Special Diets: A Spotlight on Low-Carb, Keto and Paleo…

A Paleo diet aims to emulate what our ancient ancestors ate by eating grass-fed meat, plenty of vegetables and fruit and nuts and seeds. It avoids foods like grains and dairy that were not available in this era, as well as potatoes, sugary fruits and some vegetables, which contain high levels of fructose.

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key Findings

Increasing concerns about weight management and healthy eating habits benefit demand for special diets

The health and wellness trend is driving the food industry, contributing to the premiumisation trend and helping manufacturers to increase their margins. Rising awareness of weight management is one of the key factors that is expected to impact the special diets industry positively in the forecast period.

From a diet to a lifestyle

The idea of following special diets (keto, paleo or low-carb) just to fight overweight is increasingly being replaced with the understanding of them as more holistic concepts and part of a healthy lifestyle. Young consumers want to feel healthy and eat healthy products, rather than thinking about health problems, which the word “diet” is more and more associated with, contradicting positive thinking.

Keto, paleo and low-carb claims are spreading from North America to other markets, but high inflation poses challenges

North America is the biggest market for special diets, but they are spreading to other developed markets in Western Europe and Australasia. However, as special diets tend to limit the consumption of cheap staples (eg bread, baked goods and pasta) replacing them with other, more premium products, they are becoming unaffordable to an increasing number of consumers during a period of high inflation and economic recession.

Special diets still lack awareness, but digital channels and social media platforms are spreading the word

The level of awareness of keto, paleo and low-carb products remains low, so it is important to boost awareness to bring these special diets from being a niche to the mass market. Many consumers who try to avoid carbs or processed food may not understand that these are key elements of low-carb and paleo diets, so having claims for products will help consumers identify them more easily. Social media, nutrition and food tracking applications, and influencers are helping form positive perceptions of special diets and spreading awareness.​

Opportunities abound across categories

Low-carb, keto and paleo claims are developing across different categories, with the keto claim being the fastest growing. Low-carb staple foods, keto dairy products and paleo cooking ingredients are major categories within packaged food with special diet claims. Meanwhile, healthy snacks, edible oils, cheese, yoghurt and breakfast cereals look the most promising areas for further development of special diet claims.

Source: euromonitor.com