Healthy foods a fast-growing market segment: Study
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After getting advice from several nutritionists, as well as doing some research on his own, Bambang Sugiharto Fajar, 40, came up with a diet that helps him stay healthy.
The restaurant owner starts each day with a breakfast of oatmeal, non-fat milk, and non-fat and sugar-free yogurt.
Indira Bratanata, 34, has come up with her own healthy diet. "I eat fiber for good digestion," said the owner of the Zen Living reflexology center in Jakarta.
As more people look for easy-to-prepare, healthy foods, more companies are introducing foods and beverages that fit into healthy, on-the-go lifestyles. And a market study indicates these products are growing very fast globally.
"As health and convenience continue to be the key themes for consumers the world over, food and beverage products that support healthy diets, weight loss and on-the-go lifestyles are among the world's fastest growing," said the managing director of ACNielsen for South East Asia, Farquhar Stirling, on Tuesday.
According to ACNielsen's latest executive news report, What's Hot Around the Globe -- Insights on Growth in Food and Beverages 2004, from seven food and beverage categories that experienced double-digit revenue growth last year, five offered perceived health or weight-loss benefits. These were soy-based drinks, drinkable yogurt, eggs, cereal/fruit bars and sports/energy drinks.
Revenue from sales of soy-based drinks in 19 of 20 surveyed markets increased by 31 percent to 244 million euro (US$317.2 million) last year. While sales of drinkable yogurts in 37 of 40 surveyed markets rose 19 percent to 655 million euro.
In the Asia-Pacific region, revenue from sales of soy-based drinks grew 44 percent in the majority of the markets tracked by ACNielsen, Stirling said.
Revenue from sales of eggs in 13 global markets surveyed increased by 16 percent to 802 million euro; cereal/fruit bars in 26 of the 30 surveyed markets rose 14 percent to 314 million euro; sports/energy drinks in 45 of 48 surveyed markets went up 10 percent to 438 million euro. Revenue from sales of sugar substitutes in 21 of 28 surveyed markets increased by 10 percent to 77 million euro, and refrigerated complete meals in 15 surveyed markets rose 10 percent to 487 million euro.
Stirling said these figures indicated that consumers were becoming more concerned about their diets and health, particularly with the media focus on obesity and diabetes.
"Food and beverage companies that develop healthy products to meet consumers' demand for good taste and convenience will find a receptive market for those products," he said.
He said a closer examination of the fastest-growing food and beverage categories showed that consumer interest in high- protein/low-carbohydrate diets -- particularly in more developed markets -- was a major factor in related category growth.
The popularity of these diet plans, and resulting food and beverage purchases, was identified in numerous regions as a key growth driver for certain categories, while negatively impacting others.
Stirling said product innovation could drive excitement in categories, but only those enhancements that met more sustainable consumer needs, particularly health and convenience, would enjoy long-term success.
Product categories that are apparently meeting those needs include drinkable yogurts, fresh ready-to-eat salads and bottled water, all of which were hot growth categories in ACNielsen's 2002 and 2004 studies. (004)