Turning to health

Starting the new year afresh, many of us are turning our attention to what we eat this month in order to shift some of the festive weight.

According to Euromonitor International, healthy lifestyle habits are now becoming more normal, as concerns over obesity, food sensitivity and the number of people affected by different types of diseases continue to rise.

As a whole, the global packaged food market is forecast to grow 2% between 2017 and 2018, with the confectionery sector set to rise just 1.2%, the baked goods category to increase 2.1% and the savoury snacks segment to be up 2.7% year on year.

Pinar Hosafci, head of packaged food at Euromonitor International, says, “2018 promises to be the year of disruption in packaged food and we expect a lot of disruptive innovation coming from local players in the start-up community, particularly around the areas of plant based protein, personalised nutrition, E&S commerce and food technology.

“These new start-up companies and local players will create new revenue streams and increasingly steal share from big foot players, so the big foot players need to come up with innovative ways of finding more sophisticated partnerships with niche players.”

The comments come just a day after Public Health England (PHE) launches its new Change4Life campaign, which encourages parents to ‘Look for 100 calorie snacks, two a day max’ to help them purchase healthier snacks than the ones they are currently. According to the UK health body, half of children’s sugar intake, currently around seven sugar cubes a day, comes from unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks.

So here’s to a happy and healthy 2018.

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