Fresh Summit was rich with helpful information and take-aways for marketers.  One of the sessions that spoke the most to me as a brand manager was the session titled, “Selling A Healthier You! Marketing the Benefits of Fresh Floral and Produce.”  When we consider the benefits that fresh food and flowers bring to a consumers’ life based on what was shared by the panel of experts, consider the endless amount of applications from a marketing perspective that we, fresh produce marketers, could be doing to capitalize on this trend! Which got me thinking. What other health trends are attracting positive consumer attention in 2020 and how could fresh produce marketers capitalize on them?

According to a statistic shared by the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness economy is currently valued at $4.5 trillion as of 2018.  When it comes to social media marketing, public relations, company websites and blogs, the possibilities are truly endless when one considers the beast of an industry that is “health & wellness” and how important food is to the people, brands and products that are part of that industry’s equation.

In this post, we will share a list of trends in 2020 that we were inspired to identify with the goal of determining how we might incorporate these into our marketing efforts and join the “health and wellness” conversation.

2020 Health Trends Attracting Positive Consumer Attention

The Rise of “Wellness Culture”

Among Generation Xers and Millennials there has been a realization that the typical vacation doesn’t actually recharge or refresh. According to the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), “In the last few years, wellness has become a dominant lifestyle value that is profoundly changing consumer behavior and changing the markets.” Thus, there has been a rise in longer sabbaticals and structured long-stay wellness programs in 2020. These wellness vacations also focus on nourishment and encourage consumers to eat fresh, nutrient dense foods and “detox” the body of processed foods.

What you can do to capitalize: For fresh produce brands, there is an interesting opportunity to partner with these programs and/or wellness influencers to share the holistic benefits of your products that support a healthy lifestyle. Working together to create web, blog and social media content for your brand and theirs is a great way to maximize the marketing investment and capitalize on the health & wellness conversation that is already taking place.

Fitness Tracking Technology

According to a study by Statista, the total number of wearable users connected to the 4G network in 2017 was 526 million. In 2022, this number is expected to reach 900 million active users. These trackers are used as motivation for consumers to lead a healthy lifestyle. This mindset is a key opportunity for the fresh produce industry to align products and messaging to changing consumer desires.

What you can do to capitalize:  Take a poll and find out how many of your brand’s community members are tracking their fitness goals.  Use this intelligence to shape content that is appropriate for a wide range of beginners and advanced athletes to help them consider your products in their fitness regimen. Thinking more long term, consider how entering this discussion might open doors to potential promotional partnership opportunities with fitness focused brands, influencers and media opportunities. 

Food Waste Utilization

When it comes to the health and wellness conversation, brands should consider how complementary messages including sustainability and food waste may resonate with this industry of consumers.  The truth is, Consumers are becoming more self-aware about their impact on the environment and thus are requiring the same from the brands they interact with. According to research conducted by IBM, 57% of consumers are willing to change their purchasing habits to help reduce negative environmental impact. 

What you can do to capitalize: Finding ways to show that produce companies are on the forefront of ensuring that both future consumers and our planet are positioned for growth in a responsible and sustainable way will foster loyalty and differentiate you from competitors. 

Plant-based “Meats”

According to Nielsen (via The Wall Street Journal), “Grocery store sales of products like Beyond Meat and Tofurky were up 264% during a nine-week period ending on May 2nd.”  In the Resiliency and Rebound session at Fresh Summit, Jeff Dunn, Chairman and CEO of Bolthouse Farms, Inc, emphasized the importance of product innovation as more consumers are cooking at home. Furthering his point, he mentioned that Bolthouse Farms, Inc would be launching a “carrot dog”, a plant-based hot dog, in the coming year. 

We’ve also seen the rise in popularity of plant-based lifestyle documentaries like “Game Changers” . Not to mention the many growth forecasts, like Global Wire, that anticipate the plant-based market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.9% from 2020 to 2027 to reach $74.2 billion by 2027. All this to say, the plant-based meat trend/diet is not going away anytime soon.

What you can do to capitalize:  Innovation is the key! Finding ways to take what once was a popular processed food item and creating it into a “fresh food item” is essential for fresh produce companies to find more ways to use their product while capitalizing on the growing “meatless” health and wellness trend.

Interested in learning more about our trends and predictions? Download our 2020 Food Trends report here and peruse our upcoming webinar schedule to join us for bigger discussions around the topics most facing fresh produce marketer’s today.