Latest Trends in the Global Food and Beverage Industry 

The food and beverage industry never ceases to amaze. Constantly being shaped and reshaped based on consumer demands, it urges producers, manufacturers, sellers, and retailers to adopt a novel approach and navigate while being receptive to changing consumer behaviors. 

Those who cater to the food and beverage industry have to supply their goods and services on par with the recent global developments that speak to and influence consumers across the countries. From hashtag-based social media movements to pressing concerns that require international dialogue between countries, anything and everything has the power to impact consumer opinion and consequently their behaviour. The recent years bear witness to how much consumer behavioural patterns have changed in the food and beverages industry; and it comes as no surprise that the coming years will continue to do so, posing unforeseen challenges, and opportunities we must add, to anyone involved in the industry.

Fortunately, qualitative and quantitative research findings and statistics provide us insights as to what the future has in store for the food and beverage industry. They tell us what is happening and what to expect. And here are some of the latest trends that promise to alter the landscape of the food and beverage industry in the years to come.

Living Healthy: Superfoods and Organic Foods

The health and wellness food market was valued at 733.1 billion U.S. dollars and it is expected to increase to one trillion U.S. dollars by 2026. Motivated by the desire to lose weight and to prevent future health conditions, many have switched to health and wellness-centric diets, and superfoods and organic foods seem to play a dominant role in the food and beverage industry in this regard.

Superfoods, as the term itself, suggests, refer to foods that have increased levels of nutrients and contribute to overall health and wellbeing. Thanks to all the positive press it has received over the years, superfoods have emerged as a rapidly growing market sector that is expected to reach a market value of $209.1 billion by 2026 as opposed to its $137 billion in 2020. The projected growth offers vast opportunities for the agriculture industry wherein emerging countries can supply and address the additional demand for superfoods. Popular superfoods from Sri Lanka include fish, green tea, Jackfruit, rambutan, avocado, taro, sweet potato, etc and the drastic growth in the superfoods market certainly is good news for Sri Lankan agriculture products exporters.

The interest in healthy diets is further reflected in the escalating numbers that come with the organic food market. The worldwide sale of organic foods in 2010 was marked at a mere $59.1 billion. This shot up to $106 billion by 2019 and it is expected to grow even further in the coming years. In 2019, Germany triumphed over other European countries in the retail sales value of organic agriculture products with a dashing 11, 970 million euros of retail sales. France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom occupied the second, fourth and fifth positions in the list respectively. Considering that the said countries are some of the major export destinations for Sri Lankan fruits and vegetables, it is likely that Sri Lanka has the potential to rise as an organic agriculture products supplier to European markets. (1)

Saying No to Meat: Vegan and Vegetarian Foods

Currently, in vogue particularly with millennials and Gen Z, veganism and vegetarianism have become something of a buzzword in the social media-related pop- culture. Prompted by numerous reasons, both health-related and humanitarian, more and more people across all ages and genders are choosing to be vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian. The terms refer to those who abstain from consuming any kind of animal and animal-derived products, those who limit their diets to vegetarian foods, and those who are flexible on their diets and choose to eat animal products on selected days respectively.

It seems that veganism and vegetarianism are inevitable players in the future of the food and beverage industry. The sales value of grain-based meat substitutes in Western Europe was $970. 4 million in 2020 and it is expected to double by 2022 with an estimated sales value of $1924 million in the next year Soy-based meat substitutes follow right up, with an expected sales value of $1505.2 million in 2022. In Germany, the sale of plant-based meat substitutes has grown by 76% in the 2019-2020 period, showing the magnitude to which vegan and vegetarian options are embraced by consumers.

The forecasted growth in the vegan and vegetarian food and beverage industry presents ample avenues to mobilize Sri Lanka’s export potential. As a major supplier of plant-based products, Sri Lanka can exploit the increasing global interest in vegan and vegetarian products to expand its export sector and foreign income.

All About Sustainability

It seems that buyers are growing rather mindful about how the products they consume are produced. From farms to the shelves of their local supermarkets, consumers are paying attention to the entire food manufacturing and retailing process and its environmental and social impact. According to the Statista statistics, the retail value of food and beverages products with an ethical label in the United States has been steadily growing in the past five years and culminated with an impressive $231.3 million in 2020. This value is expected to grow even further in the future. In terms of sustainable agriculture, the market value of smart agriculture in the world was $9. 58 million in 2017 and this will surpass its doubled value by 2022 with a projected market value of $23.14 million according to forecasts. More than 15% of Statista respondents stated that it is ‘very important for them that the food products they purchase or consume are produced sustainably while nearly 35% of the respondents said that sustainability is ‘somewhat important’ for them. (2)

Both the market values and consumer opinions evince that sustainable practices in the food and beverage industry are gaining accelerating importance. Consumers are becoming more conscious about their dietary decisions and how they impact the environment and society at large. It is high- time that, as an established exporter of food and beverages products, Sri Lanka takes affirmative actions regarding sustainability. We already have some praiseworthy projects and protocols in place concerning sustainable aquaculture and agriculture and it is time that we take a step further, not only for the sake of monetary gains but also in the name of the environment and communities.

Buying Food: How Do Consumers Make Decisions?

With all these vital aspects coming to play, it is only natural that consumers have to be somewhat decisive when choosing the foods they buy. And what exactly influences the decisions they make in the supermarket? According to U.S. consumers' importance of different food products feature in 2017, consumers consider multiple factors such as quality, brand, value for money, etc before tossing a product into their carts. For instance, 80% of the respondents consider quality as pivotal whereas 72% of the respondents go with value for money. Low price is important to 49% of the respondents while the brand of the product they buy is important to 43% of the respondents. Country of origin and sustainability/ eco-friendliness was important to 20% and 16% of the respondents respectively.

What all these findings and insights show us is that a change, of course, is due in the food and beverage industry. We are on the verge of a swift transition from the obsession with fast foods to a celebration of healthier options and the coming years will be interesting for anyone involved in the industry.

Resources:

1. Health and Wellness Food Trends in Europe >
2. Sustainable Food Industry >