
Definitions 100
Research methodology 100
References 101
Future readings 102
How to contact experts in your industry 102

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Table 1: Consumer survey: proportion of European and US consumers overall who believed it was important to reduce their levels of consumptions of certain nutrients and food types, 2006 20
Table 2: Consumer survey: frequency by which US consumers read food labels that provide nutritional information about a product 25
Table 3: Consumer survey: the extent to which European and US consumers used nutritional information on product packaging to help make food and drink choices, by country, 2006 27
Table 4: Consumer survey: understanding of nutritional panels/labels used on food packaging, by region, 2005 29
Table 5: Fat consumption expressed in grams per person per day, by country, 1981-2003 33
Table 6: Consumer survey: % of US consumers who had heard of, and were trying to reduce their consumption of, different fats, 2007 34
Table 7: Consumer survey: the degree of importance consumers place on reducing their saturated fat content, by country, 2006 36
Table 8: Consumer survey: propensity of European consumers to consume less fat, less sugar, less salt, fewer calories and less meat, by country, 2006 36
Table 9: Consumer survey: proportion of consumers who 'regularly' check labels for various contents, by content and region, 2005 38
Table 10: Consumer survey: types of nutrient information sought by US consumers, 2006 38
Table 11: Consumer survey: frequency of using fat, sugar, salt and sugar content displayed on package labels, UK, 2006 39
Table 12: Global per capita food consumption (kcal per capita per day), by region and decade, 1964-2030 46
Table 13: Dietary energy expressed in kcal per person per day, by country, 1981-2003 46
Table 14: Consumer survey: importance placed on controlling calorie intake, by country, US & Europe, 2006 48
Table 15: Consumer survey: the degree of importance consumers place on reducing their sugar intake, by country, 2006 55
Table 16: Consumer survey: US consumer awareness and consumption of sugars and low calorie sweeteners 60
Table 17: Consumer survey: the degree of importance consumers place on monitoring their carbohydrate intake, by country, 2006 63
Table 18: Consumer survey: US consumer awareness and consumption of carbohydrates, 2007 66
Table 19: Consumer survey: the degree of importance consumers place on reducing their salt intake, by country, 2006 70
Table 20: Consumer survey: the degree of importance consumers place on reducing processed food consumption, by country, 2006 73
Table 21: Definitions used in the report 100


Figure 1: Moderation and avoidance behaviors in food and drink are driven by a broad range of factors 12
Figure 2: Avoidance, moderation and positive nutrition are all trends associated with healthy eating and drinking 14
Figure 3: US adults are most likely to be overweight or obese 15
Figure 4: The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing in both Europe and the US 16
Figure 5: Changing dietary patterns in the US with an intensified focus on health are reflected by successful new products 19
Figure 6: Nearly two-thirds of European and US consumers took steps to eat more healthily in 2005-2006 19
Figure 7: European and US consumers have strong dispositions towards moderating fat, sugar and salt 21
Figure 8: US consumers are most aware of their sugar intake although general nutrient intake awareness is relatively low 22
Figure 9: Consumers are more likely to check nutritional information on the package when buying it for the first time 28
Figure 10: Key consumer expectations from good nutrition labeling highlight three core criteria that manufacturers and retailers must satisfy 31
Figure 11: Females and older consumers place more importance on reducing fat intake 40
Figure 12: US consumers are aware of many types of fat 41
Figure 13: Governmental and institutional campaigns are contributing to an increased understanding of fats 42
Figure 14: More than half of European and US consumers claimed to know the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats in 2005 44
Figure 15: Gender, age, income and education all influence the degree to which consumers focus on calorific reduction 50
Figure 16: US consumers get the highest proportion of their energy from sugar & sweetener consumption 53
Figure 17: A desire to reduce sugar intake has helped fuel demand for low calorie sweeteners 56
Figure 18: Females in Europe and the US place more importance on reducing sugar consumption 58
Figure 19: Females and older consumers are more likely to monitor carb intake 65
Figure 20: Increasing whole grain consumption is becoming an established trend in the US, but is also evident in Europe too 67
Figure 21: Notable age and gender differences are evident when it comes to the importance consumers place on managing salt intake 71
Figure 22: Italian and Spanish females have the strongest negativity towards processed food and drinks 74
Figure 23: Food outlets are responding to growing concern about trans fats 80
Figure 24: Restricted calorie products, which have transparent calorie credentials, can help consumers feel more in control 84
Figure 25: 100 calorie packs have been an important area of innovation in the US, especially for snacks 84
Figure 26: Low calorie innovation has the potential to evolve into minus calorie innovation in the future 85
Figure 27: Successful innovations illustrate the relevance of fiber and omega-3 to health conscious and health discerning consumers 87
Figure 28: Kraft's South Beach Diet line has enjoyed considerable success in the US 87
Figure 29: A new level of innovation is occurring, with better-for-you brands offering broader benefits beyond moderated consumption of 'bad' nutrients 88
Figure 30: Marketers should ensure that products and communications are aligned with 5 core values 92
Figure 31: Healthy kids nutrition will be a key focal area of better-for-you innovation 94
Figure 32: A myriad of labeling symbols are competing for consumers' attention and, in some instances, adding to choice complexity 96
Figure 33: Labeling must be well executed, easy to understand and based on trust 97
Figure 34: Web content will be an increasingly important channel to champion better-for-you credentials 98
Figure 35: Websites allow health messages to be presented in a subtle manner 98
Figure 36: Informative advertising and community-based marketing can attract information hungry parents 99

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