food Marketing & Technology 2/2022

Marketing Health & Wellness Ingredient Trends Over the last eighteen months there has been a significant shift in consumers re-evaluating their dietary habits. As well as initial fears of over the pandemic, consumers are also recognizing that their current diets and lifestyles were something that increased the risk of long-term health problems. Due to these perceptions consumers are actively looking to improve their eating and drinking habits and central to this, consumers are paying more attention to the ingredient listings on food and drink products. So, what ingredients are consumers seeking out in order to improve their health and wellness? Immune health is a key area in which consumers are looking to address as they are not overly satisfied with this area of health. FMCG Gurus research also shows that 68% of global consumers would like to improve their immune health over the next twelve months. One way in which consumers are addressing their immune health is by changing their current dietary plans. Those that have made changes to their diets are most likely to say that they have looked to eat more fresh food and vegetables, a further reflection of how people are focusing more on wholesomeness and adopting a backto-basics approach to nutrition in order to boost their wellbeing. FMCG Gurus research shows that consumers associate a variety of ingredients with aiding the immune system, with there being little difference in the proportion of people who associate Vitamin C, iron, and Omega 3 with such benefits. The fact that consumers associate a variety of ingredients with aiding the immune system means that they would like to see products which carry a variety of ingredient claims on packaging because of the association with convenience and efficacy. Consumers are also recognizing the link that the digestive system has on their immune levels. This has led to an increased desire of probiotics and prebiotics. Awareness and understanding of the role that the digestive health system plays on overall wellbeing is something that has increased over the last couple of years. This will be due in part to COVID-19 but also consumers taking a more proactive approach to researching about health issues in general. In addition, seven in ten consumers also say that they recognize that there is a direct link between immunity and gut health. When it comes to addressing digestive health, Consumers are most likely to be addressing their digestive health through making general changes to their diets as opposed to seeking out more specialist solutions such as visiting a doctor. This is most likely to have happened by seeking out probiotics and cultures that are high in beneficial bacteria and making changes to diets such as maximizing intake of fresh produce and cutting down on perceived dietary evils. This is shown by FMCG Gurus insights as 43% of global consumers state that they have used probiotics in the last twelve months in order to address digestive health problems. As consumers look to address their health and wellness with a proactive approach to their diets, they will also continue to turn to sports nutrition products. This is due to consumers wanting to lead a fitter-for-longer lifestyle and are seeking out functional benefits from products. Protein is an ingredient which has had a significant health halo, as consumers associated high protein products with offering multi-functional benefits. FMCG Gurus research highlights that 56% of global consumers state that they have switched from traditional snacks such as chocolate and confectionery to high protein/low sugar alternatives in the last twelve months. This shows that consumers are seeking out better-for-you products within a category typically associated with sensory appeal. fmt 54 food Marketing & Technology • April 2022

Josef Rettenmaier 1924 - 2022 Josef Rettenmaier, co-founder and long-time managing director of today's JRS J. Rettenmaier & Söhne GmbH+Co.KG, Rosenberg, passed away on March 23, 2022. As one of the world's largest producers of dietary fibers, the JRS Group of Companies with its JRS plant fiber technology has become the global market leader for VITACEL® dietary fibers and VIVAPUR® functional ingredients over the past decades. Born in 1924 in his parents' wood mill, Josef Rettenmaier sen. established a special reputation far beyond the region as an innovative, courageous and far-sighted entrepreneurial personality. His personality exemplarily combines the Swabian character traits of diligence, inventiveness and perseverance. His modest manner and his open, humorous demeanor characterized his philosophy of life. This was matched by his long-term, forward-looking way of thinking with ideas that were far ahead of his time. This was also the case with his courageous entrepreneurial decision in the early 1950s, together with his father Joseph and brother Otto, to turn the classic agricultural flour mill into a completely new form of industrial enterprise with new tasks - the J. Rettenmaier & Söhne OHG, from which today's globally active JRS group of companies was formed. Josef Rettenmaier has always understood perfectly how to approach people - customers, employees, friends, in politics or in voluntary work. As a self-confessed family man, he also shaped the JRS company as a large business family. Mutual responsibility and togetherness were very central values for him, which have been transferred to today's JRS. The well-being of the employees and the desire to always be able to offer the customers an active added value have always been the driving force and basis of his entrepreneurial work. His life's work includes the expansion of the grain and oil mill founded in 1878 into one of the world's most efficient industrial companies in the field of innovative functional cellulose and plant fiber products. Today, JRS plant fiber technology is used in almost all industrial sectors and areas of life. Josef Rettenmaier started his professional career with a rock-solid miller's apprenticeship, followed by further commercial training. During this time, he was actively involved at an early stage in the sometimes still very hard physical work in his parents' mill business. With a great deal of foresight, he succeeded as an accomplished, determined businessman in successfully growing the forward-looking, sustainable innovation field of plant fiber technology. This spirit continues to shape JRS a generation later, right up to the present day. At the same time, as a creative insider with a great deal of practical knowledge, he was also always the technological driving force behind the company's development, which led, among other things, to the development of completely new types of processing equipment for cellulose fine fibers, which led to many product and application innovations. He also has developed special production processes for the manufacture of dietary fiber concentrates, among other things. Josef Rettenmaier was also active in many social, cultural, church and political organizations, institutions and initiatives. In addition to many honors, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Staufer Medal and the Business Medal of the State of Baden-Württemberg, and the Papal Order of St. Silvester. Today, the JRS Group employs more than 3,500 people at over 90 production and sales locations worldwide. With its sustainable green JRS plant fiber technology, JRS is committed to health, nutrition and resource-saving technical applications in almost all areas of life. The independent, owner-managed JRS family business group has its headquarters firmly rooted in the in the Ostalbkreis district, South Germany. food Marketing & Technology • April 2022 55