11 Trend Topics Across 11 Halls

Sustainability encompasses a broad range of product and process features, including sourcing, ingredients, packaging, human welfare, animal welfare, ecology, food waste, and many others. Consumer expectations around sustainability are higher than ever, pushing companies to prioritise eco-efficiency, especially to reduce food and plastic waste. Innova Market Insights research indicates that the percentage of global consumers* “expecting companies to invest in sustainability” has significantly risen from 60 to 87 percent between 2018 and 2019.

Environmental welfare trust marks have also gained traction, with some notable additions such as the Plastic Free Trust Mark appearing more widely on packagings. This trust mark and others, including the Metal Recycles Forever and FSC-certified logos, are freely available to brands meeting the necessary criteria and provide clear communication of environmental stewardship. For example, there has been a 25 percent average annual growth in food and beverage launches with an FSC-certified logo, according to a 2019 Innova Consumer Survey (Global, CAGR 2015-2019).

Plant based protein is one of the breakout trends of 2020, with various food and beverage companies seeking to use plant based ingredients as supplements or the main attraction of their new product development. Much of the discussion on plant based protein has often been focused on younger consumers, such as millennials, who tend to be concerned about the sustainability of the food they eat and are often eager to try new foods and dietary concepts.

Products with a plant based claim are perceived as healthier and as having a better taste compared to products with a vegan and/or vegetarian claim. Plant based, vegan, and vegetarian all show strong growth, with plant based having the lowest penetration but fastest growth.

Food trend "pure vegetable" - the recipe for success
SMEs are responsible for a major part of plant protein based innovation, accounting for nearly 80% of all food and beverage launches (Global, 2019). While the use of soy proteins is declining, it remains the top plant protein ingredient, followed by pea protein. Pumpkin seed protein, pea protein concentrate, and sunflower protein are among the fastest growing plant protein ingredients in F&B.

Less sugar and less artificial ingredients, instead more plant-based and natural aromas - that is how more and more consumers are imaging the future offer of food will be. After the boom of organic products, the new food trend is moving in the direction of clean eating: conscious, healthy diets are called for. This also goes hand in hand with a return to traditional and natural food production without genetic modification. 

The potential of clean-label products
In 2019, more than one in three new products introduced to the food and beverage market worldwide was positioned with one or more clean-label claims (e.g. "No additives/preservatives", "organic", "natural/natural" or "GMO-free"). In 2019, "No additives/preservatives" remained the most frequent clean-label product promise worldwide (54.1%), followed by "Organic" (35.0%), "GMO-free" (20.8%) and "Natural/Natural" (19.6%). Europe is by far the leading region in terms of new clean-label food and beverage launches, followed by North America and Asia.

Meat substitution is one of the food trends of the future - and we are no longer just talking about veggie burgers or vegetarian meat substitution products. The new alternatives range from laboratory meat or in-vitro meat through to insects. Because the consumers' demands for a meatless diet and alternative products are constantly increasing. 

The future of meat replacement
According to a consumer survey by Innova Market Insights (2019), consumers are much more likely to accept lab-grown foods (46%) than insects (34%), even though consumers are more familiar with insects (40%) than lab-grown foods (30%).

Some problems are still to be overcome in the budding cell-cultured meat segment. For example, cultured meats still rely on some animal-derived ingredients, particularly fetal bovine serum without which the cells won’t readily duplicate. This is an issue for vegetarians and vegans, making cultured meat in its current form ethically unacceptable to them. Once this is overcome, it will broaden the target audience.

After four-year continuous growth since 2016, the free-from claim has shown a bottleneck in terms of new product launches. In 2020, 25% of new food & beverages are tracked with free from claims, remaining the same percentage level as in 2019. According to Innova’s Top Ten Trends 2021, it is related to Trend 3 “Tailored to Fit”, where personalised nutrition is in the spotlight as consumers look for food and beverages that fit their unique lifestyles and individual diets, such as gluten free, lactose free and vegan life.

Consumed by busy lifestyles, people are seeking more ready-to-eat products. As a compensation, more and more quick and convenient meals and snacks also include health and nutritious benefits for consumers who try to have a balanced diet. For example, 34% and 15%, respectively, of new food & beverages tracked with a “on-the-go” claim are high in protein and high in fiber (Global, 2020).

Superfoods are nutritionally dense foods which bring holistic health benefits. They are no longer reserved to a niche group of people that want to eat something nutrition-packed, but more consumers are introducing superfoods to their daily nutrition. Due to Covid-19 situation, superfoods are much leveraged as they tap into health support. In line with Innova Top Ten Trends 2021, Trend 5 “In Tune with Immune” has witnessed a surge in citrus flavors, and ginger and turmeric for immune boost.

Franchising in food & beverage industry focus on leveraging the established customer base, manufacturing facilities, marketing expertise, R&D and distribution capabilities of the other company in specific categories and regions, at the same time, franchised products and food services play an essential role in building and strengthening brand recognition. Every 1 in 2 global consumers say that they put more trust into a new brand if it collaborates with one that they already know. On the other hand, franchise requires swift reaction to local consumer demands and rapid employee training, to make sure that challenges turn to opportunities for the brand collaboration.

Except Australasia region, all other regions have recorded a growing trend of halal product launches in the past five years. In particular, Latin America, growing from a small base, has lead new product launches with a 24% annual growth since 2016 (Latin America, CAGR 2016-2020), followed by Asia (15%) as the biggest market with the highest launch numbers in every past five year. Meanwhile, the second and third biggest market Africa and Middle East also spot a modest growth with a 11% and 14%, respectively, annual growth (CAGR 2016-2020).

In line with Innova’s Top Ten Trends 2021, Trend 1 “Transparency Triumph” pushes greater demand on transparency and evolving clean labels, Innova Market Insights reports a 5% annual growth rate in organic claims on food & beverages launches (Global, CAGR 2016-2020). 1 in 5 global organic products tracked are also featured with no additives/preservatives.

There is a significantly growing popularity of new product development by private labels, with a 10% annual growth in private-labeled product launches (Global, CAGR 2016-2020). Yet, private-label product launch penetration varies in different regions and throughout the past five years. Europe so far leads private-label launches with a 35% penetration rate, offering from mass products to recently premium ones, such as private-label chocolate confectionery and emerging sports nutrition. On the contrary, Africa, Australasia and North America have taken on a decreasing private-label launch penetration rate in the past five years.