Kerry’s health simulator uses data to highlight consumer preferences

27 Jul 2020 --- Taste and nutrition company Kerry has released an interactive consumer preference simulator to supplement its 2019 Proactive Health research, exploring consumer groups, functional health and ingredient preferences. The proactive health simulator utilizes Kerry’s proprietary consumer data to help industry professionals understand consumer preferences across 11 different functional benefits, such as gut health, immune support and weight management.

Simulator users can choose a functional benefit and, by gender and/or age, determine the top ten ingredients preferred by consumers of that demographic group. It can also create on-trend, consumer-centric data for product and menu development, according to Kerry. 

“Consumer attention to food and beverages with added functionality has never been greater than today, as they adapt to the current challenges of COVID-19,” explains Soumya Nair, Director of Marketing Insights for Kerry North America.

“They [consumers] want to future-proof themselves from the short-term pandemic but also shield themselves and their families from any long-term health concerns. Sixty-nine percent of health-conscious US adults said they are proactive with their health. Beyond weight management concerns, busy lifestyles have given rise to issues related to stress, energy, sleep, gut health and more,” she says. 

According to Nair, the research “unlocks these critical associations consumers make between functional benefits and functional ingredients,” which are crucial to developing future-focused functional products across F&B sectors. 

“For instance, specific ingredients such as ginger, apple cider vinegar and probiotics are associated strongly with gut health, while coffee, green tea, green coffee bean and ginger are perceived as functional ingredients for energy support. With the simulator, you can create products targeted to specific demographic groups, using ingredients that strongly connote a specific functional benefit for the consumer.”

In 2019, Kerry conducted a quantitative online research study in the US to estimate specific consumer preferences of 85 different ingredients across 11 functional benefits. The goal was to understand consumer expectations of functional benefits and determine the importance of particular ingredients by functional benefits derived from food and beverages.

Last month, NutritionInsight spoke with Laura Collins, Business Development Specialist with Kerry Taste and Nutrition, who is a Dr. in Immunology. The company’s Wellmune brand revealed three significant trends in immunity that have appeared since the pandemic took hold, which tap into healthiness as a way of life and proactive and building loyalty. While immunity has long been a mainstay of the supplement industry, COVID-19 has created demand like never before. This has led to increased innovation and NPD in this space. 

In April, Kerry’s Vice President told NutritionInsight that the pandemic would lead to “long-lasting” changes in popular attitudes surrounding immune health. Earlier this year, he predicted that the popularity of drinks with functional benefits would increase rapidly throughout 2020. 

Edited by Elizabeth Green