Growing Global Health Awareness Could Mean Big Business For Manufacturers

Nearly half (49%) of the global respondents in Nielsen’s Health &Wellness Survey believe themselves to be overweight.

That spells opportunity for marketers, Nielsen says

Fifty percent of consumers are actively trying to lose weight and 88% are willing to pay more for foods with healthy attributes, but only to a degree.

Obesity rates around the would are rising rapidly and not just in developed countries. In fact, 62% of the world’s 671 million obese individuals live in developing markets, according to the 2013 Global Burden of Disease Study.

The study estimated that 2.1 billion people (nearly 30% of the global population) were overweight or obese.

The obesity crisis and consumer aspiration to be become healthier could be a growth driver for manufacturers who better align their offerings to consumer needs and desires for healthier food.

Around 75%of global respondents believe they “are what they eat” and nearly 80% are actively using foods to forestall health issues and medical conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension.

Dividing global respondents into four buckets of spending intent, the highest percentages are only moderately willingly to pay a premium for health claims — an

average of 38% across 27 attributes included in the study.

About one-quarter of global respondents are very willing to pay a premium (27%), followed by 23% who are slightly willing and 12% who are not willing.

While there was not one health attribute that swayed dramatically from these spending intention buckets globally, a few regional differences prevail.

A willingness to pay a premium for health benefits is higher in developing markets than elsewhere; more than nine- in-10 respondents in Latin America (94%), Asia-Pacific (93%), and Africa/Middle East (92%) say they are willing to pay more for foods with health attributes for some degree.

Compare that to eight-in-10 in Europe (79%) and North American (80%).

For most attributes, there is also a gap between the percentage of respondents that say a health attribute is very important and the percentage that are very willing to pay a premium.

For most attributes, there is also a gap between the percentage of respondents that say a health attribute is very important and the percentage that are very willing to pay a premium.

For example, 43% of global respondents say the absence of GMOs is very important in the foods they purchase, but only 33% are very willing to pay a premium for these products — a 10-percentage point difference.

One notable exception is organic foods.

sentiments with their wallets,” said Susan Dunn, executive vice president, Global Professional Services, Nielsen. “As Millennials’ purchasing power increases, manufactures and retailers that make the effort to understand and connect with this generation’s need increase the odds of success.”

The generation gap is particularly pronounced for functional foods that reduce disease risk or promote good health and for socially/environmentally responsible foods.

For example, 41% of Generation Z and 32% of Millennial respondents are very willing to pay a premium for sustainably sourced ingredients, compared to 21% of Baby Boomer and 16% of Silent Generation respondents.

Generation Z and Millennials are also leaders in the gluten-free movement.

Thirty-seven percent of Generation Z respondents and 31% of Millennials are very willing to pay a premium for gluten-free products, while only 22% of Baby Boomer and 12% of Silent Generation respondents are willing to do so.

Thirty- three percent of respondents say organics are very important and the same percentage is also very willing to pay a premium for these products.

A willingness to pay a premium for health attributes declines with age.
Generation Z (under 20) and Millennials (21-34) are more willing to pay a premium for all attributes, even those that are more important to Generation X (35-49) and Baby Boomers (50-64).

Percentages believing that they are very important are lowest among the Silent Generation (aged 65+) for all 27 attributes.

Attributes gaining the most favor included products that are GMO-free, have no artificial coloring/ flavors and are all natural.

“While age often dictates a need for foods that contain certain health attributes, it is the youngest consumers who are most willing to back up their

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