Future Health | Healthy eating a common goal in the new normal

Good planning, a shopping list, spare time and circumstances have inspired many people to make healthier food choices. Before the outbreak of the pandemic consumers already wanted to eat more healthily to ensure their future wellbeing, but now that long-term vision and goal have become the new normal. This creates new and exciting opportunities for the food industry to make new products that meet nowadays standards and expectations.

consumers globally eat and drink more healthy as a result of COVID19

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Prevention is the best cure

When asked how we would improve our health before the crisis, there was no consensus despite the wish for future health. Waistline, digestive health and immunity were all listed as equally important. As a result of COVID19, three in five consumers worldwide have become more conscious about their overall health and immunity. What is remarkable, is that they are also more concerned about mental wellbeing than weight control.

Prebiotics are known for contributing to one’s wellbeing. Science has shown that short-chain fatty acids can reach the brain directly via the gut-brain axis and reinforce the immune system. Orafti^® Inulin and Oligofructose, BENEO’s chicory root fibre, is a proven, natural plant-based prebiotic that helps strengthen our first line of defence by tending to the beneficial microbiota in our intestines. By doing so, it puts consumers on their way to inner wellbeing and good health.

Better for you: mindful and still delightful

As much as 7 in 10 consumers believe their dietary choices impact their mood. Different forms of entertainment like Netflix or gaming and a renewed interest in home baking have increased snacking. A feel-good break can keep spirits up in the short term, but also puts people at risk of putting on weight or making unhealthy choices. This is why the time has come for better-for-you indulgent food to shine and offer more healthful alternatives. To multiply the feel-good factor, the time has come for better-for-you indulgent food to shine.

Consumers want healthier food and beverages

Reformulating products and packages in the indulgent segment, should help consumers reach their weight goals and should not require any compromises on taste or enjoyment. The technical and physiological qualities of BENEO’s fibres and carbohydrates bring tasty and healthier snacks and better-for-you options within close reach.

Empowering foods: from ‘on-the-go’ to ‘always on’

We have gone from an ‘on-the-go’ to an “always-on” lifestyle. To manage work and private life successfully, sustained, long-lasting energy can be a great added value in breakfast and snack foods. One in four consumers is concerned about keeping up daily energy levels. They also believe energy and taste are equally important qualities for their breakfast.

Energising foods and drinks should preferably be ‘clean’ and “better-for-you”. Energy from a familiar and natural source could make food products appeal more to consumers. In China, 43% say they would like to try energy drinks with natural ingredients. Palatinose™ opens the door to new product development that fulfils these expectations. It is a steady and balanced source of carbohydrate energy from a natural source that provides its glucose content in a more sustained way. Slow-release energy reduces energy spikes and crashes and provides more long-lasting, good energy.

Top 2 breakfast requirements for consumers worldwide:

Keep your game on with sustained, healthier energy

Consumers’ daily schedule is often loaded with activities: they take care of their family, do home office or go out for work, take part in (online) social activities, do sports and increasingly enjoy online gaming. To cope, succeed and get the best out of themselves, they are interested in a sustainable source of energy that fuels body and mind.

Home office and gaming have increased the demand for products that boost mental performance. Video gaming has grown into an established part of the new normal. In 2019 alone, the sector achieved a $33 billion turnover in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Claims about increased mental alertness, concentration and the promise of long-lasting energy are high in demand. This has sparked new opportunities for energy drinks with better carbs to reload one’s batteries. The carbohydrate energy of Palatinose™ can be the game-changer in this segment because of its technical properties and its beneficial effect on the metabolism.