It may still be October, but analysts at Mintel have released their predicted food and drinks trends for 2018, with natural foods and traceability expected to be high up the agenda.
According to Mintel's global food and drink analyst Jenny Zegler, in the so-called 'post-truth' reality, consumers require total transparency from grocery companies, meaning full disclosure is required over how, where, when and by whom food is grown, harvested, made or sold.
'The need for reassurance about the safety and trustworthiness of food and drink has led to increased use of natural as well as ethical and environmental claims in global food and drink launches,' she said. 'In addition to more specific product details, the next wave of clean label will challenge manufacturers and retailers to democratise transparency and traceability so that products are accessible to all consumers regardless of household income.'
Flexible and balanced diets will also become increasingly important, Zegler believes, with many people feeling overwhelmed and focusing on self-care, reinforcing the need for a variety of formats, formulations and portion sizes to suit differing needs.
One notable new trend is set to be around texture, which Mintel predicts will become more important to manufacturers and consumers. 'Texture is the next facet of formulation that can be leveraged to provide consumers with interactive - and documentation-worthy - experiences,' Zegler explains. 'The quest for experiences will provide opportunities for multi-sensory food and drink that uses unexpected texture to provide consumers, especially the teens and young adults of the iGeneration, with tangible connections to the real world, as well as moments worth sharing either in person or online.'
Finally, personalisation will become a more common part of the shopping experience as mobile and other new technologies become more prevalent in the grocery aisles and online.
