A majority of UK consumers are distrustful of food and drinks products that offer a ‘magic bullet’ health solution, instead opting for ‘traditional’ health foods such as fruit and vegetables, according to new findings from market research organisation Canadean.
Canadean research found that the majority of UK consumers were distrustful of product labels that promise miracle health cures, such as a boost to the immune system or improved gut health. Seven in 10 UK consumers deemed these kind of claims ‘misleading’ or ‘exaggerated’ and less than 4 per cent of consumers rated additional health boost labels as ‘completely trustworthy’.
Sales numbers reflect this trend, according to Canadean. Less than one in 20 UK consumers said they bought products that were promoted as offering additional health benefits beyond nutrition, such as energy bars and vitamin water, on a regular basis.
Consumers rely on familiar health foods
Thomas Delaney, Analyst at Canadean, said the health food market was “becoming saturated with new products that boast of new found health benefits from relatively unknown foods or vitamin complexes.”
“However, there is a growing consumer trend towards traceability, natural produce and clean recipes,” Mr Delaney said.
This was also evident in Canadean’s survey, with almost eight in 10 consumers saying they believed that basic fruits and vegetables provide equal health benefits to additional supplements.
“Consumers believe that basic is better, turning to ingredients they know and trust as opposed to products claiming ‘magic bullet’ solutions to health,” Mr Delaney said. “Consumers can struggle to see products with a long list of synthetic ingredients as offering convincing health benefits, as they fear that those products may involve ‘bad’ chemical ingredients which counteract the positive effects,” he said.
Attractive packaging meets ‘back-to-the-roots’
Canadean said that juice company Innocent’s most recent UK juice launches, ‘Easy Greens’, a blend of celery, cucumber, spinach and ginger, and ‘Skip the Beet’, a juice made from beetroot, carrot, lemon and ginger, reflected the growing preference for unprocessed products without additives and artificial enrichment or fortifications.
The vegetable and fruit juices are expected to be received well by consumers who are looking for a ‘back-to-the-roots’, holistic approach to food and drink products.
“These juices will be a good-looking alternative to fortified drink products, such as vitamin water, as they not only obtain their nutritional benefits ‘naturally’ from fruits and vegetables, but also come wrapped up in Innocent’s attractive branding and packaging,” Mr Delaney said.
