Study: Foods for children enter health trends

Diving brief:

  • Foods and beverages aimed at children are particularly difficult because there is no distinct way to differentiate children’s foods from mainstream products, offering marketers an incentive to tailor products to meet children’s demands or to go further and innovate more family-friendly offers, according to a new report from Packaged Facts,
  • The coveted millennial population now makes up a large portion of parents, while children make up 22.4% of the country’s population. All of these groups have multiple requests, and the study found that nine out of 10 parents purchase new products that their children request at least some of the time. More than half of parents – 55% – said their children’s preferences and demands were important.
  • Health and well-being take center stage for parent consumers, with parents placing the most value on the fresh produce on sale. However, they also said they tend to look for products labeled all-natural, non-GMO, low-sugar, or sugar-free, and free of artificial ingredients.

Overview of the dive:

Analysts have been trying to crack the millennial consumer code for years, and for good reason. According to population projections from the US Census Bureau, millennials are expected to overtake baby boomers as the nation’s largest living population. adult generation by next year.

For food marketers, millennials are particularly difficult to understand. They like a diverse range of cuisines, they’re not known for brand loyalty, they’re more health-conscious and experimental, and they’re busy – even busier now that many of them are parents. Through parenthood, these general preferences trickle down to a new generation, and makers wonder how to balance “healthy but busy” for decades to come.

As the lines between children’s food products and regular food products blur, manufacturers have new opportunities. Although packaging in bright colors, fun shapes and even cartoons has been commonly used to indicate children’s products, companies are taking extra steps to stand out on increasingly crowded shelves.

The convenient on-the-go packaging also works well for busy adults and messy toddlers. The market for flexible pouches, for example, is expected to reach $1 billion over the next few years. Packaging is just one example of how this crossover of products can benefit manufacturers to appeal to multiple generations.

The biggest opportunity may be in the general snack space. A recent study by Amplify Snack Brands Inc. and the Center for Generational Kinetics found that nearly 69% of millennial moms said their kids understand that some snacks are healthier than others, while 55% said their children were more likely to choose a healthier one. – you nibble. Examples of these crossover opportunities include snacks with real fruits and vegetables, “healthy” cookies with ingredients such as ancient grains, yogurt, and the breakfast and protein bar category.

While some brands pursue a “healthy snack for the whole family” approach, others specifically target children. Chobani offers a children’s line, while Kind Bar and RXBar have also launched new lines aimed at children. This summer, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division will launch a new line of certified non-GMO snacks for kids called Imagine, featuring yogurt chips and cheese stars.

While these snacks are designed to be kid-friendly, it’s important to note that their parent brands are also popular with adults – and are likely to be loved by them as well. While kids are notoriously picky, these products stand a good chance of success since their health-conscious millennial parents will control the household budget — and decision-making — for many years to come.

Maria J. Book