Over-65s prime target for functional food businesses

There has been a stagnation of growth in per-capita spend of functional food and drink since 2008, Diana Cowland, senior health and wellness analyst at Euromonitor, told FoodManufacture.co.uk in this exclusive interview.

“One of the reasons that the ageing population can help invigorate this growth is because they really remain under-catered for at the moment,” ​said Cowland at Vitafoods Europe last week.

Limited functional ingredients​

“By 2018, 10% of the global population will be over the age of 65 and the products on offer remain very minimal and also very limited in terms of functional ingredients that are used. One way to reinvigorate is to utilise the 70-plus functional ingredients to innovate in product type and format.” ​

Food businesses should invest in functional ingredients research in order to successfully benefit from the ageing population, she added.

Meanwhile, Jeff Hilton, chief marketing officer at US-based brand promotional company Brandhive, gave FoodManufacture.co.uk his top five tips on how to successfully target functional food marketing​ at 18–34 year-olds.