Report says innovation is key to food and drink industry

A new report by Leatherhead Food Research Association in Britain says that innovation in product development is crucial for today's global food and drink markets.

Entitled, "Emerging concepts in the global food and drink industry", the report analyses activity and market growth in a range of emerging concepts, including wellbeing, convenience, snacking and performance food and drinks. It stresses that innovation is now essential, with consumers in the developed world no longer satisfied with basic products and instead looking for value and interest from their foods.

The report concludes that functional foods will continue to play an important role in the wellbeing market: "Heart disease is one of the biggest killers in western society and, as a result, consumers are more informed about heart problems and their causes than they are about many other health issues.​

These informed consumers are keen to snap up foods that can help them maintain a healthy heart and control cholesterol levels and so products such as cholesterol-lowering spreads are making a strong impact on the market."​

Healthy and portable snacks will lead the snack market and energy drinks will feature strongly in the energy foods market. Wiithin the convenience sector, the report claims that portability will be a major factor as will consumer convenient packaging. Environmental and ethical concerns will continue to drive organic, fair-trade and vegetarian foods.

The report also discusses novel marketing concepts currently being used to encourage growth in mature and established sectors.For further details on the report, see Leatherhead Food Research Association​