COVID-19 has boosted interest in functional foods that deliver wellbeing benefits like immunity and stress management. But while the pandemic may have accelerated this trend, functional foods are no flash in the pan, experts insisted at FoodNavigator’s Positive Nutrition Digital Summit yesterday.

It won’t come as news that 2020 was a rough year for consumers. And, while vaccine rollouts may offer a ray of hope, so far 2021 hasn’t been all that much better.

The global coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic impact on how people view diet, health and wellbeing. Fear of disease and concerns over mental wellbeing have risen sharply. Carole Bingley, Technical Specialist at Reading Scientific Services, told the audience at FoodNavigator’s Positive Nutrition Digital Summit that the past year has also seen an up-tick in other health-related concerns.

Citing a Eurominotor International study that asked consumers to rate different aspects of health, Bingley noted: “Mental wellbeing came top across all the age groups as being the most important aspect associated with health. For older age groups, absence of disease scored very highly… Getting enough sleep came third or fourth across the different groups. Then we had other aspects – such as feeling good, emotional wellbeing, maintenance of a healthy weight – which also appeared in the top five.”

Mike Hughes, Insight Director at FMCG Gurus, said that the research provider’s own survey findings bore out similar conclusions. Importantly, he stressed, this seems to be a long-term shift.

A long-term shift in attitudes to health

Concerns over wellness are not just being driven by coronavirus, he continued.  “Pessimism towards health and wellness isn’t driven purely by COVID-19… 44% of global consumers experienced health problems in the last 12 months, 30% suffer from an allergy or intolerance, are 6% heavy users of alcohol and 23% say their diets ‘outright unhealthy’.”

FMCG Gurus’ consumer research shows that while consumers are making efforts to improve their diet, they are inhibited by what they see as barriers to healthier lifestyles.

“Consumers were marginally more likely to say their health had deteriorated in the last couple of years than improved. This is despite consumers saying they are making more proactive attempts than ever before to improve health, showing that ultimately plans to improve diet and lifestyle aren’t working for consumers. This is something that in the long term will drive demand for more innovative and effective solutions.”

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