Buzzworthy Better-For-You Trends

Consumers are always looking for little ways to adjust their diets to support their health and wellbeing. Better-for-you (BFY) foods and beverages that offer healthier alternatives to familiar favorites continue to be popular with consumers, but the ways in which consumers are expecting brands to innovate to make products and menu items better for them has been evolving.

Right now, it’s all about lowering sugar content, incorporating more plant-based ingredients, upping the protein, and finding creative ways of putting functional ingredients in focus. A challenge that brands of all sizes and types continue to face is dealing with consumers’ multifaceted and sometimes contradictory expectations. Consumers want to indulge and to treat themselves, but they also want to improve their health. They want more functional ingredients, but they still want taste and flavor to be top priorities for brands. They want bold flavors, but they also want brands to cut back on ingredients that they perceive to be unhealthy.

Navigating consumer demands for better-for-you food and beverage products can be a challenge. Keep reading for our experts’ insights into the latest better-for-you trends and how brands can innovate to exceed consumers’ expectations with creative BFY products.

Better Versions of Beverages

With health and wellness in the spotlight in the years since the pandemic, consumers have been cutting back on their alcohol consumption. Their cravings for their favorite cocktails and adult beverages haven’t subsided, however, giving rise to the demand for authentic tasting mocktails. Consumers have been seeking out healthier alternatives for their go-to alcoholic beverages, looking for products and menu items that not only are better for them in terms of their zero-alcohol content, but also that feature lower sugar or incorporate trending plant-based ingredients. Brands can capitalize on this trend by focusing on authenticity and creating delicious cocktail and beer alternatives.

Among the most prolific trends in the beverage category right now involves BFY sodas. Consumers have long had a love affair with popular soft drinks, but the evidence that these beverages are unhealthy at best and detrimental to their health at worst has caused many consumers to seek out better-for-you alternatives. Recently, several brands have emerged that tout healthier soda alternatives with lower sugar, plant-based ingredients, prebiotics, and flavors that taste convincingly close to the real deal.

Innovating to create beverage products that lean into multiple BFY trends (e.g., the functional ingredient trend, the plant-based trend) without sacrificing flavor is the key for appealing to health-conscious consumers who are looking for true replacements for their favorite sodas.

Making Minor Adjustments

Rather than making radical changes to their diets, consumers are gravitating more towards making small, but meaningful adjustments. In previous years, they’ve been quick to jump on the bandwagon and adopt extreme diets that forced them to make changes that simply weren’t sustainable. Instead, they’re focused on setting health and wellness goals that are more achievable through minor changes, like lowering their sugar intake, adding more fruits and veggies to their diet, or targeting specific health concerns through a few particular functional ingredients.

Not only does this approach to dietary improvements make things easier on consumers, but it also makes it easier for brands who are seeking to innovate in the better-for-you space. Brands should focus on the health and wellness goals that are most important to their target demographics and innovate accordingly. A sauce brand looking to appeal to families, for example, can focus on lowering sugar and incorporating more veggies into their products.

BFY Snack Bases

The snack category is ideally suited for innovation, as consumers have been looking for ways to enjoy their favorite snacks and treats while still working toward their health and wellness goals. A variety of new snack brands have emerged that put BFY bases in the spotlight. From chickpeas and cauliflower to seaweed and mushrooms, plant-based bases have been on the rise in the snack category.

These products are appealing to consumers because they allow them to still feel like they’re treating themselves to a well-deserved snack, but without all the guilt that accompanies consuming traditional snack products. The opportunity here for brands is to focus on creating flavors that rival those of traditional snack products and put them on BFY bases. Consumers will be excited to get a snacking experience that tastes just as good, if not better, than traditional snacks but supports their dietary goals.

Ready to develop better better-for-you products? Contact us today to see how Fuchs can help you make something special.