Food Formulation Trends: Oils and Fats

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Food Formulation Trends: Oils and Fats

Several factors are contributing to the change in the dietary fats and oils landscape in the United States. Chief among them is the growing tendency to place less blame on dietary fats and oils for America’s health woes and a growing recognition that certain fats and oils can make positive health contributions. Related to this, there is much greater awareness that people eat real foods and ingredients, not the nutritional constituents that get listed on the Nutrition Facts panel.

Trends & Opportunities

Advice to cut fat and saturated fat from the American diet has been unrelenting since before the release of the 1980 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, so it is not surprising that regaining America’s appetite and trust for higher fat and oil consumption, and saturated fat consumption in particular, is evolving. Packaged Facts considers Millennials and Generation Z consumers to be most inclined to view any type of fat not only as permissible, but as offering positive health benefits. These younger consumers did not experience firsthand, as adults, the low-fat craze of the 1990s and early 2000s, and do not have to overcome negative perceptions about fat in general. Instead, they are able to readily embrace and seek out specific dietary fats and oils for their health benefits.

Simultaneously, the food industry is witnessing greater availability of select plant-derived oils and narratives espousing naturalness and healthfulness that are piquing consumer interest. The demand for clean, simple, and “pantry-friendly” ingredients coming from the food market is also playing a part, as is the desire to avoid genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and to seek out organic foods. A trend within the food market not to be overlooked is a rediscovered respect for the importance of taste.

Report Methodology

The information in Food Formulation Trends: Oils and Fats was obtained through both primary and secondary research. Consumer data are derived from two sources. Packaged Facts national online consumer surveys were conducted in February 2016 and February and March 2017, each with a panel of 2,000 U.S. adults (age 18+) balanced to the national population on the primary demographic measures of gender, age range, ethnicity, geographic region, marital status, presence or absence of children in the household, and household income. Consumer data were also obtained from Simmons. On an ongoing basis, Simmons conducts telephone and booklet-based surveys of a large and random sample of consumers (approximately 25,000 for each 12-month survey compilation) who in aggregate represent a statistically accurate cross-section of the U.S. population.

Primary research includes interviews and discussions with various industry experts, review of ingredient company websites, consumer food and beverage product websites, visits to brick-and-mortar stores, including both conventional and natural and organic retailers, and review of select food and beverage products in the retail marketplace based on the type or amount of fat they contain. A wide range of secondary sources is also leveraged including industry reports, videos embedded in websites, presentations obtained from seminars, workshops and conferences, trade publications, business newspapers and magazines, consumer blogs, financial blogs, social media, annual reports, 10Ks and press releases.

Who will benefit from Food Formulation Trends: Oils and Fats

• Food and Beverage Manufacturers and Marketers
• Foodservice Operators
• Food and Beverage Retailers
• Ingredient and Agricultural Product Companies
• Private Label Marketing and Product Development Firms
• Advertising Agencies
• Investment Banks

Benefits of Food Formulation Trends: Oils and Fats Include:

• Findings of Packaged Facts proprietary research exploring consumer attitudes and behaviors with respect to fats and oils
• Coverage of specific fats and oils including (but not limited to):
• Butter
• Milkfat
• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Ghee
• Ancestral Animal Fats (Beef Tallow, Pork Lard, Duck Fat)
• Algal Oil
• Coverage of retail food and beverage categories benefitting from these fats and oils
• Packaged Cookies
• Yogurt
• Mayonnaise and Salad Dressing
• Oil Sprays
• Functional Beverages
• Salty Snacks
• Return of butter to foodservice
• Enhanced commodity oils and the use of biotechnology to offer superior nutritional attributes