Are Marketers Ready for the Nutrition Transition in India?

After the Modi and the Start-Up wave, the face of our nation is being swept with yet another change! Revolutionising eating habits like never before, the generation of today, is moving towards consumption of more and more healthy foods and beverages.

This paradigm shift is unfolding as junk and western fatty food items are taking a back seat in the everyday gluttonous, ‘to-be-eaten’ list of the youngsters. Pizzas, cold drinks, burgers are decreasingly holding the ‘top-of-the-mind’ consumer space as majority of the people are getting back to traditional diets.

The much gnawing matter of concern for mummies regarding the consumption of fruits and vegetables in good quantities by their children is seemingly ceasing to exist. The younger minds are no longer indulging themselves in mindless eating. Their decisions are increasingly being weighed out with nutritional facts of what they are choosing to eat. This new transformation has been attributed by the ‘healthiness’ hype created by media, economic uncertainty and the rise in the incidence of lifestyle related diseases like diabetes, cholesterol, and obesity.

India is currently undergoing what experts call the ‘Nutrition Transition’. With the rise in income people are prioritising the consumption of healthy foods and beverages. A number of survey reports have shown the readiness of the young working class to spend more money on healthier foods. This movement is also associated by their keenness to try out more innovative products given that these items qualify the criteria of freshness, healthiness and taste. No wonder the demand for organic foods has been surging day-by-day!

The Puratos Taste Tomorrow 2015 Survey, while understanding the culinary habits of Indians, found out that 46% of consumers in India expect to have healthier food options by 2025 while 76% of them say that they prefer to eat freshly baked items on the spot from a live bakery. 

Given the fast evolving lifestyle of people, a lot of dependence is being seen on processed food. However, consumers are now seeking to consume functional food to answer their rising anxieties associated with expanding waistlines. Research reports show that people are checking product labels in detail before buying them. The proportion of these people as according to The Puratos Taste Tomorrow 2015 Survey stands to as high as 74%.

Against the backdrop of the increasing ability of consumers to churn out the healthiest foods and beverages from the market, it makes much sense in understanding why the food manufacturing giants have started to incorporate the ‘healthiness’ factor in their trade calls. They are not leaving out any opportunity to prove how their products are low on fats and high on essential nutrients required by the human body.

Countless marketers are joining the bandwagon everyday and are taking bets on the health of their consumers, but how many of them are actually providing what they confidently and openly avouch! Such strong claims are definitely creating an interest among the consumers for the products, but are they converting them into loyal customers? It’s time marketers thought about this!