The global context
Health trends driving real behaviour change
Each of us has the power to improve our health through the choices we make and the lifestyles we lead. But while we might have bold ambitions to improve our health, our actions rarely match our goals.
In our latest Who Cares? Who Does? Health study, only 52% of respondents claimed to be feeling well both physically and mentally. People are struggling with a multitude of barriers on the journey to optimum health that can include the state of healthcare systems, poor labelling, and lack of knowledge and confidence in official information.
However, by comparing people's stated intentions with their actual purchases, we can see how they are overcoming these challenges to identify where health is gaining ground, as well as identifying the areas where consumers need more support to improve their lives.
This report gets under the skin of the latest opportunities for brands to help consumers make healthier decisions. We highlight six key health trends that brands can leverage to become part of the journey to healthier lives.
These are not niche trends but trends that are reaching the mass market. That means they represent growth opportunities that are available now and at scale for brands committed to helping consumers make the right decisions.
Tighter regulation creates new opportunities for brands
Health concerns, changing behaviours and product adaptation do not happen in a vacuum. Regulations and government advice play a major part in highlighting areas of concern and putting guard rails on how brands can market themselves.
A recent World Health Organisation report on non-communicable diseases identified 29 areas where government action can help drive better individual choices and transform health outcomes. It called for a sharper regulatory focus on unhealthy food marketing to children, front-of-pack labelling and the elimination of trans fats, among other measures.
Many governments have already taken steps in these areas, tightening the rules on promotions and creating opportunities around formulation and new product development. The UK, for example, has implemented a ban on buy one get one free promotions for foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).
As a result, UK baskets have become less reliant on HFSS. In value terms, healthier products now account for two-thirds of food and drink growth, well ahead of their 60% share of overall market value. Spending on these products has grown by 17.7%, highlighting the clear opportunity for reformulation and new product development.
In France, a sliding sugar tax, first introduced in 2012, has acted as an incentive for manufacturers to reformulate as well as making sugar heavy drinks more expensive. The price of sugary sodas has risen 25% since 2022 and by 8% in the latest year alone, resulting in a significant drop in sales and helping to boost the growth of flavoured waters and low-calorie drinks, with the former up 8.1% year on year.
The health concerns that consumers want help with
There is a clear No. 1 issue when it comes to global health concerns: body weight. More people care about their body weight than any other health issue. It doesn’t matter what your age is or where you live, weight is front of mind for many.
That’s followed by a series of issues that could be grouped together as mental health challenges, with issues around sleep, stress and anxiety.
The issues that matter most also change through consumers’ lives which means helping them make healthier choices requires the right message, in the right place, at the right time and at the right age.
Brands that talk about cholesterol, for example, are really targeting an over 55 audience, for whom this is the No. 2 issue. Heart health and diabetes are also in the top six for this group.
By contrast, younger consumers are more focused on a different range of health issues, including anxiety, hair loss and sugar intake.
One brand successfully navigating this complexity is Bénet in Colombia. The supplement brand has an active presence on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, where it promotes how easily its products can fit into busy lives.
A recent campaign focused on younger audiences used humour and a playful checklist to mark the milestone of consumers' hitting their 30s, with options such as ‘you prefer to stay home on weekends’. It then invited them to enjoy ‘more life in your 30’s’ thanks to its products. This fresh approach has helped expand Bénet's base from older consumers to boosting penetration amongst under 34s by three points year on year.
Where can brands help
While consumers have health concerns, they also have ambitions for change and brands can be part of that journey.
Globally, many consumers already want to change behaviours in a way they believe will improve their health.
Among those ambitions are a desire to reduce chocolate and sweets (46.7%), ultra-processed food (45.1%) and salty snacks (36.9%).
However, sales data tells us that they aren’t always successful in making these changes as categories such as sweet biscuits and packaged cakes are growing faster than the FMCG market in markets such as Peru, Mexico and Colombia.
A key area where both brands and governments can help consumers make the right choices is in delivering the right information at the moment of truth, when they put the product in the shopping basket.
Our research in France shows that positive scores on government labelling schemes have a positive impact on sales. In France, purchase data shows that healthy products with an A or B score sell more when they clearly display their scores on the packaging.
The Nutri-Score scheme helps consumers because it is simple to understand and removes much of the confusion around what is or isn’t healthy. Brands with a positive score can help consumers on their health journeys by celebrating their A grade performance.
Other markets can also tell a similar story. Labelling has been a feature of life in Latin America for around a decade and our data shows that consumers are not only paying attention to the labels but also changing their behaviour as a result. In chile, 74% claimed to pay attention to warning labels right after their implementation.
