Asian Consumers Want Healthier Food

22 Sep 2016 --- New research from Sensus has confirmed that consumer interest in healthier foods in the Asia Pacific region is strengthening. The 2016 survey has revealed that consumers opt for food and drink products with natural, clean label, ingredients, as well as functional foods with demonstrable benefits.

The results suggest strong potential in the region for new healthier food and drink products that are made from natural ingredients with proven effects on health.

The trend seems to be driven by health concerns and the rise of chronic, lifestyle-related diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. However, it also reflects enhanced awareness of a wide range of issues around food production from climate change to food safety.

The 2016 Sensus survey canvassed the opinions of more than 2,500 adults in Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand to gain insight into their perceptions on the need for healthier foods. These countries were chosen to provide a cross-section, representative of the multinational population in the Asia-Pacific region.

More than 500 online interviews per country were carried out in local language with men and women aged between 18-75 years old who were partly or fully responsible for grocery shopping.

The results showed that more than 90 % of respondents were interested strongly enough in ‘healthy food and drink products’ to purchase them, and approximately 30% claimed to purchase food and drink with added health benefits on a weekly basis. More than three-quarters of those surveyed (76%) indicated that they would be willing to pay a little more for food that is healthier.

The survey also showed that consumers were particularly interested in food and drink products that could contribute towards better digestive health. A high percentage (89%) of those surveyed in all Asia-Pacific countries recognized that fiber intake is important for bowel or digestive health.

However, despite this, the majority (69%) had no idea of the recommended daily intake of fiber, and whether or not they reach this. In addition, few people in the region actively look for high fiber products (just 20%), but most (41%) would select the high fiber product if they had the choice.

Those who participated in the survey were given a short introduction to chicory root fiber, a prebiotic, functional fiber, food ingredient, which is sourced from natural chicory roots.

“Combining the high levels of interest in healthier eating and specific concerns identified in our survey with the positive interest in chicory root fiber, the widespread uptake of healthier, tasty food and drink products made with chicory root fiber could contribute towards better health in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Michael Chow, Sales Manager at Sensus.

“While chicory root fiber is already available in selected products, we hope that the results of this survey will encourage food manufacturers to develop an even wider range of products that contain this naturally-sourced ingredient to support the efforts of people in the region, who are trying to improve their diet.”