Here's why 'natural' matters in functional food and bev

What do consumers want from functional food and beverages? Lately, it’s all about “natural” sources, which largely translates to a demand for botanical and plant-based ingredients, said Shelley Balanko, senior VP at research firm The Hartman Group.

“We know that consumers just really prefer to get functionality from inherent sources,” she told SN. “There’s a whole range from calming to restorative benefits that come from things like motherwort and lavender and lemon balm and ashwagandha and chaga [mushrooms].”

These types of ingredients can increasingly be found in a range of formats, from beverages to chews, gummies and chips, “and all sorts of things on the horizon,” Balanko said.

Consumers look to snack foods in particular for functional benefits, she said, noting that Hartman Group research shows that 65% of all snacking occasions are geared toward either “nourishment” or “optimization.”

Nourishment includes basic needs such as satisfying thirst or hunger, while optimization includes goals around maintaining mental focus, managing anxiety or stress, or physical goals such as workout recovery and rejuvenation, or the need for quick energy.

“Across the board, consumers are looking for ingredients that naturally deliver things like fiber or energy, as opposed to something that’s overly scientifically engineered or somehow enhanced or fortified with additional vitamins or nutrients or fiber or things like that,” Balanko said.

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Research from The Hartman Group’s Health and Wellness in 2021 Report found that 61% of consumers reported using food as a remedy to treat or prevent a specific condition, and 38% said the same of beverages. Among beverages, the top benefits or fortifications consumers are seeking include antioxidants (cited by 36% of functional beverage drinkers), green tea (34%), electrolytes (29%), superfruits, such as black currents, acai and blueberry (26%), fiber/prebiotics (26%), probiotics/digestive enzymes (24%) and greens, such as kale, spinach, or wheatgrass (23%).

The Hartman Group has been looking closely at functional ingredients that support cognitive and emotional wellbeing, Balanko said, citing adaptogens and nootropics such as lemon balm, L-theanine (an amino acid found in tea) and lion’s mane mushrooms.

In its recent forecast for global food and drink trends in 2023, research firm Mintel said consumers are demanding formulations that help them optimize their mental performance.

“Focus and productivity are the next mental and emotional wellbeing functionalities that consumers will be seeking,” the company said. “Consumers will look for food and drink that influence cognitive capacity, manage stress levels, and optimize brain function.”

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Research will be needed to prove to consumers that natural and functional ingredients such as nootropics actually deliver on their cognitive health promises, Mintel said.

Balanko said that as consumers have become more educated about the benefits of certain ingredients, brands can often simply list their ingredients without calling out specific benefits. In general, she said, brands have been moving toward offering more transparency overall.

“More and more consumers are equating high levels of transparency with higher quality in food and beverage products,” she said.

Natural Grocers sets standards for functional foods

Amid the proliferation of foods with functional ingredients, Lakewood, Colo.-based Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage has taken steps to ensure that these products meet the chain’s high standards for value and quality, said Shelby Miller, director of scientific affairs and nutrition education at Natural Grocers.

“As customers look for more opportunities to eat healthy and incorporate supplements into their daily routine, food and beverage brands have begun to offer products with functional claims and shoutouts to appeal to more health-conscious consumers,” she said. “While this is an exciting and expanding category, it also creates the opportunity for brands to make vague and misleading statements about the health benefits of food and beverage products.”

These products sometimes lack transparency around the dosage of dietary supplement ingredients they are consuming, Miller explained, which can lead to health complications for some consumers, such as children or those already on a regular supplement regimen.

She said that while functional foods are expected to continue to expand, brands will need to respond to customer preferences around how much information is provided on the product label.

In response, Natural Grocers created a standard around functional food and beverage items to make sure that its customers are not being misled by health claims on food, and that the health claims of products are supported by the contents and dosages of dietary supplements in the product, and that products are safe for consumption.