According to Mind, the mental health charity, approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year, and in England, 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (such as anxiety and depression) in any given week. Although the number of people with mental health problems has not changed significantly in recent years, mental wellbeing is being discussed more than ever before, especially by younger generations.
Unsurprisingly, prioritising mental health and wellbeing has been cited as a key consumer trend in the last few years, and appears to be here to stay. According to a Mintel report on health management trends for 2020, more than half of adults say their reason for setting health and wellness goals each year is to feel happier. And we’re all looking for simple, little ways to make ourselves feel just that little bit better. Haven’t we all reached for a cup of tea (or even wine) to calm the nerves and de-stress? And even more reassuring if the tea includes ingredients that claim to provide ‘a moment of calm’.
In the future, we believe food & drink products will increasingly highlight emotional and mental (rather than just physical) health benefits. Indeed, emotional health claims may be a way to stand out in an increasingly cluttered landscape, as consumers have become accustomed to seeing the same claims repeated again and again across different products.
There have been many shifts in product claims over the years. A focus on reduction and deprivation (e.g. low calories, low sugar) used to be the key motivator for many, and then enhanced ingredient claims became more popular (e.g. high protein, enriched with vitamins). We predict that mental wellbeing will be the next big territory for health claims.
Indeed, some consumers are already starting to make the link. We’ve witnessed the increasing interest in free from foods in recent years. A large proportion of people tell us that they choose free from products as they believe they decrease bloating, aid digestion, improve their gut health, and even make them feel more alert and less sluggish.
More and more scientific research is being conducted around gut health that suggests controlling the bacterial population of the gastrointestinal tract may help improve mental wellbeing. Scientists have found that gut bacteria produce neurotransmitters that regulate your mood including serotonin, dopamine, and GABA. Probiotics and prebiotics are the crucial components for good gut health, and the most central prebiotic of all is fibre.
Interestingly, in the UK most people don’t eat enough fibre; the average intake is 17.2/day for women and 20.1g/day for men, and the recommended average intake for adults is 30g per day. So will fibre (rather than protein) become the dominant claim for 2020?
Up until recently digestive wellness products and ranges have felt more exclusive and niche, with the focus on fermented foods such as kimchi, kefir and kombucha. However, we predict that more ‘mainstream’ and ‘accessible’ gut health products will hit our shelves in 2020, with a focus on high fibre content. It may take a little while for food manufacturers to be able to claim real impacts on mental wellbeing as hard scientific data remains elusive, but we believe consumers are ready to make this gutsy leap of faith.
