Special diets remain an important tool for weight management. The majority of followers of keto, low-carb and paleo diets are young, educated consumers without major health issues, which makes special diets a preventative measure and a part of a lifestyle, rather than a remedy. These niche diets are potential growth areas for higher margin products, and are spreading from developed regions to developing ones, where an increasing number of consumers are trying to improve their nutrition.
This report comes in PPT.
The health and wellness trend is driving the food industry, contributing to the premiumisation trend and helping manufacturers to increase their margins. Rising awareness of weight management is one of the key factors that is expected to impact the special diets industry positively in the forecast period.
The idea of following special diets (keto, paleo or low-carb) just to fight overweight is increasingly being replaced with the understanding of them as more holistic concepts and part of a healthy lifestyle. Young consumers want to feel healthy and eat healthy products, rather than thinking about health problems, which the word “diet” is more and more associated with, contradicting positive thinking.
North America is the biggest market for special diets, but they are spreading to other developed markets in Western Europe and Australasia. However, as special diets tend to limit the consumption of cheap staples (eg bread, baked goods and pasta) replacing them with other, more premium products, they are becoming unaffordable to an increasing number of consumers during a period of high inflation and economic recession.
The level of awareness of keto, paleo and low-carb products remains low, so it is important to boost awareness to bring these special diets from being a niche to the mass market. Many consumers who try to avoid carbs or processed food may not understand that these are key elements of low-carb and paleo diets, so having claims for products will help consumers identify them more easily. Social media, nutrition and food tracking applications, and influencers are helping form positive perceptions of special diets and spreading awareness.
Low-carb, keto and paleo claims are developing across different categories, with the keto claim being the fastest growing. Low-carb staple foods, keto dairy products and paleo cooking ingredients are major categories within packaged food with special diet claims. Meanwhile, healthy snacks, edible oils, cheese, yoghurt and breakfast cereals look the most promising areas for further development of special diet claims.
Health and Wellness encompasses a number of key claims made on a food or drink products that suggest a health and/or wellness positioning. It comprises positionings relating to better for you, dietary and free from, fortified/functional, health benefit, natural and organic. Please note that data is not available at this level or other aggregated claim levels.
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