Over the past year, there has been a huge drive within the food and drink manufacturing industry in health, wellbeing and environmentally friendly products. These trends have sparked major changes for the way manufacturers are looking at their strategy for 2020. From ingredients to packaging, innovative products are set to make an appearance and disrupt the industry.
It may be time up for soy within the food industry. Although it’ll be remembered as one of the first alternatives to plant-based protein, since then, this area of food manufacturing has really kicked off – competitors have started to overtake their Soy ancestor.
2020 will continue to see a rise in plant-based alternatives, from solid food to drinks. Many big brand names are looking to edible plants to change up their products for the evolving market that lays ahead.
Keeping to the theme of plant-based alternatives, the food manufacturing industry is recognising that the world doesn’t consist of meat-eaters vs vegans. The increasingly conscious consumer is reducing their meat intake because of the environment, so a meat-plant blend could be the answer to their troubles.
What 2020 could see is new products being introduced that incorporate both meat and plant. Creating a food product that would appeal to the environmentally aware meat-eaters.
It’s shocking to think that 1.9 million tonnes of food is wasted by the industry each year in the UK. Match that to the 8.4 million people in the UK who are going hungry each day, it’s understandable how the next trend set to hit 2020 is a major reduction in waste. From the introduction of apps, to new products being made from food waste, the food manufacturing industry has already started to make an impact on these statistics and it’s only going to improve.
We recently wrote about companies who are already finding innovative ways to use waste for good. Read our blog for more information around this.
Snacks have recently been seen as something to limit within your daily diet, but is all of that about to change? The answer is yes. 2020 could see food manufacturing companies evolve their current snack products to be more functional for the everyday diet.
Consumers are drifting away from the regular three meals a day habit in favour of a more on the go regime. Consumers are now looking for snack which will benefit their health, while still filling that hunger gap.
These and many other trends are set to start hitting the shelves very soon. 2020 will certainly be a year where the customer will grow more socially aware. Product providers will have to continue to supply products to go along with this in order to stay relevant to consumers and their shopping trolleys.
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