Datamonitor’s ‘Product Launch Analytics’, which tracks new product launches in food and drinks around the world, takes a look at these and other trends in consumer packaged goods that will be hitting supermarket shelves in 2010.
Animal rights have emerged as a growing worldwide concern, as consumers want to know more about how the foods they eat were raised and prepared. For example, according to the Datamonitor research, the ‘free range’ product claim commonly used to identify how poultry are raised has nearly doubled in frequency for new food products launched worldwide since 2006.
Poultry has recently been joined by free range pork, lamb and beef, and the free range trend will accelerate in 2010 as foodservice chains follow the trail blazed by leading consumer packaged goods companies into humanely raised products.
The research has highlighted the UK as leading the way, with China, Brazil and the US not far behind, all showing an increase in the launch of products making the ‘free range’ claim.
A flurry of meat-flavoured product launches in the US over the last few months has combined with innovations from the UK. The products launched in the US included Das Lolli Man Bait (meat-flavoured lollipops), Mo’s Dark Bacon Bar and Backon (bacon-flavoured Vodka).
New types of degradable packaging enable plastic to biodegrade in years, not centuries. The key is additives such as EcoPure or Reverte that help plastic biodegrade more quickly and safely than it ordinarily would. The bottled water market has been ‘ground zero’ for this trend, with entries like Aquamantra Natural Spring Water in Enso bottles and State of Mind Bottled Water in Reverte Back to Nature bottles (both from the US).
This trend is likely to accelerate in 2010 on a global scale, with Charlie’s Honest Water in an eco bottle from Australia and New Zealand, and Italy’s Sant’anna Bio bottle. Datamonitor expects the trend to move beyond the bottled water market to other categories.
A decade ago, a brand called Red Bull took the soft drinks market by storm, creating a niche for energy drinks. History could repeat itself with a drinks brand called Muscle Milk.
Quietly, the protein-enhanced exercise recovery drink brand from Californian company Cytosport has crafted a following that suggests significant crossover potential for so-called ‘muscle’ beverages that have long been aimed at weightlifters and power athletes. Muscle Milk and similar healthy and active lifestyle beverages could be the next hot niche within the functional drinks market.
Candidates for the next superfruit for 2010 and beyond include Baobab (a tart African fruit high in antioxidants), Borojo (a natural energiser from the jungles of South and Central America), Maqui (a berry native to South America said to have eight times the antioxidants of blueberries), and Yumberry (technically ‘yang-mi’ fruit – a super-high antioxidant tree fruit from China).
Packaged food and drinks companies around the world want to say ‘better for you’ in innovative ways. The newest technique is to take a machete to product ingredient lists. Out are ingredients that sound more at home in a chemistry lab and in their place are ingredients that most consumers recognise.
Haagen-Dazs’ 5 Ice Cream illustrates the trend, with just five ingredients for each ice cream flavour. Look for other packaged food and drinks makers to dance the limbo with product ingredient lists in 2010 and beyond.
While the shot format has been around for some time in various world markets for dairy-based drinks, the format has exploded in popularity in other markets. Almost singlehandedly, shots have elevated the energy drinks market to new heights.
The latest ‘shot’ trend is the polar opposite of energy drinks – new relaxation ‘shots’ that offer a non-alcoholic way to reduce stress. Most launches have been from the US, though launches have been reported in Amsterdam with LR Liquid Relaxx Calm Alert Drink and Fancl Suyarin from Japan (the first drink to specifically induce sleep).
All told, the number of new products featuring the words ‘shot’ or ‘shots’ has doubled since 2006, according to Datamonitor.
Source: Datamonitor
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