Taking Stock: Natural Health and Food Trends for 2009
For me, the end of the first quarter is a good time to review my personal and professional goals. Am I on track to achieve my New Year’s resolutions, my work objectives and my desires for personal health and wellness? It’s also the beginning of spring, and for most of us, that means more active outdoor living, and a focus on staying healthy. All around, there’s no better time for progressive grocers to take stock — literally and figuratively. Are you on track to meet your second-quarter goals? Are you keeping up with this year’s hottest trends in natural health and food?
Let’s review the year’s top 10 trends in natural health and food as projected by the folks at Delicious Living Magazine back in January.
1. Digestive health — as in all that’s good for your gut: probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotic.
2. Energy boosting — with herbs and ingredients such as rhodiola, ginseng, ashwagandha, caffeine and B vitamins in supplements and energy drinks.
3. Functional foods — a shopping list that includes: pomegranate, mangosteen, açai, acerola, guava, lychee and starfruit. Cupuacu, graviola, yumberry, baobob, miracle berry, breadfruit, jackfruit, coffee cherry, Indian gooseberry, gac, hawthorn and sea-buckthorn.
4. Weight management rather than weight loss — as in eating real foods, exercising and maintaining healthy goals.
5. Parents get sneaky with kids nutrition — look for more solve-it-quick solutions in powders, pills and fortified foods.
6. Healthy snacks, more or less — low-fat, low-sugar, low-calories, more fiber, healthy fats (omega-3s) and functional nutrition.
7. Stevia and sugar alternatives. Also look for palm sugar.
8. Cosmeceuticals, also known as beauty nutrients — think antioxidants, botanicals, enzymes, hyaluronic acid, amino acids, probiotics, CoQ10 and green tea.
9. Healthy planet = healthy you. Consumers are seeing that what’s good for the planet is good for our health.
10. Home cooking, or “dining in.”
Are these trends consistent with what you’re seeing in health and wellness in your store? Please e-mail me at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!
Let’s review the year’s top 10 trends in natural health and food as projected by the folks at Delicious Living Magazine back in January.
1. Digestive health — as in all that’s good for your gut: probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotic.
2. Energy boosting — with herbs and ingredients such as rhodiola, ginseng, ashwagandha, caffeine and B vitamins in supplements and energy drinks.
3. Functional foods — a shopping list that includes: pomegranate, mangosteen, açai, acerola, guava, lychee and starfruit. Cupuacu, graviola, yumberry, baobob, miracle berry, breadfruit, jackfruit, coffee cherry, Indian gooseberry, gac, hawthorn and sea-buckthorn.
4. Weight management rather than weight loss — as in eating real foods, exercising and maintaining healthy goals.
5. Parents get sneaky with kids nutrition — look for more solve-it-quick solutions in powders, pills and fortified foods.
6. Healthy snacks, more or less — low-fat, low-sugar, low-calories, more fiber, healthy fats (omega-3s) and functional nutrition.
7. Stevia and sugar alternatives. Also look for palm sugar.
8. Cosmeceuticals, also known as beauty nutrients — think antioxidants, botanicals, enzymes, hyaluronic acid, amino acids, probiotics, CoQ10 and green tea.
9. Healthy planet = healthy you. Consumers are seeing that what’s good for the planet is good for our health.
10. Home cooking, or “dining in.”
Are these trends consistent with what you’re seeing in health and wellness in your store? Please e-mail me at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!