For human foods and beverages, focus is on ingredients. While that’s not new, it has reached a level that inspires Innova Market Insights to name it the top trend for 2024.
LuAnn Williams, co-founder and global insights director of innova, explained in a recent webinar that the food industry has come full circle in terms of ingredients, from the early attention to functional foods in the 1990s to the first clean label concepts, which created a list of ” avoid”, to the greater focus now on the “hero ingredient.” We see similar patterns in pet food.
An Innova survey of consumers in 11 countries — Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US, likely representative enough that the market research firm refers to it as a global survey — shows about the third saying they always look at the ingredients of interest in food and drink products, with 42% saying protein is the most important ingredient. (Another parallel to pet food.)
“Consumers are looking for value from the ingredients in the products. It’s becoming front-of-pack marketing and very important,” says Williams, adding that ingredients are also an important part of storytelling (a marketing element) and often provide visual cues on the product label.
Innova It is recommended that food and beverage marketers respond to positive consumer attitudes toward ingredients by promoting a product’s star element. While many pet nutrition experts bemoan the focus on ingredients versus the nutrients pets need, this advice is probably still relevant to pet food marketers. (In fact, many are already doing that.)
Maintenance is becoming more nuanced
of Innova second trend for 2024, “nature care,” is a continuation of a focus on sustainability, another major trend for pet food, but it continues to involve both industries. “What’s seen in these big trends is that they’re starting to break down into smaller niches, and there’s more nuance every year,” Williams explained. Today, consumers think that businesses have a responsibility to go beyond more basic sustainable practices, which require actions that make a positive difference in protecting the environment. In fact, the top things consumers want to see companies prioritize include environmental protection, sustainable packaging and improved waste management.
So also, Innova have tracked 37% average annual growth in food and beverage products with claims related to forest protection and 40+% annual growth in those with water use claims. Other areas that are attracting more attention (from consumers and businesses) are upcycling and “agrobiodiversity,” which Williams says includes crop diversification for planetary health and food security, and regenerative agriculture, “which getting a big marketing push in the US”
Coping with information overload
Even if it is number 10 in of Innova list for 2024, “noise reduction” also seems to have a pet food game — it’s all about simplifying messages aimed at consumers. “Consumers last year said there were too many environmental certifications, for example, but they’re really looking for open and direct communications to try and deal with information overload,” Williams said.
For example, 64% of global consumers in of Innova The survey said they would like to see direct communication about companies’ sustainability efforts on food and beverage packages. (That may seem to contradict the greater nuance and higher element of sustainability that consumers demand!)
The top things consumers want to see simplified in packaging are brand overview, shelf life, product storytelling, and sustainability information. Regarding the latter, 49% said they were concerned about greenwashing, but 53% said they would not recognize if a company was greenwashing. Williams noted that new legislation is coming in Europe to deal with this. “What will happen is that if the regulators feel that the industry is not far behind, they will also try to help clarify the message.” A cautionary tale for pet food, perhaps.
More human food trends
We of Innova remaining top trends for 2024, those that seem applicable to pet food include prioritizing prevention (number 3, all about being proactive in health), plant-based: the increase in applied offers (4), indulgence in health (number 7, treating healthy) and an ocean of possibilities (8; “The seas are developing the farms of the future, inspiring with new sources of substances positive for the environment ,” Innova said.”).
Williams concluded the webinar by saying Innova will release more information about its top trends on its website in the coming weeks and months.
