Sustainable and plant-based to evolve throughout 2022 as COVID-19 accelerates trends

05 Jan 2022 --- Offerings with sustainable and plant-based positionings are set to see even more popularity throughout 2022, with the long-term impacts of COVID-19 continuing to shape consumer habits and demands.

Experts from FrieslandCampina Ingredients, Symrise and PharmaLinea continue the conversation about this year’s biggest trends, with mood also on track to make a significant splash.

Late last year, Innova Market Insights crowned “Shared Planet” as the Top Trend for 2022, noting that trust and transparency are must-haves for any brand wishing to find common ground with an increasingly educated, forward-thinking and interconnected consumer base. 

Vicky Davies, global marketing director of performance and active nutrition at FrieslandCampina Ingredients, agrees, predicting that sustainability is “absolutely” going to continue shaping the nutrition industry in 2022 and beyond. 

“Consumers are taking their personal health and the health of the planet more seriously. For example, over a third of consumers (36%) now consider themselves to be flexitarians, increasing their intake of plant-based products while mindfully balancing their diet with nutritious animal-based products.”

Leif Jago, junior marketer in Symrise’s flavor division, also anticipates that sustainability will become even more important than it already is over the next year. FrieslandCampina Ingredients is collaborating with customers, NGOs, member farmers and other third parties to work toward more circular supply chain processes.

Regional considerations
Sustainability is an undeniable trend, which implies current but also future importance, adds Matevž Ambrožič, marketing and PR director at PharmaLinea. “We see that these two differ quite significantly from region to region.”

For markets such as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Middle East and North Africa (MENA) or Southeast Asia (SEA), sustainability is currently a trend to look out and prepare for. 

Meanwhile, especially in Western Europe and North America, actual consumer purchase behavior – and not just sentiment expressed in surveys – has changed.

“It is consequently reflected in fast-growing sustainability claims on new product launches in the supplement space. Strictly from a business perspective, the trend has to be considered carefully market-to-market,” Ambrožič continues. 

Picking up corporate responsibility
Davies flags that consumers also expect companies to take proactive sustainability measures as well. As a result, companies are looking at sustainability more holistically across the value chain.

“For us, this means making improvements from grass to glass. As Innova Market Insights’ latest report rightfully points out, partnership and transparency are essential to the concept of a shared planet. We’re always looking at how we can build these ideas into everything we do.”

Jago adds that climate-friendly practices have become both a new norm and modern business imperative. 

“Circular consumption and sufficiency are moving up the agenda. In the future, this will relate less to “eco” as a status symbol, as it did when organic, fair and local started to become a lifestyle with consumer groups such as LOHAS.”

He continues that today, with younger generations fighting for the planet’s health on a global scale, it relates to the necessity to consume in a planet-friendly way. “Climatarianism” with diversified diets is seen as a key for environmental well-being. Biodiversity and regenerative agriculture have become the new frontier in the name of the planet.

One way products are tapping into this is by using keywords like upcycling and recycling. Avoiding food waste and making more from less are both attractive propositions. Symrise notes that the pandemic has spurred demand for comforting flavors that provide a feeling of security and stability. 

Honing plant-based offerings
Closely intertwined with planetary health is the rising and diversifying evolution of the plant-based trend. Jago observes that food and beverage options are expanding beyond meat and dairy alternatives to fish alternatives and non-mimicking plant-based options. 

“Symrise’s taste solutions for plant-based products help to develop planet-friendlier products with great taste – which is still the number one preference driver for consumers. We provide desirable product appearance along with juiciness, richness and great taste,” says Jago. 

Meanwhile, FrieslandCampina Ingredients recently entered the plant-based protein space with the launch of Plantaris. 

“As more people identify as flexitarian, they’re demanding a wider range of healthy protein options, including plant and dairy sources. It’s important to note that despite their relative infancy to traditional protein products, consumers still expect the most from these products – taste, texture, and format are key,” says Davies. 

Therefore, Plantaris is designed to overcome common formulation challenges associated with plant proteins – particularly the flavor off-notes of pea proteins, which consumers can find unappealing.

“As more companies tackle these challenges, we can expect this category to keep growing throughout the next 12 months and beyond. By moving into this space, our ultimate aim is to provide dairy and plant-based ingredients, side-by-side, so that brands can create the right solutions for the right moments,” Davies continues. PharmaLinea emphasizes that sustainability must be considered carefully between different markets. 

Empowered consumers demand ethical products
Other ethical positionings are also set to be popular this year. Values rank on the top, and the new credo says humanity is becoming the new premium, notes Jago. Therefore younger generations, in particular, are investing in socially aware brands. 

“‘Boutique labels’ are more genuine and advanced as they come with ethical and environmental claims. Old purchasing criteria like quality, durability and longevity are experiencing a renaissance,” he continues. 

Meanwhile, Ambrožič spotlights the importance of consumer voices. “We are living in an exciting period when there is so much data available to us at such an accessible price or even free of charge. Practically any garage start-up has the possibility to analyze consumer sentiment in real-time through following Google Trends and social media listening.”

COVID-19 accelerates trends
As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into its third year, it will continue to shape the nutrition sector. 

“What was important to consumers in 2021 is likely to still be important to consumers in 2022. What is different, perhaps, is how serious consumers feel about these topics and how the continued pandemic – which accelerated a lot of these trends – has highlighted their importance even further,” says Davies.

Jago also says that the pandemic has functioned as an accelerator of trends and a driver of change. He spotlights four trends with growing relevance caused by the pandemic. 

• E-Commerce and online representation.
• Local sourcing and trust partnership.
• In-home cooking.
• Health and well-being.

Spotlight on mood
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Davies expects that health trends will expand to encompass more of the body and mind. Research suggests consumers are particularly engaged on the issue of gut health right now, but FrieslandCampina Ingredients is also starting to see more movement in the areas of sleep, mental well-being and – of course – immunity. 

Ambrožič also anticipates that there will be a shift of consumer demand will be from a focus on immunity to aspects of mental well-being like stress, sleep and mood, as well as eye health. 

“These were previously more niche categories within nutraceuticals that are making their way into the mainstream because of the pandemic. Global pharmaceutical brands are addressing these areas, and products are developing from more commodity-based to premium and clinically substantiated,” he concludes. 

In the first part of this Special Report, Jago, Davies and Ambrožič unpick the morphology of market trends, spotlighting the role that both consumers and companies play in spurring innovation. 

By Katherine Durrell