Shop wisely – stay healthy!

According to market research carried out in the US, food shoppers are changing their habits.  What used to matter most, like avoiding fat, sugar, salt, and calories, has been replaced by a quest for healthy ingredients like fiber, whole grain, protein, Omega-3, and antioxidants.

The Report states that while the main criteria for healthy food were previously the ingredients it did not contain, today’s shoppers are keen to know what is in their food so they can understand the nutritional components of what they’re eating.

For example, it says, about half of all shoppers have bought cranberry juice, dark chocolate, or almonds in the past year, largely as a result of heavy marketing campaigns and news coverage touting the health benefits of these so-called ‘superfoods’.  They are so dubbed because they contain large quantities of specific nutrients.  Shoppers are also purchasing green tea, pomegranate juice, and Greek yoghurt.

Certain health claims are also proving to be attractive to customers. When purchasing food, heart health is top of the list, while more energy, digestive health, and improving mind health follow closely behind.

It’s not all good news, though.  Despite this attention to healthy foods, a lack of planning is trumping health in the decision-making process at the American dinner table, the Report concludes, with the majority of people deciding what to have for dinner that day.  When same day decisions for dinner are made, health considerations fall well behind taste, speed, ease of preparation, and any craving.   So bad is the practice, that as many as one in four shoppers choose what to have for dinner less than an hour before eating.

It seems that as daily life becomes more hectic, and awareness of health issues increase, consumer demand for healthier options that are also quick and easy will grow.  So, ‘come on you food manufacturers and retailers – make it easy to be healthy!’