Food Trendletter N°16: EDITORIAL

One of the Food Trend Drivers 2019 is Wellness and Healthy Ageing. Baby boomers and Millennials alike are looking for (tailor-made) solutions to improve, protect and optimally care for their bodies and minds. Personalised supplements, functional and beauty food, CBD-infused foods are just some of the food trends that are triggered by the Health/Wellness driver. Sustainability remains a central issue for consumers – and with it the topics of Plastic and Food Waste Reduction as well as Regenerative Agriculture.

FoodTech is not only very popular for investments. Especially for agriculture, new solutions through Tracking, AI and Blockchain startups are expected in 2019. The macro FoodTech trends Clean-Meat (lab-grown) and Plant-based Alternatives continue.

On-Display, Trust & Transparency are core trends for 2019 in the area of digitization. For food brands, curating their digital personality and digital points of contact/sale is becoming increasingly important. The blurring boundaries between digital and physical is shaping retail trends. Alternative offline points of sale (e.g. in co-working spaces) that are digitally supported (e.g. Alexa, Smart Homes, etc.) are increasingly emerging.

As far as food product trends are concerned, this year we can expect CBD/Cannabis, low-sugar and low/no-alcohol, high-quality fast food, sour flavours and the Black Sapote among others.