6 minute read
The 21st Century Eater
BENJAMIN HAMILTON ADMINISTRATION, MARKETING & SALES, VEGETABLESWA
There is an element of difficulty when it comes to predicting a market, and this rings particularly true with the food industry. It is possible to monitor trends and make assumptions, but this can quickly be turned on its head, as witnessed during COVID.
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f THE 21st Century Eater consistently demands that food hits all three pillars — health, sustainability and experience. Alpha labs Co-Founder, Mike Lee, presented at the Future of Food conference in late September. The presentation provided some excellent insight into the 21st century ‘eater’ and the change signals for 2021 and beyond. The presentation highlighted the trends that Australia was heading towards juxtaposed against the industry’s trend changes due to COVID-19 restrictions.
A flight to comfort foods
Health, sustainability and experience
According to Mr Lee, health, sustainability and experience weren’t new trends — they have been around for a long time. We are now experiencing the difference that the 21st Century Eater consistently demands that food hits on all three of these pillars (see Figure 1). As people become digitally empowered and educated, they can access more product information than ever before. For the past 15 years, the trends have directed themselves to these pillars. However, COVID-19 brought vast and rapid change to the industry.
Mr Lee said that due to COVID, there was a considerable influx to comfort foods. While a substantial amount of science and logic is driving the food industry, it is susceptible to rapid changes due to consumers’ emotions. Fickle things can have a significant impact on people’s decisions. “For the past 15 years, we had seen an uprise of the natural foods industry. People were rejecting products from big food industries and looking at little upstarts with healthier options. Until the pandemic hit, where processed foods made a comeback. For the past 15 years, we had seen an uprise of the natural foods industry. “Food, unlike any other industry, is a messy, crazy confluence of logic and emotion. “We are dealing in something that has a lot of logic and science. But at the end of the day, these detailed, logical plans can be completely undone by something frustratingly fuzzy like; this person doesn’t like the smell of tomatoes,” Mr Lee said.
Familiarity and comfort first, novelty and self-actualisation second
HEALTH
SUSTAINABILITY EXPERIENCE
THE 21ST CENTURY EATER
Mr Lee explained what is important to note is that health, sustainability, and experience was the model before the pandemic hit and if you compare this to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (see Figure 2), they are high up in the selfactualisation section (see Figure 3). This shows us that when people have their basic needs met, they will begin to demand food for novelty and selfactualisation purposes.
HEALTH
SUSTAINABILITY EXPERIENCE
FIGURE 2. MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS. THE 21ST CENTURY EATER
HEALTH
SUSTAINABILITY EXPERIENCE SELF ACTUALISATION
FOOD SECURITY
BASIC NEEDS
FIGURE 3. THE HIERARCHY OF FOOD NEEDS.
“Health, sustainability and experience was the model pre-pandemic, which is high up in the self-actualisation part of the pyramid. You can demand healthy, sustainable, and experiential food if you have your basic needs taken care of, if you are safe, if you have shelter, if you have clothing, and if your food needs are already taken care of. It is interesting to see people’s mindsets rapidly shift when faced with danger,” Mr Lee said. “We have boomeranged back to comfort, and now it is a little harder to be too novel, at least not in the next 3–5 years.”
Food as medicine
According to Mr Lee, a market for food as medicine has developed and had totalled around $247 billion in 2018. People are beginning to see In an uncertain world, food became the only thing you could control. food as a semi substitute for medication, so there is a value-add experience with health benefits food can provide. “People are starting to see their food, especially in the value-add experience, not just as sustenance, but as a quasi-substitute for some medicine,” he said. “People want to believe that there was a solution in their food that could replace having to take a pharmaceutical.” Mr Lee stated, not only has it been able to add value as a medicinal substitute, but it also serves as a beacon of self-care and control in an uncertain world. People do seek control, and the easy solution to that is to monitor, evaluate and cook the things you put in your body. “In an uncertain world, food became the only thing you could control, and it became a beacon of self-care and control in an uncertain world,” he said.
Trust in food
Now that people can access information with a touch of their fingertips, they will. People want to know where their food comes from; they want the story of the food, its origin, the ingredients, the process of getting it to the plate and the people creating it.
Mr Lee said people are beginning to examine where their food is coming from, making special note of the popularity of farmers markets as they are a proxy for trust.
People can see the entire story behind their food and, in most circumstances, cut out the middleman, which provides value to the consumer. “Farmers markets are a proxy for trust. Being able to see your food, who the seller is and where it is coming from is forming trust with the consumer,” Mr Lee said.
The process has become the product
Mr Lee explained how companies have traditionally advertised a story driven by a gimmick or mascot. As a result, the process of the product was vague or hidden from the consumer. Now with the access to information, consumers care more about how it is grown, treated, delivered and cooked.
“People are not buying into fabricated stories and advertising from big companies. The process has become the product. How did you grow, treat, deliver and cook this food? This is becoming the product people are seeking out,” Mr Lee said.
The importance of transparency
According to Mr Lee, consumers are asking questions about their food. Noting that 73% of consumers worldwide feel more positively about companies that are transparent about where and how products were made, raised or grown. “People are starting to ask questions about where their food is coming from and it is becoming increasingly difficult to hide your mistakes,” Mr Lee said.
f THERE has been an increase in home-delivery and e-commerce grocery options.
E-commerce accelerated
There has been an increase in homedelivery and e-commerce grocery options. This was an emerging trend; however, this was excelled by COVID-19 as forced lockdowns required companies around the world to adapt rapidly. We see leisure and convenience begin to take precedence as things like HelloFresh, Dinner Twist, home-delivery and click and collect options from major grocery outlets have emerged. Mr Lee finished on a note that was particularly resonating with the audience. Mr Lee said that we, as an industry, must strive to change the traditional thoughts of sustainability; we need to drive change on the perspectives of the value of a sustainable industry. “Traditionally, sustainability in a product has been sold like this ‘this is delicious and also sustainable’ as if sustainability was an afterthought. We need to get to a point where we can say this ‘It’s delicious because it’s sustainable’,” Mr Lee said.
MORE INFORMATION
Contact Mike Lee at mike@alphafoodlabs. com or go to alphafoodlabs.com.
f 73% of consumers worldwide feel more positively about companies that are transparent about where and how products were made, raised or grown.
