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Understanding consumer trends is critical to food and beverage manufacturers’ success. Knowing your audience’s purchase drivers ensures you can develop products that meet their interests and provide value—making them want to put their purchasing dollars toward your products.
Current consumer trends shaping the market are cost-conscious choices and values-based purchasing.
To consumers’ dismay, food prices are rising, and it’s affecting their purchasing. Over 90% of Americans have noticed increased food and beverage costs, and 72% describe this increase as "major."1
The top two factors that influence shoppers’ food and beverage purchases are cost and taste; 87% of shoppers prioritize taste first, followed by cost at 76%.1 This shows that food products must taste good and be worth their price in order to catch the eyes of consumers. So much so that 28% of consumers have reported making less healthy choices due to increased costs.1
Brands can deliver taste and value with products that stay fresher, longer. Products with maximized shelf life deliver long-lasting taste, freshness, and food safety—all while minimizing trips back to the grocery store. Check out fresher, safer, longer solutions from Kemin in this case study.
Beyond the basics of cost and taste, consumers are increasingly considering their values when purchasing from food and beverage brands, such as sustainability, ingredient transparency, and ethical practices.
Now, nearly half of U.S. consumers consider themselves value-oriented consumers, and shoppers check labels before making purchasing decisions; 75% of shoppers check labels and ingredients before purchasing, and 73% are influenced by product certifications.2
With the Kemin portfolio of ingredients, you can appeal to consumers looking to purchase products from brands that have a commitment to quality, sustainability, and social responsibility. We develop effective, quality ingredients that you and your end-consumers can feel good about.
Consumers’ current outlook is sometimes paradoxical; they want valuable, high-quality products, but at the same time are increasingly cost-conscious. This balancing act can be a challenge for manufacturers to address. Different aspects of a product will shine depending on the formulation and intended audience.
Some consumers are more concerned about saving money than they are about the health or environmental impact of ingredients. But products that can appeal to both cost-conscious and values-based individuals are hard to come by. Clean label ingredients that help reduce input costs, like Proteus®, can help improve manufacturers’ bottom line while appealing to values-based, clean-label-seeking consumers. Proteus is a functional protein that can be used in meat and poultry applications to help improve yield, quality, and texture—with a consumer-friendly label.
On the other hand, some values-based shoppers are willing to pay more for food products that align with their values. Some clean label ingredients, like rosemary extract, can be higher priced than traditional synthetic antioxidants, but they speak to the values of label-conscious consumers.
Identifying your target audience’s purchase drivers is key to developing formulations that sell. With the Kemin line of clean label products, you can address this challenge and appeal to both cost-conscious and values-based shoppers.
Kemin is your trusted partner for producing high-quality, appealing products that meet consumer demands.
Provide value and keep costs down for cost-conscious shoppers and values-based consumers with our responsibly sourced and manufactured solutions—or find your perfect combination with the help of our experts and the wide range of solutions from Kemin.
References:
1. International Food Information Council, 2023 Food & Health Survey
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