Functional foods and beverages that provide a benefit consumers can actually feel will be best placed to weather the global economic downturn, according to 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health 2009.

Each year since 1995, leading industry expert Mellentin has forecast and analyzed trends in food, nutrition and health. “This year is different,” he says. “The effect of a slowdown will be to reinforce the core trends and sweep away the fads.”

“In tough times the single most important factor consumers will take into account when choosing a functional food or drink will be whether it delivers a benefit they can feel,” says Mellentin.

The importance of “feel the benefit” already underpinned many successful brands in the good times and it will become even more important when people are being more careful with their money.

Each trend analysis in this report is written with recession in mind and in each Key Trend we suggest an approach that we believe can contribute to enduring success – or survival – in tough times.

“Products that lack a quick and easy-to-feel effect could be in trouble,” Mellentin observes.

Mellentin’s 10 Key Trends for 2009 are:

1. Digestive health: the biggest trend
2. Feel the benefit: what consumers want most in recessionary times
3. Weight management: a bright future for foods that make you want to eat less
4. Energy: new markets waiting to be discovered
5. Naturally healthy and free-from: what everyone wants
6. Fruit: the future of functional foods
7. Kids nutrition: make parents’ lives easier
8. Healthy snacks for the “me” generations
9. Ultra-loyal consumers: niches to help brands ride the recession
10. Packaging innovation delivers premium prices

This year the report also includes 5 Micro-Trends. These are:

1. Movement
2. Omega-3
3. Skin and beauty
4. Mood food
5. Antioxidants

10 reasons to buy:

* We focus on long-term trends, not fads
* Each trend written with recession in mind, offering practical advice on surviving tough times
* We show how brands around the world are already profiting from the trends
* Independent and opinionated
* 20 years of experience to guide you through the rough years ahead
* Based on 350-plus interviews with industry executives
* Supported by supermarket sales data
* Illustrated with a wealth of colour product images and data charts
* A very affordable price which is why hundreds of companies large and small, in over 40 countries, buy 10 Key Trends every year
* Sent to you in PDF or Powerpoint, or both if you want

Executive summary

Part I: Trends and strategies

1.Key trends in weight management
1.1 Consumer trends
1.2 Format and category trends
1.3 Benefit and ingredient trends

2. Strategies for success in weight management
2.1 First choose your benefit
2.2 Be an expert brand
2.3 Don’t offer a diet food
2.4 Target the right consumers
2.5 Aim for value, not volume
2.6 Differentiate with packaging
2.7 Effective brand marketing

Strategy summary

3. Ingredient strategies
3.1 Which weight-management benefit should we use?
3.2 How can we use brand power?
3.3 Where is regulation going?
3.4 Where’s the evidence?
3.5 What price weight management?

4. A special role for dairy in weight management?

Part II: Ingredient Case Studies

Case study 1: Fabuless – and satiety – in favour
Case study 2: PinnoThin – a brand partner’s strategy flaws slow science commercialisation

Part III: Brand Case Studies

Case study 3: Campina Optimel/Optiwell – and success for dairy and satiety
Case study 4: NaturLinea – a success for CLA and fat-burning
Case study 5: Danone Shape – reviving an old brand with fibres and proteins for satiety
Case study 6: Slim-Fast satiety make-over halts sales slide
Case study 7: Kellogg Special K – the billion dollar weight management brand
Case study 8: LightFull Satiety Smoothie – dairy start-up combines low-cal, fibre and protein
Case study 9: Skinny Water – no-cal weight loss water takes guerilla approach to marketing
Case study 10: Wrigleys – marketing gum with a weight management benefit