Greater Attention on Healthy Food Triggers New Businesses

Consumers are becoming more educated on the benefits of healthier food choices. This increasing awareness and interest in their health is particularly visible with millennials and Gen Z. In fact, when they’re financially capable, it leads to a change in buying behavior as people are more likely to buy alternatives that have added health benefits. The increasing interest and concern that consumers have about what they eat and the effect on their health has initiated the growth for new companies that offer healthier food alternatives.

New food & beverage offerings

Start-ups are popping up with new food & beverage offerings that are marketed as healthier food due to them being vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, low fat/carb, organic or a combination of those. These specifications are often used to label the product as a healthy option. In addition, there is a growing number of companies offering so-called ‘functional foods’ where the foods are enriched to provide a health benefit in addition to the macro and micronutrients. Very common examples of this are foods that have added probiotics or omega 3. It’s expected that these functional foods will gain a prominent role and they’re expected to grow approx. 8% annually. Again, this is where currently a lot of start-ups are born.

Change in companies of all sizes

But this change in consumptive behavior is picked up by companies from all different sizes. Also large multinationals like PepsiCo are either acquiring brands that are already operating in the healthy space like KeVita’s, launch new product options that fit the health and functional food trend like Tropicana Essentials Probiotics line, or invest in other (smaller) businesses that do.

Grow to the next level of success

For start-ups, it will become an even more competitive landscape, with new companies trying to enter this rapidly growing segment of the food industry to try to take a piece of the (healthy) pie. In order to grow to the next level of success, and not go nuts in the process, it is important to have your business processes and information in check. Working in the Cloud and through a comprehensive and trusted Microsoft platform is now available to companies of any size.

Time to bring home the bacon, click here to start today.