Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- The market
- 65% of UK adults are overweight or obese
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- Figure 1: Trends in body mass index (BMI), England, 1997-2017
- Soft Drinks Sugar Levy comes into effect
- Majority of sweet food categories fail to meet the sugar reduction targets
- Improved disposable incomes could offer a boost to healthy eating
- Companies and brands
- L/N/R sugar claims gain ground rapidly over 2014-16
- High/added-protein claims continue to grow
- The consumer
- Six in 10 adults try to eat healthily most or all of the time
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- Figure 2: How often consumers try to eat healthily, 2016-18
- Friends and family are the main source of advice on healthy eating
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- Figure 3: Sources used for advice on healthy eating, November 2018
- Scratch cooking is seen as interlinked with eating healthily
- Gut health is valued by many
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- Figure 4: Attitudes towards healthy eating, November 2018
- Five-a-day is the most widely adopted healthy eating behaviour
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- Figure 5: Uptake of selected healthy eating behaviours, November 2018
- Calorie-controlled diet is the most widely associated with weight management
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- Figure 6: Qualities associated with diets – Correspondence analysis, November 2018
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Focus on gut health should help to boost people’s nutritional intake
- The facts
- The implications
- In-store guidance is key to encouraging healthy eating
- The facts
- The implications
- More straightforward and tangible messages needed for public health campaigns
- The facts
- The implications
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- 65% of UK adults are overweight or obese
- Soft Drinks Sugar Levy comes into effect
- Majority of sweet food categories fail to meet the sugar reduction targets
- Improved disposable incomes could offer a boost to healthy eating
Market Drivers
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- 65% of UK adults are overweight or obese
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- Figure 7: Trends in body mass index (BMI), England, 1997-2017
- Severe obesity among Year 6 children at its highest ever
- Obesity the second-biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking, says Cancer Research
- War on sugar continues
- UK ‘Sugar Tax’ leads to 11% reduction in soft drinks’ sugar content
- Majority of sweet food categories fail to meet the 2018 sugar reduction targets
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- Figure 8: Change in sugar content per 100g by manufacturers and retailers in selected sweet food product categories, 2016-18
- Calls grow for more decisive action to force companies to act on health
- Consumer expectations add to the pressure on manufacturers
- Children’s sugar consumption found to still be too high
- New Change4Life campaign urges parents to swap to less sugary foods
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- Figure 9: Change4Life Facebook advert advocating food swap, 2018
- Change4Life new labelling could boost brands promoted as ‘good choices’
- Scientific studies raise doubts over artificial sweeteners’ benefits
- ‘No compelling evidence’ that sweeteners help with weight loss
- University study finds artificial sweeteners to be ‘toxic’ to gut microbes
- Food industry falls short of 2017 salt reduction targets
- EFSA rules make it difficult for some products to make a low-salt claim
- PHE and DHSC task food industry with 20% calorie reduction by 2024
- New research highlights the importance of fibre
- Less than a third of adults reach the five-a-day targets
- Government proposes crackdown on ‘junk food’ promotions
- Traffic light labelling gains momentum
- Nutritionists issue portion control guidelines to tackle overeating
- Improved disposable incomes could offer a boost to healthy eating
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- Figure 10: CPI vs average weekly earnings, January 2013-October 2018
Companies and Brands – What You Need to Know
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- L/N/R sugar claims gain ground rapidly over 2014-16
- High/added-protein claims continue to grow
Launch Activity and Innovation
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- L/N/R sugar claims gain ground rapidly over 2014-18
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- Figure 11: Share of new product launches with slimming and minus claims in the UK food market, by claim, 2014-18
- Cereal/snack/energy bars lead on L/N/R sugar launches in 2018
- Protein ball brand targets the breakfast occasion
- Nestlé makes five-a-day claim and features on-trend ingredients
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- Figure 12: Examples of cereal/snack/energy bars with multiple health claims, 2018
- Yogurt, breakfast cereals and sweet spreads step up L/N/R sugar activity
- Yogurt brands take various approaches to cutting sugar
- Further activity in no-added-sugar non-dairy yogurts
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- Figure 13: Examples of L/N/R sugar yogurt launches, 2018
- Activity in L/N/R sugar breakfast cereals centres mainly on no-added-sugar claims
- Weetabix reformulates Weetabix Minis with reduced sugar and added Vitamin B2
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- Figure 14: Examples of L/N/R sugar breakfast cereals, 2018
- Sweet spreads brands explore various sugar alternatives
- Leading and smaller brands explore L/N/R sugar and high-protein sweet spreads
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- Figure 15: Examples of L/N/R sugar sweet spreads, 2018
- High/added-protein claims continue to grow
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- Figure 16: Share of new product launches with plus claims in the UK food market, by claim, 2014-18
- Snack bars lead on high-protein launches, but meat substitutes gain the most share
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- Figure 17: Examples of high/added-protein meat substitute products with on-trend ingredients, 2018
- Further activity in pulse/legume-based pastas with protein and fibre claims
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- Figure 18: Examples of pulse/legume pastas with high-protein and high-fibre claims, 2018
- Plant-based protein ketchup arrives in the UK
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- Figure 19: In the Buff Protein Ketchups, 2018
- Fermented foods prove a hotbed of activity in 2018
- Kefir enters the mainstream
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- Figure 20: Examples of kefir products, 2018
- Miso gains momentum
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- Figure 21: Examples of products with miso as an ingredient, 2018
- Added vegetables trend continues
- Gluten-free brands launch bread products with added vegetables
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- Figure 22: Examples of gluten-free wraps with added vegetables, 2018
- Smaller brands launch vegetable yogurts
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- Figure 23: Examples of yogurts with vegetable flavours, 2018
- Turmeric remains the spice of the moment
- Savoury products
- Sweet products
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- Figure 24: Examples of products with turmeric, 2018
Start-ups and Disruptors Case Studies
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- Vita Mojo
- Company overview
- Mintel analyst view
- Product information
- Media profile
- Social media metrics
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- Figure 25: Social media metrics for Vita Mojo, February 2019
- The brand’s view
- Looking to the future
- Sol Fuel
- Company overview
- Mintel analyst view
- Product information
- Media profile
- The brand’s view
- Looking to the future
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Six in 10 adults try to eat healthily most or all of the time
- Friends and family are the main source of advice on healthy eating
- Scratch cooking is seen as interlinked with eating healthily
- Gut health is valued by many
- Five-a-day is the most widely adopted healthy eating behaviour
- Calorie-controlled diet is the most widely associated with weight management
Healthy Eating Intentions
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- Six in 10 adults try to eat healthily most or all of the time
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- Figure 26: How often consumers try to eat healthily, 2016-18
- Men, ABs and higher earners are the most avid healthy eaters
Sources Used for Advice on Healthy Eating
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- Friends and family are the most commonly used source for advice
- Under-25s are the most likely to take advice from friends/family
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- Figure 27: Sources used for advice on healthy eating, November 2018
- More people use TV shows than go to medical professionals for advice
- Doctors should use television to ensure their health advice reaches a wider audience
- Cookery shows can help to spread healthy eating message
- Public health campaigns are underused
- Harness the power of peer recommendations to spread the message
- Over a third don’t use any sources for healthy eating advice
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- Figure 28: Repertoire of sources used for advice on healthy eating, November 2018
- In-store prompts can help to raise the visibility of healthy eating advice
- Over-55s are the least likely to take advice
Attitudes towards Healthy Eating
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- Scratch cooking seen to be interlinked with eating healthily
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- Figure 29: Attitudes towards healthy eating, November 2018
- Supermarkets can use various methods to encourage people to cook healthy meals
- Health associations around scratch cooking pose a challenge for prepared meals
- Consumer expectations oblige manufacturers to take action
- On-pack labelling can help companies to signal their good health credentials
- Seven in 10 see gut health as essential to overall health
- Consumer views on gut health offer opportunity to boost interest in high-fibre foods
- Public health campaigns seen as a good channel for education
- Change4Life campaign widely recognised; snacking message not
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- Figure 30: Selected images from the Change4Life campaign
Responses to Nutritional Labelling
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- No-added-sugar and five-a-day labels come in for particular attention
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- Figure 31: Heat map of areas of packaging looked at when shopping for healthy snacks, December 2018
- Many pay attention to traffic light labelling
Uptake of Healthy Eating Behaviours
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- Five-a-day is the most widely adopted healthy eating behaviour
- National Diet and Nutrition Surveys find that many miss the five-a-day target
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- Figure 32: Uptake of selected healthy eating behaviours, November 2018
- Recipe suggestions should help to encourage more people to eat five-a-day
- Harnessing pester power would help to boost families’ vegetable consumption
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- Figure 33: Lidl Facebook advert for its Oaklands Fun-size vegetables range
- Price promotions help to incentivise fruit and vegetable buying
- A quarter of adults have reduced their weekly meat intake
- Over-55s are the most likely to avoid artificial sweeteners
- One in five under-35s use food/drink tracking apps
- Few follow NHS-recommended regimens
Qualities Associated with Diets
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- Calorie-controlled diet is the most widely seen as good for weight management…
- …but lags behind on overall health perceptions
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- Figure 34: Qualities associated with diets, November 2018
- Companies should not focus solely on calories to appeal to consumers
- Young men have particularly positive views of low-carb diets
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- Figure 35: Café advertising its high-protein, low-carb choices, 2019
- Clean eating is widely seen as good for you…
- …and scores well on perceptions as highly nutritious…
- …but is also seen as expensive, particularly among the less well off
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- Figure 36: Qualities associated with diets – Correspondence analysis, November 2018
- Methodology
- Under-25s have the most favourable views of plant-based diets
- Negative taste perceptions linger around plant-based diets
- Few see plant-based diets as good for the environment
Attitudes towards the Cost of Healthy Food
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- Opinions are divided on whether eating healthily is harder on a budget
- Fresh fruit and vegetables are seen as expensive by some
- Discounters and own-label seen as helping to make healthy eating more affordable
- Consumers note food manufacturers’ actions on health
Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
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- Abbreviations
- Consumer research methodology
Appendix – Launch Activity and Innovation
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- Figure 37: Share of new product launches in the UK food market with an L/N/R sugar claim, by sub-category, 2014-18 (sorted by 2018)
- Figure 38: Share of new product launches in the UK food market with a high/added-protein claim, by sub-category, 2014-18 (sorted by 2018)
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