Five Ways Consumers Are Shaping The Food And Drink Industry

LONDON, United Kingdom — Trend forecasting agency The Future Laboratory has released a new report exploring the key trends set to shape the food and drink sector over the next 3–5 years.

The Food and Drink Futures Report 2016, aims to give business owners or decision makers the insights needed to implement the right strategies and make the best investments, in order to thrive in the future market.

Highlighting the impact that increasingly vocal consumers are having on the industry, the report examines how ‘citizen power’ is setting a new agenda for global food and drink consumption.

From a rising awareness of ingredients, manufacturing methods and sourcing, to the expectation that every dish should come with a side order of health, beauty and wellbeing, the report breaks down today’s consumer into five influential tribes.

These tribes, according to The Future Laboratory, are driving category innovation, forcing environmental solutions and shifting the balance of power back into their hands.

Here, we take a deeper look at these tribes and the potential they have to impact your wellness business.

Countertop Connoisseurs

According to The Future Laboratory, ‘a new generation of countertop drinks dispensers are using apps, internet connections and bespoke delivery programmes to appeal to consumers who are keen to refine their palates.’

Demanding the same experiences at home, as those they have been exposed to outside, these consumers are propelling innovation forward, as manufacturers race to create products to meet their desires.

In April this year, California-based startup Juicero raised $70m in a bid to disrupt the at-home juicing market.

Like Nespresso has done for the at-home coffee market, Juicero enables consumers to drink fresh raw juice on demand without any of the chopping, cleaning, and other juicing hassles.

And, as the concept of connoisseurship continues to move from the professional realm to the amateur one, The Future Laboratory argues that more manufacturers will start to adapt their offerings in order to empower consumers.

Helping consumers to discover what they like, but also enabling them to use that knowledge to expand their horizons, the manufacturing of prepackaged products that possess the ability to be personalised, will become commonplace.

Five Ways Consumers Are Shaping The Food And Drink Industry — Image: Juicero

Gastronomy Fetish

As creatives become more open about blending erotic exploration with culinary culture, The Future Laboratory argues that they are influencing the way food is depicted both linguistically and visually.

Mainstream fetishism, as the report chooses to call it, is shaping everything from the branding and advertising of products to the presentation of dishes in restaurants. Marks and Spencer’s ongoing food advertisements sit at one end of the spectrum, while in Korea, the niche internet phenomena Mukbang sits at the other.

The online broadcast in which the host eats large quantities of food while interacting with the audience is beginning to catch on, sneaking its way into brand communications.

According to The Future Laboratory, moving forward, brands will need to explore the sensual aspects of culinary culture through linguistic choices and artistic expression, in order to shape consumers’ perceptions of their products.

Delivery-only Dining

The rapid expansion of the casual dining market is being driven by time-poor and stressed-out consumers.

Comprising of over 10,000 branded outlets in the UK, it rose by 6.7% to £6.3bn last year in the UK alone, according to foodservice data firm Horizons.

And as it keeps on growing, The Future Laboratory argues that more and more eateries will begin to bypass the brick-and-mortar model completely.

Highlighting Chef and restaurateur David Chang, whose company Momofuku Group recently launched a delivery only service called Ando in the US, the report acknowledges that for savvy business owners, this model allows them to focus on the food, without any of the overheads associated with running a traditional restaurant.

Also redefining this category is the rise of the health-conscious consumer.

While takeaways were once associated with greasy and calorific meals, now, offerings like Potage in London, who only use fresh, top quality ingredients from local suppliers, cater to consumers who are demanding healthy and convenient meals rather than glutinous treats, the report states.

As the market develops, The Future Laboratory suggests that new concepts might focus on one particular ingredient or product, like recent pop-up Boom Burritos in New York, which experimented with selling 100 burritos every Friday.

With so many establishments entering the market, this type of differentiation will help to set brands apart, as will a focus on the dining experience from order to completion, argues the report.

Regenerative Consumption

As consumers continue to become more informed about the origins of the products they are buying, businesses are being forced to create ways for the consumption of their products to be part of an ecological solution to save our planet, says The Future Laboratory.

Creating new products that feed back to their sources, according to the report, startups like Hangar 1 are building sustainable production systems that cultivate biodiversity, which is key to long-term productivity and brand loyalty.

Based in Los Angeles, , producer of Fog Point Vodka, is addressing California’s current drought problem. Working with conservation group FogQuest to create a sustainably sourced vodka, which is made from 60% fog water and 40% grape-based distillate, the limited edition Fog Point Vodka, contains fog caught in San Francisco.

In the Amazon, through hand-harvesting all of their açai at the source, Sambazon have been able to provide over 10,000 jobs to locals and preserve countless acres of rainforest, while scaling their business globally.

Arguing that consumption need not be the enemy of sustainability, the report suggests that for food and drink businesses, it will become imperative to consider how to integrate methods for replenishing the resources they draw on into the core of their business model.

But, while the social and ethical transparency of businesses continues to become an important decision maker for some consumers, in tackling these issues brands will also need to cater to those that may not fall into the category of the ‘stereotypical ethical shopper’ if they want to convert the mainstream market.

Culinary Diplomacy

According to The Future Laboratory, as taste and smell become more entwined in consumers’ emotional identities, this is leading to a new wave of culinary diplomacy, where food is being used to forge closer relationships with them and between different cultures.

Companies like Google have been quick to respond to this trend. Everyone Speaks Food, a recent pop-up by Google Translate aimed to show how consumers are connected by food, by forcing customers to order their meals using the Google Translate app.

And, as more people move around the globe, bringing their food with them, in the future brands will need to find new ways to reach diasporic consumers, or those who are simply jaded by outdated marketing jargon, argues the report.

By considering how your brand message can be translated into one bite of food is a sensorial way to foster a sense of connection and intimacy with consumers who are more interested in experiences than acquisitions, argues The Future Laboratory.

Food comes with a natural back story, and that works well in our increasingly experiential economy.