In packaging and food, here are Datamonitor’s tips for the near future.
Free ranging
Animal rights have emerged as a growing worldwide concern as consumers want to know more about how the foods they eat were raised and prepared. For example, the “free range” product claim commonly used to identify how poultry are raised has nearly doubled in frequency for new food products launched worldwide since 2006 according to Datamonitor’s Product Launch Analytics. Look for this trend to accelerate in 2010 as food service chains follow the trail blazed by leading-edge CPG companies into humanely-raised products.
Diamonds are forever, plastic now isn’t
One of the great attributes of plastic is that is lasts — for what seems like forever. But that’s also one of its greatest drawbacks. Plastic that is not recycled often ends up in landfills where it can persist for centuries. But that is changing. New types of degradable packaging now enable plastic to biodegrade in only years. The key is additives like EcoPure or Reverte that help plastic biodegrade more quickly and safely than it ordinarily would. The bottled water market has been ground zero for this trend with entries like Aquamantra Natural Spring Water in Enso bottles and State of Mind Bottled Water in Reverte Back to Nature bottles. Look for this trend to accelerate in 2010 and move beyond the bottled water market to other categories.
Meat not just in the sandwich
Meat’s burgeoning popularity on the flavour front helps to explain some of the more bizarre product launches over the past few months including meat-flavoured lollipops (Das Lolli Man Bait), potato chips (Mackie’s of Scotland Haggis and Cracked Black Pepper Potato Chips), chocolate candy (Mo’s Dark Bacon Bar) and even vodka (Bakon Premium Bacon Flavoured Vodka). Can meat-flavoured ice cream, yogurt or fruit juice be far behind?
More muscular functional drinks
A decade ago, a brand called Red Bull took the soft drink market by storm, creating a new niche for energy drinks. Is history about to repeat itself with a drinks brand called Muscle Milk? Quietly, the protein-enhanced exercise recovery drink brand from Cytosport has crafted a following that suggests significant cross-over potential for so-called “muscle” beverages that have long been aimed at weight-lifters and power athletes. Muscle Milk and similar healthy and active lifestyle beverages could be the next hot niche within the functional drinks market.
Superfruits get more exotic
Indiana Jones may be done looking for the Holy Grail and other antiquities, but searchers trekking through rain forests, jungles and the wilds of South America, South-East Asia and Africa are just getting started in their quest to find the next hot superfruit. Candidates for 2010 and beyond include Baobab (a tart African fruit high in anti-oxidants), Borojo (a natural energiser from the jungles of South and Central America), Maqui (a berry native to South America said to have eight times the anti-oxidants of blueberries) and Yumberry (technically “yang-mi” fruit — a super-high anti-oxidant tree fruit from China). Move over pomegranate, you’ve got some competition.
Ingredients: less is more
With “natural”’ and “organic” product claims displaying the same growth patterns as peak oil, the conundrum for packaged food and drinks companies around the world boils down to this: how do we say “better for you” and not just sing the same old songs? The newest technique is to take a machete to product ingredient lists. Out are ingredients that sound more at home in a chemistry lab and in their place are ingredients that most consumers recognise. Haagen-Dazs’ 5 Ice Cream illustrates the trend with just five ingredients for each ice cream flavour. Look for other packaged food and drinks makers to dance the limbo with product ingredient lists in 2010 and beyond.
Bamboo cleans up
Perhaps no substance has enjoyed more of a booster shot courtesy of the green movement than bamboo. Thanks to its outrageously-fast growth rate (it can grow as much as 24 inches in a single day); bamboo has become the material of choice for companies that want to bolster their sustainability credentials. The substance has shown up in recent launches as disparate as dish-cleaning sponges and paper plates to baby wipes and cosmetics packaging.
Have you had your “shots” ?
While the shot format has been around for some time in various world markets for dairy-based drinks, the format has exploded in popularity in other markets. Almost singlehandedly, shots have elevated the energy drink market to new heights. The latest “shot” trend is the polar opposite of energy drinks — new relaxation “shots” that offer a non-alcoholic way to reduce stress. Examples include Koma Unwind Chillaxation Shot and Tranquila Relaxation Shot. The number of new products featuring the words “shot” or “shots” has doubled since 2006, according to Datamonitor.
Gluten-Free products
Datamonitor’s Product Launch Analytics reports a doubling of new gluten-free products since 2005 with major consumer packaged goods companies now jumping on the bandwagon.
Datamonitor’s research covers six major industry sectors: consumer and retail; automotive and logistics; energy and utilities; financial services; healthcare; and technology.