4 minute read
MINTEL GLOBAL NEW PRODUCTS
from PG_0821
by ensembleiq
Vegetables
Market Overview
Vegetable sales enjoyed a pandemicrelated surge to $58 billion in 2020, but will begin to revert to form in 2021 as the category realigns with its prepandemic trajectory.
By 2023-24, vegetable sales should return to the steady but slow growth that the category has seen for much of the past decade, buoyed by consumer interest in nutrition, and aspirations of eating healthier.
Key Issues
49% of 18- to 34-year-olds consider protein alternatives — e.g., Beyond Beef, Chik’n Strips — a good source of protein, compared with 35- to 54-year-olds (43%) and those age 55-plus (19%).
Younger adults may need or want more detailed support from brands and retailers to help them align vegetables with their specific nutritional goals and diets. Younger adults fall notably short of older consumers in category engagement, yet well-being and nutrition remain top of mind for these young consumers, indicating shifts in the meaning of “better for you.”
What Consumers Want, and Why
As consumers’ routines adjust to more out-ofhome activities, they will seek convenient solutions that speak to their renewed interest in nutrition and wellbeing. This bodes well for vegetables, especially those that are convenient timesavers, including items that are pre-cut, seasoned or in ready-to-cook packaging.
People may generally associate health with freshness, but the proliferation of plantbased meat alternatives demonstrates that consumers will accept healthy food in a processed form, a notion that packaged vegetable brands can tap into.
Personal health is, without question, the significant driver for the vegetable category, but there’s a role in the category’s messaging for environmental awareness and the health of the planet, particularly in connecting with younger consumers and parents.
Composition of a Balanced Meal
AS THE PANDEMIC EVOLVES, IT’S TIME TO GET SHOPPERS TO RECOMMIT TO HEALTHY EATING.
any of us are seeking balance in our lives, particularly as more opportunities for balance exist with global COVID-19 pandemic rates declining and vaccination rates climbing. Several parts of our lifestyle may have screamed “imbalance” during the pandemic, including more regular food indulgences, less physical activity and limitations to our social lives. Now is a terrific time to create new habits, including balanced choices made at the grocery store. A balanced meal has a thoughtful ratio of food groups, nutrients, colors, portions and nontraditional proteins.
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 establishes widespread guidance for balanced, healthy eating patterns. The 164-page document has been translated into a user-friendly format called MyPlate. The MyPlate tool simplifies this evidence-based nutrition information into a customizable format to consider unique food preferences, cultures, A balanced meal has a thoughtful ratio of traditions and budgets. It’s applicable for food groups, nutrients, individuals, families and communities to colors, portions and build healthy food and beverage choices. Key parts of MyPlate include focusing on nontraditional proteins. whole fruits, varying one’s vegetables, making half of one’s grains whole grains, varying one’s protein routine, and moving to low-fat or fat-free dairy or fortified soy. Balance here also means striving for less added sugars, saturated fat and sodium.
Colorful Solutions
Next, balance includes an array of colors for snacks and meals. Various colors of the rainbow, from red to violet, indicate different plant nutrients, or phytonutrients, that protect our health, including potentially reduced cancer risk, improved blood pressure and cognition, and better eye health. Dark-green and red/orange nonstarchy vegetables are specifically mentioned as foods to include regularly to improve the status of our diets. A retailer can start to mimic these recommendations by throwing bok choy into a stir-fry at the hot counter, offering conveniently pre-stuffed red or orange bell peppers in the produce area, or even adding a Bloody Mary-syle mocktail made with 100% tomato juice at the in-store bar. It’s important that retailers offer proper portions to champion customers’ health, while still selling a diverse set of product sizes. This can be accomplished by ensuring accuracy in nutrition labeling, particularly if the label is created in-house; clearly stating the intended yield of servings from recipes in store publications; and offering many one- or two-person meal ideas throughout key grocery departments.
Consider the Alternatives
Balanced meals also mean rethinking traditionally recognized foods in the protein category. Often, protein has been synonymous with meat, poultry, fish and eggs. However, more and more alternative plant proteins are continuing to hit shelves and restaurants as Americans are seeking more sustainable, animal-free versions of foods and beverages. Retailers can accommodate these requests by setting up a summertime barbecue black bean burger-making station, adding tofu scramble to the hot-brunch rotation on Sundays, including a mock chicken or chickpea salad in the delicatessen salad case, or simply designating a nearby section within the regular meat case for savory plant-based alternatives.
Balanced meal options for customers can be easily created through small changes storewide and through a strong focus on food groups, nutrients, colors, portions and nontraditional proteins.
The Right Size
We can’t discuss balanced eating without addressing the importance of portions. It’s often said that “there aren’t wrong foods, just wrong portions,” and dietitians couldn’t agree more with this phrase. Grocery products from wall to wall can all be enjoyed, but in the right proportions to one another.
