Italy - UK Partnership

PARTNERSHIP | Summer 2019 06 Functional food: where eating and wellness meet A new way to conceptualise food N owadays, the market for food and beverage is continuously being revolutionised. Studies show that food has now assumed a significant role in the wellness sector, helping people to achieve important physical and health benefits. In fact, from these added functions that now food can offer, a new market share is vigorously opening up, with many interesting economic and investment opportunities for businesses. “Functional food” may be one of the most interesting British trends to watch out for in 2019. The term “Functional food” was first coined around the ‘80s in Japan, after studies showed that the Japanese fish-based diet, with high omega-3 percentages, was progressively extending people’s life expectancy. This new way of understanding food, focusing on its nutritional aspects, quickly spread around Europe and Britain becoming a key topic in many academic and scientific papers. The British Nutrition Foundation defines functional foods as products that “deliver additional or enhanced benefits over and above their basic nutritional value”. For instance, fermented food can be very salutary for the digestive system and simultaneously enhance the immune system. This is because fermented products contain probiotics, “good” bacteria found in dairy products such as yogurt. Another example is given by food rich in fibre that can help reduce cholesterol levels and related diseases. FUNCTIONAL FOOD IN THE GLOBAL MARKET From an economic perspective, the functional food’s share in the global market is rapidly increasing, as suggested in the report “Functional Food Ingredients Market – Global Forecast to 2023” by MarketsandMarkets. Indeed, their statistics show that in 2018 the global functional food ingredients market was valued at about $68.60bn (approximately £51,9bn) and the forecast for 2023 is expected to see an increase up to $94.21bn (approximately £72bn). Furthermore, this increase is also due to the structural changes that our society is facing. According to Diana Cowland, Senior Health and Wellness Analyst at Euromonitor, longer lifespans and higher percentages of aging world population will increase the demand for functional products. For now, the three most popular products, according to a report written by Technavio Market Research Company, are those containing fibre (22%), vitamins (13.9%) and omega-3 (13%). The UK is no exception to this massive consumer preference shift. In fact, some of the major factors influencing people’s choice are health awareness and disease prevention. The data found by Kantar World Panel confirm these assumptions by showing that health-motivated choices have been steadily growing in the past years – especially before summer time. In 2017, for instance, the average of servings motivated by health was of about 30.7bn every 12 weeks (a rise of 2.7% compared to the previous years). Furthermore, British consumers seemed more focused on healthy eating such as calorie and portion control. It is by now clear that this category and primarily healthy food habits have become a consolidated part of the “food and beverage” market. MARKETING PRACTICES IN THE FUNCTIONAL FOOD INDUSTRY As the demand for healthy food grew in the past years, the supply side became bigger as well, with many businesses using the healthy food topic as a competitive advantage. In this competitive environment, standing out