Wellness & Nourishment • GMP • Advanced ... - Mælkeritidende

Food Industry Embraces Health and Wellness- But Pockets of UncertaintyRemainBy Karen S.Frost,Journalist,Communication& PR,Chr. HansenA/SIn May 2006, Chr. Hansen asked selected customers andexperts from all over the world to share their opinion ina web poll. 108 Research Scientists, Sales Managers, FoodTechnologists, Plant Managers, Purchasers, and otherindustry professionals responded.Healthy future foodsHealth is the future of food. Of this,food industry professionals participatingin the survey have no doubt.An overwhelming 96% considerhealth and wellness very important(76%) or above average importance(20%). The clear majority (59%) ofthe respondents have already actedon their conviction and launchedproducts (see figure 1). However, asizeable minority - nearly one infour - are uncertain about how toapproach this quickly evolving foodcategory. For now, this minority remainssidelined without concreteplans for market-entry.“There appears to be some confusionand uncertainty about howto approach the market and whichstrategy to follow. When asked ‘Whatis the most important factor for a successfulhealth and wellness product?’respondents were fairly equally splitbetween authorized health claims,marketing, taste, or scientific documentation.Not surprising, becausein reality the right strategy is likelyto be a mix,” says Ken Gawley, Chr.Hansen’s Industry Manager for Foodand Beverage.Push and pull factorsNearly half the respondents (47%)identify consumers as the most importantdriver behind the health andwellness market (see figure 2). Butalmost as many (44%) acknowledgethe substantial effort from the foodindustry ingredient suppliers (16%)plus food producers (28%) in developingthis high value category.“It is definitely a combination ofpush and pull factors,” says HansChristian Bejder, Global MarketingManager for Probiotics at Chr.Hansen. “There is no doubt that largegroups of consumers are activelylooking for healthy foods, but newconcepts like ‘gut health,’ ‘friendlybacteria,’ or the ‘daily dose’ did notIt is not relevant for my companyWe are interested, but have no concrete plans at the momentWe expect to launch our first products in 2006We have already launched productsbecome widely established withouta significant effort in informationand education from the industry.”The responses to “Who is yourmost important source of inspirationfor health and wellness foodproducts?” show that the food industrywisely obtains its knowledgeand information from a broad base.Ingredient producers (27%), foodindustry media (27%) and marketresearch (24%), are all significantsources of inspiration for the producers.Perhaps a little surprising,the retailers - that link in the chaindirectly connected to consumers -apparently have little (6%) to offerin this respect.The place to beWhen asked, “Which do you considerthe most important health andwellness food trend in 2006,” therewas no clear answer. Probiotics(20%), Low fat (19%), heart health(19%), and organic foods (18%) weretied for first place, and all categoriesgot at least a few responses. Similarly,women were considered the demographicgroup to hold the biggestpotential (37%) for health and wellnessfoods, but aging (24%), children(19%), and men (11%) received afair number of responses. Such evenfields demonstrate that health andwellness is fast becoming an establishedproduct category, rather thana niche market dominated by productsfor small, committed groups.What is ahead?Looking at specific ingredients, fiber18 Danish Dairy & Food Industry... worldwide 2006 NR. 16