Table of Contents
Overview
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- What you need to know
- Definition
Executive Summary
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- The issues
- Avoidance largely tied to lifestyle choice
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- Figure 1: Foods/ingredients avoided, August 2017
- Free-from options widely shopped
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- Figure 2: Purchase location, August 2017
- Lack of trust in manufactured foods
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- Figure 3: Attitudes toward free-from foods, August 2017
- Consumers as likely to cook free-from options from scratch
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- Figure 4: Opinions, by age, August 2017
- The opportunities
- Consumers associate short ingredient legends with healthier foods
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- Figure 5: Attitudes toward free-from foods, by age, August 2017
- Convenient and lower-cost options could resonate with the category’s key consumer
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- Figure 6: Opinions, by age, August 2017
- Parental potential for convenient allergen-friendly options
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- Figure 7: Opinions, by presence and age of children under 18, August 2017
- What it means
Market Perspective
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- Brands, both retail and foodservice, eliminating artificial and unhealthy elements
Market Factors
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- Food allergy reactions rising
- Hispanics, particularly Millennials, seek healthy foods
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- Figure 8: US population by Hispanic origin, 2017
- Diabetes, prediabetes numbers rise
- Heart concerns associated with sodium
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- Figure 9: % of deaths caused by heart disease, 2013
Key Players – What You Need to Know
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- New products avoid artificial ingredients, allergens
- Avoiding fear
What’s In?
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- Launches avoiding allergens, GMO, artificial ingredients
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- Figure 10: Top free-from claims among US food/beverage introductions, 2012-17
What’s Next?
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- Increasing transparency
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- Figure 11: Emerging free-from claims among US food/beverage introductions, 2012-17
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Eliminating allergens, but mostly GMOs and HFCS
- Artificial avoidance
- Mass merchandisers rival supermarket for free-from options
- Niche claims coming into their own
- Hispanic Millennials express strong interest in ingredient transparency
- Consumers likely turn to scratch cooking to avoid certain elements
Foods/Ingredients Avoided
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- HFCS, GMOs rank as most avoided
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- Figure 12: Foods/ingredients avoided, August 2017
- Younger consumers much more likely to avoid allergens
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- Figure 13: Foods/ingredients avoided, by age, August 2017
- Presence of children factors strongly in allergen avoidance
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- Figure 14: Allergens avoided, by number of children under 18 in household, August 2017
- Education and HFCS avoidance
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- Figure 15: Ingredients avoided, by level of education, August 2017
- Black consumers much more likely to avoid lactose
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- Figure 16: Foods/ingredients avoided, by race, August 2017
- Hispanics, particularly Millennials, avoiding allergens
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- Figure 17: Allergens avoided, by Hispanic origin, August 2017
- Supermarkets top resource for GMO- and HFCS-free
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- Figure 18: Foods/ingredients avoided, by purchase location, August 2017
Important Free-from Claims
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- Artificial-free important to consumers
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- Figure 19: Claim importance, August 2017
- Older consumers avoiding sugar, sodium
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- Figure 20: Claim importance, by age, August 2017
- Parents avoiding artificial and GMOs
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- Figure 21: Claim importance, by presence and age of children in household, August 2017
- Black consumers avoiding sodium
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- Figure 22: Claim importance, by race, August 2017
- Cage-free, lactose-free resonating with Hispanic Millennials
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- Figure 23: Claim importance, by Hispanic origin, August 2017
Purchase Location for Free-from Foods
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- Consumers turning to mass merchandisers for free-from foods
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- Figure 24: Purchase location, August 2017
- Older consumers more likely to buy free-from from supermarkets
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- Figure 25: Purchase location, by age, August 2017
- Financial ‘health’ factoring strongly in free-from retailer choice
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- Figure 26: Finance tracker, by purchase location, August 2017
- Parents turning to mass merchandisers for free-from options
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- Figure 27: Purchase location, by parental status, August 2017
- Food-allergic turning to mass merchandisers
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- Figure 28: Foods/ingredients avoided, by purchase location, August 2017
Possibly Emerging Free-from Claims
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- Consumers seeking to avoid hormones, antibiotics in food
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- Figure 29: Other free-from claims of interest, August 2017
- Older consumers interested in MSG-free
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- Figure 30: Other free-from claims of interest, by age, August 2017
- Hormone-free claims would resonate strongly with Hispanic consumers
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- Figure 31: Other free-from claims of interest, by Hispanic origin, August 2017
- Multiple free-from claims could garner consumer interest
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- Figure 32: Other free-from claims of interest, TURF analysis, August 2017
Attitudes toward Free-from Foods
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- Consumers wary of food ingredients
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- Figure 33: Attitudes toward free-from foods, August 2017
- Financially ‘healthy’ consumers may question free-from foods
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- Figure 34: Finance tracker, by attitudes toward free-from foods, August 2017
- Ingredient transparency resonating with Hispanic Millennials
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- Figure 35: Attitudes toward food ingredients, by Hispanic origin, August 2017
Interest in Ingredient Disclosure
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- Parents seeking easy-to-find product information
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- Figure 36: Attitudes toward ingredient information, by presence and age of children under 18, August 2017
- Hispanics appear wary of manufactured foods
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- Figure 37: Attitudes toward ingredient information, by Hispanic origin, August 2017
The Challenge of Purchasing and Preparing Free-from Foods
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- Expense, ingredient legends may be impacting free-from sales
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- Figure 38: Opinions of free-from purchase and preparation, August 2017
- Free-from price weighing heavily on younger consumers
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- Figure 39: Opinions of free-from purchase and preparation, by age, August 2017
- Allergen-free lunch options could resonate strongly with Hispanic Millennials
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- Figure 40: Purchasing free-from foods, by Hispanic origin, August 2017
- Consumers who shop multiple stores show strong interest in transparency
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- Figure 41: Attitudes toward free-from foods, by repertoire of purchase location, August 2017
Preparing Free-from Meals
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- Customizable free-from options could resonate
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- Figure 42: Preparing free-from meals, by age, August 2017
- Free-from with wide appeal would resonate with parents
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- Figure 43: Preparing free-from meals, by presence and age of children under 18, August 2017
- Financially secure consumers more apt to avoid prepared free-from options
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- Figure 44: Finance tracker, by opinions of preparing free-from meals, August 2017
- Hispanic non-Millennials likely to address free-from needs through from-scratch preparation
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- Figure 45: Preparing free-from meals, by Hispanic origin, August 2017
Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
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- Data sources
- Consumer survey data
- Consumer qualitative research
- Abbreviations
- Abbreviations
TURF Analysis – Free-from Food Trends – October 2017
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- Methodology
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- Figure 46: Table – TURF analysis – Other free-from claims of interest, August 2017
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